Discriminating pottery production by image analysis: A case study of Mesolithic and Neolithic pottery from Al Khiday (Khartoum, Sudan)

Journal of Archaeological Science

Volumn 46, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 125-143

  Dal Sasso, Gregorio ^a   Maritan, Lara ^a   Salvatori, Sandro ^b,c   Mazzoli, Claudio ^a   Artioli, Gilberto ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF PADOVA   (Italy)

^b Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO)   (Italy)

^c Centro Studi Sudanesi e Sub Sahariani   (Italy)

Author keywords

Digital image analysis; Mesolithic; Neolithic; Pottery paste production recipes; Sudan; Textural analysis

Indexed keywords

ARTIFACT; DIGITAL IMAGE; IMAGE ANALYSIS; MESOLITHIC; NEOLITHIC; PARAMETERIZATION; PETROGRAPHY; QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS; QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS; TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION; TEXTURE;

KHARTOUM [SUDAN]; SUDAN;

EID: 84897069359     PISSN: 03054403     EISSN: 10959238     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2014.03.004     Document Type: Article

References (44)

1. Arkell A.J. Early Khartoum. An account of the Excavation of an Early Occupation Site Carried out by the Sudan Government Antiquities Service in 1944-5 1949, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
2. Bouchain I., Velde B. Grain distribution by image analysis of thin sections in some Gaulo-Roman common ware, St. Machel (Indre) France. BAR International Series, 942, Archaeopress 2001, 71-80. Oxford. I.C. Druc (Ed.).
3. Brandt S.A. Pottery of the "Early Khartoum" Tradition from Shabona: a Quantitative Analysis 1974, Unpublished typescript.
4. Braun D. Pots as tools. Archaeological Hammers and Theories 1983, 107-134. Academic Press, New York. J.A. Moore, A.S. Keene (Eds.).
5. Bronitsky G., Hamer R. Experiments in ceramic technology: the effects of various tempering materials on impact and thermal-shock resistance. Am. Antiq. 1986, 51(1):89-101.
6. Chłodnicki M. The petrographic analyses of the Neolithic pottery of Central Sudan. Late Prehistory of the Nile Basin and the Sahara 1989, 369-373. Poznán Archaeological Museum, Poznán. L. Krzyżaniak, M. Kobusiewicz (Eds.).
7. Dal Sasso G. Modelling the Mesolithic and Neolithic Pottery Production from Al Khiday (Khartoum, Sudan) through a Multianalytical Approach 2011, Unpublished Master's thesis in Sciences and Technology Applied to Archaeological and Artistic Heritage, University of Padova.
8. De Paepe P. Etude minéralogique et chimique de la céramique Néolithique d'el Kadada et ses implications archéologiques. Archéol. Nil. Moyen 1986, 1:113-137.
9. De Paepe P. Analyse microscopique et chimique de la céramique et inventaire de l'outillage lithique du site de Kerma (Soudan). Les fouilles archéologiques de Kerma (Soudan), Genava, 36 1988, 31-35. C. Bonnet, B. Privati, C. Simon, L. Chaix, P. Da Paepe (Eds.).
10. Eramo G., Aprile A., Muntoni I.A., Zerboni A. Textural and morphometric analysis applied to Holocene pottery from Takarkori rock shelter (SW Lybia, Central Sahara): a quantitative sedimentological approach. Archaeometry 2013, 10.1111/arcm.12043.
11. Francaviglia V., Palmieri A.M. Petrochemical analysis of the "Early Khartoum" pottery: a preliminary report. Origini 1983, XII:191-205.
12. Garzanti E., Andò S., Vezzoli G., Abdel Megid A.A., El Kammar A. Petrology of Nile River sands (Ethiopian and Sudan): sediment budgets and erosion patterns. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2006, 252:327-341.
13. Gatto M.C. The most ancient pottery from the Dongola Reach (Northern Sudan): new data from the SFDAS survey related to the construction of the Merowe Dam. Archéol. Nil. Moyen 2006, 10:73-86.
14. Grifa C., De Bonis A., Langella A., Mercurio M., Soricelli G., Morra V. ALate Roman ceramic production from Pompeii. J.Archaeol. Sci. 2013, 40:810-826.
15. Hays T.R., Hassan F. Mineralogical analysis of Sudanese Neolithic ceramics. Archaeometry 1974, 16:71-79.
16. Jesse F. Rahib 80/87. Ein Wavy-Line-Fundplatzim Wadi Howar und die früheste Keramik in Nordafrika. Africa Praehist. 2003, 16. Heinrich-BarthInstitut, Köln.
17. Khabir A.M. Petrographic and X-ray analyses of Neolithic pottery from Sarurab. Nyame Akuma 1987, 28:45-46.
18. Khabir A.M. The firing index of Neolithic pottery from Central Nile. Nyame Akuma 1991, 35:33-35.
