Approaches to the Analysis of Production Activity at Archaeological Sites

Approaches to the Analysis of Production Activity at Archaeological Sites presents the proceedings of an international and interdisciplinary workshop held in Berlin in 2018, which brought together scholars whose work focusses on manufacturing activities identified at archaeological sites. The various approaches presented here include new excavation techniques, ethnographic research, archaeometric approaches, GIS and experimental archaeology as well as theoretical issues associated with how researchers understand production in the past. These approaches are applied to research questions related to various technological and socio-economic aspects of production, including the organisation and setting of manufacturing activities, the access to and use of raw materials, firing structures and other production-related installations. The chapters discuss production activities in various domestic and institutional contexts throughout the ancient world, together with the production and use of tools and other items made of stone, bone, ceramics, glass and faience. Since manufacturing activities are encountered at archaeological sites on a regular basis, the wide range of materials and approaches presented in this volume provides a useful reference for scholars and students studying technologies and production activities in the past.Table of ContentsPreface – Anna K. Hodgkinson and Cecilie Lelek Tvetmarken1. Introduction – Anna K. Hodgkinson and Cecilie Lelek Tvetmarken2. Working from Home – Middle Kingdom Daily Life on Elephantine Island, Egypt – Johanna Sigl and Peter Kopp3. Production Moments and Areas in a Big House in Pompeii: The House of Ariadne from the 2nd Century BC to AD 79 – Macarena Bustamante-Álvarez and Albert Ribera i Lacomba4. The Bone Workshop of the Armoury from the Chariotry of Ramesses II in Qantir-Piramesse – a Case Study – Silvia Prell and Chiori Kitagawa5. Smoke Signals: The Social Dimension of Glass Production in Visigothic Iberia – David J. Govantes-Edwards, Chloë N. Duckworth, Amaya Gómez and Lauro Olmo6. Finding Scarab Amulet Workshops in Ancient Egypt and Beyond: ‘Typological’ vs. ‘Material’ Workshops – Stephanie L. Boonstra7. Using Spatial Analysis for Understanding the Manufacture and Manipulation of Late Bronze Age Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Glass – Anna K. Hodgkinson8. Some Results of Experimental ‘Roman’ Glass Furnace Projects and Their Relevance for Archaeology – Frank Wiesenberg9. Investigating Dynastic Egyptian Pottery-Making: Archaeological and Ethnographical Considerations – Sarah K. Doherty10. Pottery Production in Ancient Sudan: A Case Study of the Pottery from the Slag Heaps of Meroe and Hamadab – Carmen Ting and Jane Humphris11. Ground Stones: The Product as a Production Place – Adnan Baysal12. What is a Workshop? – Cathy Lynne Costin