Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Technical Skills

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Ceramics and Society

  • 1206 Accesses

Abstract

Chapter 5 complements the analysis of technical traditions by dealing with skills involved in forming techniques and degrees of expertise. Skills are remarkable markers of learning niches and networks for characterizing social groups as well as technical changes. Research on the expertise theme addresses the question of skill variability through markers significant of manufacturing difficulties, execution awkwardness, or motor habits. These markers aim to assess indirectly the skill investment, the rate of ceramic production, or the organization of craft production (learners versus experts, domestic versus specialized, size of workshops). The necessary interdisciplinary dimension of skill-related studies is emphasized, and the methodology is exposed, with a view to validating hypotheses.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Arcellin-Pradelle, C., & Laubenheimer, F. (1982). Une mission d’archéo-ethnologie: les ateliers de potiers traditionnels dans les provinces de Valencia et de Castellon (Espagne). Techniques et Technologie. Sources Documentaires 5. Institut de Recherches Méditerranéennes, Université de Provence, 27–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arcellin-Pradelle, C., & Laubenheimer, F. (1985). La notion de série de production en céramique tournée. Techniques et Technologie. Sources Documentaires. Institut de Recherches Méditerranéennes, Université de Provence, 129–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold, D., & Nieves, A. L. (1992). Factors affecting ceramic standardization. In G. J. Bey III & C. A. Pool (Eds.), Ceramic production and distribution: An integrated approach (pp. 113–214). Boulder: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benco, N. L. (1988). Morphological standardization: An approach to the study of craft specialization. In C. Kolb & L. Lackey (Eds.), A pot for all reasons: Ceramic ecology revisited (pp. 57–72). Philadelphia: Temple University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackman, M. J., Stein, G. J., & Vandiver, P. B. (1993). The standardization hypothesis and ceramic mass production: Technological, compositional and metrix indexes of craft specialization at Tell Leilan, Syria. American Antiquity, 58, 60–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bril, B. (1984). Description du geste technique: quelles méthodes? Techniques & Culture, 3, 81–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bril, B. (1991). Les gestes de percussion: analyse d’un mouvement technique. In D. Chevallier (Ed.), Savoir-faire et Pouvoir transmettre. Transmission et apprentissage des savoir-faire et des techniques (pp. 61–80). Paris: Editions de la Maisons des Sciences de l’Homme.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bril, B. (2002). L’apprentissage de gestes techniques: ordre de contraintes et variations culturelles. In B. Bril & V. Roux (Eds.), Le geste technique. Réflexions méthodologiques et anthropologiques (pp. 113–150. Technologies/ Idéologies/ Pratiques). Ramonville Saint-Agne: Editions érès.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bril, B. (2011). Retour sur «Description du geste technique». Techniques & Culture, 54–55, 242–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bril, B. (2015). Learning to use tools: A functional approach to action. In L. Filletaz & S. Billet (Eds.), Learning through and for practice: Contributions from francophone perspectives (pp. 95–118). Cham: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bril, B., & Goasdoué, R. (2009). Du mouvement sans sens ou du sens sans mouvement: rôle des finalités et des contextes dans l’étude des comportements moteurs. Intellectica, 51, 27–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bril, B., Roux, V., & Dietrich, G. (2005). Stone knapping: Khambhat (India), a unique opportunity? In V. Roux & B. Bril (Eds.), Stone knapping: The necessary conditions for a uniquely hominin behaviour (pp. 53–72). Cambridge: Mc Donald Institute for Archaeological Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bril, B., Smaers, J., Steele, J., Rein, R., Nonaka, T., Dietrich, G., Biryukova, E., Hirata, S., & Roux, V. (2012). Functional mastery of percussive technology in nut-cracking and stone-flaking actions: Experimental comparison and implications for the evolution of the human brain. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 367, 59–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Budden, S. (2008). Skill amongst the sherds: Understanding the role of skill in the early to late middle bronze age in Hungary. In I. Berg (Ed.), Breaking the Mould (pp. 1–17). Oxford: Archaeopress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caiger-Smith, A. (1995). Pottery, people and time. Somerset: Richard Dennis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colomer, E. (1995). Pràctiques socials de manufactura ceràmica: anàlisis morfomètriques i tecnològiques al sud-est de la Península Ibérica, 2200–1500 cal ane. Barcelona: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costin, C. L. (1991). Craft specialization: Issues in defining, documenting and explaining the organization of production. In M. B. Schiffer (Ed.), Archaeological method and theory (Vol. 3, pp. 1–56). Tucson: The University of Arizona Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costin, C. L. (2000). The use of ethnoarchaeology for the archaeological study of ceramic production. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 7(4), 377–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costin, C. L., & Hagstrum, M. B. (1995). Standardization, labor investment, skill, and the organization of ceramic production in late prehispanic highland Peru. American Antiquity, 60(4), 619–639.