Abstract
This paper uses examples of ethnographic clay sourcing strategies from coastal and central Kenyan communities (Digo, Jomvu, Chonyi, Tigania and Mbeere), and potsherds from the Manda archaeological site in Kenya (seventh-fourteenth centuries AD), to illustrate archaeological clay variability and discuss cultural and social behaviour which may contribute to paste inconsistences in an archaeological assemblage. I demonstrate that while function and environmental constraints influence the potters’ decision in the selection of clay sources/treatment, the choice may also be influenced by other factors such as aesthetics, which are dependent on the values of the customer, and in some cases, societal taboos. I also argue that clay sources are not always indicators of production centres, and that heterogeneity and homogeneity in paste composition could imply production centres and customer homesteads respectively.
Résumé
Cet article utilise des exemples ethnographiques de Coastal and central Kenyan collectivités-Digo, Jomvu, Chonyi, Tigania et Mbeere - et poteries archéologiques du site de Manda au Kenya (7e-14e siècles de notre ère) pour illustrer la variabilité de l’argile archéologique et discuter comportements culturels et sociaux qui peuvent contribuer à la variabilité dans un assemblage archéologique. Cet article démontre que bien que la fonction et contraintes environnementales influencent la décision de potier dans la sélection des sources d’argile et de soins, le choix peut également déterminer par d’autres facteurs tels que l’esthétique qui dépendent des valeurs de la client et dans certains tabous sociétaux de cas. Le document affirme également que les sources de production d’argile ne sont pas toujours des indicateurs des centres de production, et que l’hétérogénéité et homogénéité dans collent composition pourrait impliquer des centres de production et de la clientèle propriété familiale respectivement.
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Acknowledgments
My most sincere gratitude goes to the editors of this journal for their comments which helped to greatly improve this article. I must thank Prof Valentine Roux for her support during the collection of data and after; to Drs Mathew Davies, Stephanie Wayne-Jones, and Prof. Simiyu Wandibba, I say many thanks for their assistance in shaping my arguments. Last but not the least, I am most grateful to all the potters out there who agreed to let me observe and interview them.
Funding
African Archaeological Network and the University of Paris X funded the initial field research and The British Institute in Eastern Africa provided grants for the follow-up field trips. Grantors did not provide any conditions to the grants
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Archaeological Period: Iron Age and Ethno-archaeology Region: coast and highlands of Kenya
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M’Mbogori, F.N. Ethnographic Clay Sourcing Practices: Insights for Archaeological Assemblage Interpretations. Afr Archaeol Rev 35, 597–608 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-018-9316-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-018-9316-0