19. Khabir A.M. Aqualitative change in the texture of temper of Neolithic ceramics from the Central Nile Valley. Sahara 1991, 4:145-147.
20. Klein M., Jesse F., Kasper H.U., Gölden A. Chemical characterization of ancient pottery from Sudan by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), electron microprobe analysis (EMPA) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Archaeometry 2004, 46:339-356.
21. ®): a pilot study on LB I pottery from Akrotiri, Thera. J.Archaeol. Sci. 2011, 38:219-232.
22. Krumbein W.C., Sloss L.L. Stratigraphy and Sedimentation 1963, Freeman & Co, San Francisco, 660 pp. second ed.
23. Livingood P.C., Cordell A.S. Point/counter point: the accuracy of digital image analysis and flexibility of digital techniques in the analysis of ceramic thin sections. J.Archaeol. Sci. 2009, 36:867-872.
24. Ministry of Energy & Mining, Geological Research Authority of Sudan, 2004. Geological Map of the Sudan 1:2,000,000 scale.
25. Peters J. Mesolithic fishing along the Central Sudanese Nile and Lower Atbara. Sahara 1991, 4:33-40.
26. Reedy C.L. Review of digital image analysis of petrographic thin sections in conservation research. J.Am. Inst. Conserv. 2006, 45:127-146.
27. Reedy C.L. Thin-Section Petrography of Stone and Ceramic Cultural Materials 2008, Archetype Publications Ltd, London.
28. Ryan, P., Out, W.A., García-Granero, J.J., Madella, M., Usai, D. Plant microremains fromthe white deposits and skeletons of Ghaba and R12 cemeteries. Identification and implications. In: Lecointe, Y., Salvatori, S., Usai, D., Gradel, C. (Eds.), Ghaba: an Early Neolithic Cemetery in Central Sudan. Paris. (in press).
29. Salvatori S. Disclosing archaeological complexity of the Khartoum Mesolithic. New data at the site and regional level. Afr. Archaeol. Rev. 2012, 29:399-472.
30. Salvatori S., Usai D., Zerboni A. Mesolithic site formation and palaeoenvironment along the White Nile (Central Sudan). Afr. Archaeol. Rev. 2011, 28:177-211.
31. Salvatori S., Usai D., Faroug M.A., Di Matteo A., Iacumin P., Lindseele V., Magzoub M.K. Archaeology at Al Khiday: new insight on the prehistory and history of Central Sudan. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference of Nubian Studies 2014, 243-257. Peeter, Leuven. J.R. Anderson, D.A. Welsby (Eds.).
32. Schiffer M.B., Skibo J.M. Theory and experiment in the study of technological change. Curr. Anthropol. 1987, 28(5):595-622.
33. Schiffer M.B., Skibo J.M., Boelke T.C., Neupert M.A., Aronson M. New perspectives on experimental archaeology: surface treatments and thermal response of the clay cooking pot. Am. Antiq. 1994, 59(2):197-217.
34. Sterba J.H., Mommsen H., Steinhauser G., Bichler M. The influence of different tempers on the composition of pottery. J.Archaeol. Sci. 2009, 36:1582-1589.
35. Tite M., Kilikoglou V., Vekinis G. Strength, toughness and thermal shock resistance of ancient ceramics, and their influence on technological choice. Archaeometry 2001, 43:301-324.
36. Usai D., Salvatori S. The oldest representation of a Nile boat. Antiquity 2007, 81:314.
37. Usai D. Recent advances in understanding the Prehistory of Central Sudan. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference of Nubian Studies 2014, 31-44. Peeters, Leuven. J.R. Anderson, D.A. Welsby (Eds.).
38. Van Neer W. Fishing along the Nile. Late Prehistory of the Nile Basin and the Sahara 1989, 49-56. Poznán Archaeological Museum, Poznán. L. Krzyżaniak, M. Kobusiewicz (Eds.).
39. Van Neer W. La péche dans le Nil égyptien durant la préhistoire. Archéo-Nil 1994, 4:17-25.
40. Velde B., Druc I.C. Archaeological Ceramic Materials: Origin and Utilization 1999, Springer, Berlin.
41. Whitbread I.K. Aproposal for the systematic description of thin sections towards the study of ancient ceramic technology. Proceedings of the 25th International Symposium of Archaeometry 1989, 127-138. Elsevier, Amsterdam. Y. Maniatis (Ed.).
42. Yassin A.A., Khalil F.K., El Shafie A.G. Explanatory Note to the Geological Map at the Scale of 1:2,000,000 of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan (1981 edn.) 1984, Ministry of Energy and Mining Geological & Mineral Resources Department, Bull. 35, 62 pp.
43. Zedeño M.N. Neolithic ceramic production in the Eastern Sahara of Egypt. The Pottery of Nabta Playa 2001, vol. 2:51-64. New York. K. Nelson (Ed.).
44. Zerboni A. Micromorphology reveals in situ Mesolithic living floors and archaeological features in multiphase sites in Central Sudan. Geoarchaeol. Int. J. 2011, 26:365-391.