Discovering Form and Documenting Pottery

Lab 2

Introduction to Archaeology

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There are generally accepted methods for the documentation of pottery from a site. These include looking at the various technical aspects dealt with on the other pottery pages, but also include documenting form and the relative frequencies of various types.

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Discovering Diameters: We can ascertain diameters of partial vessels by comparing the rim (or shoulder, or base) to a series of concentric circles with pre-determined diameters. The closest match represents the diameter of the partial vessel and allows us to reconstruct it.

Note with the incomplete vessel above, place the rim over the various drawn diameters until you find a match.

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A Drawn Pot: A published illustration of a vessel shows outer surface and its decoration, as well as the inner vessel form and its decoration.

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Return to An 210 Syllabus.

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Return to Zagarell's Archaeology Page

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Please send comments or suggestions to zagarell@wmich.edu