Ceramics from Peisanshe site, Tainan Science-based Industrial Park: Analysis of Vessel Forming Technological Style
Date Issued
2005
Date
2005
Author(s)
Thu, Cheng-Hui
DOI
zh-TW
Abstract
Ceramics from Peisanshe site, Tainan Science-based Industrial Park: Analysis of Vessel Forming Technological Style
Abstract
Salvage archaeology in the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park has uncovered abundant prehistoric sites for the past few years, especially the sites belonging to the Wusantou Phase of the Tahu Culture. This thesis is devoted to ceramic materials excavated from one of these blackware sites, the Peisanshe site, which also belongs to the Wusantou Phase of the Tahu culture.
In the past, most archaeologists classified sites with blackware as typical late Neolithic sites of the Tahu Culture found only in southwestern part of Taiwan. However, based on the vessel forms and pottery styles, pottery remains from Wusantou site exhibits obvious differences from those of the Tahu culture of Gaoxiong （Kaohsiung）area. The results generated from studying the stratigraphy and the ceramics of the Yousianfang south II site demonstrate that the Tahu culture can be further divided into two phases: the Tahu (3,300-2,800B.P.) and the Wusantou Phase (2,800-2,000B.P.), as the latter clearly developed out of the former. Even though the black ware can be found in various sites of the Wusantou Phase, there are lots of differences among these sites, such as vessel forms, pottery pastes, burial customs and etc. Whether these differences should be interpreted as temporal or social variations is still under debate.
Recently, ethnographic studies have proposed that social/cultural boundaries can also be observed from technical choices of how to “properly” produce a ceramic vessel in a given social/cultural setting. Archaeologists have also attempted to explore these potters’ choices during the manufacturing sequence in order to understand the transition of different pottery-making traditions. Moreover, archaeologists want to discuss issues related to the social/cultural identity and boundaries through the study of these technical choices.
This thesis aims to understand technical choices and classifications made by local potters during the pottery-making processes through attribute analysis, compositional analysis, and physical property and vessel functions. The result shows that certain technologies are employed to make particular vessel forms. I further argue that the production of ceramic vessels at this site was performed by professional potters specialized in making different vessel forms. Moreover, after comparing the ceramic vessel forms and textures collected from various sites belonging to both the Tahu and Wusantou Phase, I believe that pottery-making techniques of the Wusantou Phase were directly developed out of the previous Tahu Phase. However, during the Wusantou Phase, potters intentionally invented new vessel forms and technologies in order to mark the social differences. It can be observed not only in the ceramic technologies employed, but also in other cultural behaviors such as burial customs and settlement patterns that separate them from other group of people of the same period. Therefore, I propose that differences observed in terms of ceramic technologies and other cultural behaviors from various sites of the Wusantou Phase in the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park may reflect different behaviors of various contemporary social groups, instead of a result of temporal difference.
Keywords: Tahu culture, ceramic analysis, technological style, technical choice, social boundary
Subjects
陶器分析
技術風格
技術選擇
Tahu culture
ceramic analysis
technological style
technical choice
social boundary
Type
other
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