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crown, P. L. (2001). Learning to make pottery in the Prehispanic American Southwest. Journal of Anthropological Research, 57, 451–469.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crown, P. L. (2007). Life histories of pots and potters: Situating the individual in archaeology. American Antiquity, 72, 677–690.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crown, P. L. (2014). The archaeology of crafts learning: Becoming a Potter in the Puebloan Southwest. Annual Review of Anthropology, 43, 71–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eerkens, J. W., & Bettinger, R. L. (2001). Techniques for assessing standardization in artifact assemblages: Can we scale material variability? American Antiquity, 66, 493–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ericson, K. A., & Lehman, A. C. (1996). Expert and exceptional performance: Evidence from maximal adaptation to task constraints. Annual Review of Psychology, 47, 273–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gandon, E. (2014). To what extent do traditional motor skills reveal a cultural model? Field experiments with expert French and Indian potters. Annales de la Fondation Fyssen, 29, 47–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gandon, E., Casanova, R., Sainton, P., Coyle, T., Roux, V., Bril, B., & Bootsma, R. J. (2011). A proxy of potters’ throwing skill: Ceramic vessels considered in terms of mechanical stress. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38, 1080–1089.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gandon, E., Coyle, T., Bootsma, R. J., Roux, V., & Endler, J. A. (2018). Individuals amongst the pots: How do traditional ceramic shapes vary between potters? Ecological Psychology, 31, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/10407413.2018.1438200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gelbert, A. (1997). De l’élaboration au tour au tournage sur motte: difficultés motrices et conceptuelles. Techniques et cultures, 30, 1–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gelbert, A. (2003). Traditions céramiques et emprunts techniques dans la vallée du fleuve Sénégal. Ceramic traditions and technical borrowings in the Senegal River Valley. Paris: Editions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme, Editions Epistèmes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grenier, J. Y., Grignon, C., & Menger, P. M. (2001). Le Modèle et le Récit. Paris: Editions de la MSH.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamp, K. A. (2001). Prehistoric children working and playing: A southwestern case study in learning ceramics. Journal of Anthropological Research, 57, 427–450.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kvamme, K. L., Stark, M. T., & Longacre, W. A. (1996). Alternative procedures for assessing standardization in ceramic assemblages. American Antiquity, 61(1), 116–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • London, G. A. (1991). Standardization and variation in the work of craft specialists. In W. A. Longacre (Ed.), Ceramic Ethnoarchaeology (pp. 182–204). Tucson: The University of Arizona Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Longacre, W. A. (1991). Sources of ceramic variability among the Kalinga of Northern Luzon. In W. A. Longacre (Ed.), Ceramic Ethnoarchaeology (pp. 95–110). Tucson: The University of Arizona press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Longacre, W. A. (1999). Standardization and specialization: What’s the link? In J. M. Skibo & G. M. Feinman (Eds.), Pottery and people: A dynamic interaction (pp. 44–58). Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Longacre, W. A., Kvamme, K. L., & Kobayashi, M. (1988). Southwestern pottery standardization: An ethnoarchaeological view from the Philippines. Kiva, 53, 101–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayor, A. (2010). Traditions céramiques dans la boucle du Niger. Ethnoarchéologie et histoire du peuplement au temps des empires précoloniaux (Journal of African Archaeology Monographs Series 7). Frankfurt am Main: Africa Magna Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minar, C. J., & Crown, P. L. (2001). Learning and craft production: An introduction. Journal of Anthropological Research, 57, 369–380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newell, K. M. (1986). Constraints on the development of coordination. In M. G. Wade & H. T. A. Whiting (Eds.), Motor skill acquisition. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olivier de Sardan, J. P. (1988). Jeu de la croyance et “je” ethnologique: exotisme religieux et ethno-égo-centrisme. Cahiers d’Etudes Africaines, 28, 527–540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parry, R., Dietrich, G., & Bril, B. (2014). Tool use ability depends on understanding of functional dynamics and not specific joint contribution profiles. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(306), 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed, E. S. (1988). Applying the theory of action systems to research to the study of motor skills. Advances in Psychology, 50, 45–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reed, E. S., & Bril, B. (1996). The primacy of action in development. A commentary of N. Bernstein. In M. Latash (Ed.), Dexterity and its development (pp. 431–451). Hillsdale: Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rein, R., Nonaka, T., & Bril, B. (2014). Movement pattern variability in stone knapping: Implications for the development of percussive traditions. PLoS One, 9, e113567.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rice, P. (1991). Specialization, standardization and diversity: A retrospective. In R. L. Bishop & F. W. