Graduation Year
2020
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Degree Granting Department
Anthropology
Major Professor
Robert H. Tykor, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Nancy White, Ph.D.
Committee Member
E. Christian Wells, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Davide Tanasi, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Jeffrey Ryan, Ph.D.
Keywords
Mediterranean Bronze Age, pottery technology, manufacturing practices, Sicily
Abstract
The current study aims at testing whether potters acting across Central Sicily broadly shared the same manufacturing practices between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, or if they mediated and promoted a more diversified production. The study explores the technological features of local pottery by adopting an interdisciplinary approach to compare ancient ceramics from rock-cut burials at Sant’Angelo Muxaro, with those from the sanctuary at Polizzello through a combination of analytical techniques. The two sites were chosen as they best represent the cultural background of the Platani Valley. Sant’Angelo Muxaro seems to become the main location across inland Sicily at the end of the Bronze Age (ca. 11th – 10th BC), when it developed distinctive ceramic types and decorative systems that spread throughout the Valley. Polizzello, on the other hand, is an indigenous sanctuary where local ceramic models were still being used throughout the beginning of the Iron Age (ca. 9th – 8th BC). Given the uniqueness of these sites, where local communities used to gather periodically to attend symbolic and communal events, the purpose of this project is to understand the manufacturing technology behind the creation of the local pottery. A total of 151 pottery samples functionally related to communal feasting, and four clay specimens, were studied through a combination of ceramic petrography and neutron activation analysis following a brief pXRF preliminary investigation. By using several analytical methods, it is possible to distinguish among different paste recipes and manufacturing techniques, and ultimately to link the ceramic products to the choices made by potters. Therefore, such a site-specific scale inquiry will provide precious insights about broader social and economic dynamics related to raw material sourcing, ceramic manufacture, technology, distribution, and use during the latest phases of the Bronze Age in Central Sicily.
Scholar Commons Citation
Caso, Gianpiero, "Recipes for the Living and the Dead: Technological Investigation of Ceramics from prehistoric Sicily. The case studies of Sant’Angelo Muxaro and Polizzello" (2020). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/8520
