Itineraries of pottery: a mixed methods approach to mobility

Heitz, Caroline; Stapfer, Regine Barbara (2 September 2015). Itineraries of pottery: a mixed methods approach to mobility (Unpublished). In: EAA: AM13 LOST IN SPACE, OR THE INBETWEENERS: THEORISING MOVEMENT, MESHWORKS AND MATERIALITIES IN THE PAST. Glasgow. 02.09.2015.

Neolithic wetland sites in the Swiss Plateau provide an extraordinary database for the study of mobilities, entanglements and transformations in material culture. Based on dendrochronologically dated settlements between 3900 and 3500 BC, two regional pottery styles and their local variations are well known, Pfyn and Cortaillod. The vessels share the same habitus and were made of local raw materials. However, some vessels specific to other pottery styles are also present in the sites. By focusing on itineraries of vessels and shifts in pottery knowledge, their appropriation in different contexts and the resulting
material entanglements, we want to approach the multiple regimes of mobility: At Lake Constance - known for Pfyn pottery - specific Michelsberg vessels like tulip beakers and lugged jars occur in small numbers. These travelling objects were produced with exogenous raw materials and transported to the sites from Southern Germany. At Concise (Lake Neuchâtel) besides the local Cortaillod pottery the whole repertoire of NMB pottery, characteristic for Eastern France, was also produced. Further cases from the same space-time frame point to other regimes of mobility. In our two PhD-projects we compare pottery practices - styles, techniques, raw materials - from over 20 key sites in the region. Based on Bourdieu’s reflexive anthropology, we apply different qualitative and quantitative archaeological and archaeometrical methods, thus striving for a deeper understanding of
habitus and the transformative potential of moving people, objects and ideas on local and regional scales and related social contexts.

Item Type:

Conference or Workshop Item (Speech)

Division/Institute:

06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of History and Archaeology > Institute of Archaeological Sciences > Pre- and Early History
06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of History and Archaeology > Institute of Archaeological Sciences

UniBE Contributor:

Heitz, Caroline Franziska, Stapfer, Regine Barbara

Subjects:

900 History > 930 History of ancient world (to ca. 499)

Language:

English

Submitter:

Caroline Franziska Heitz

Date Deposited:

30 Oct 2015 14:39

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:49

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/72379

Actions (login required)

Edit item Edit item
Provide Feedback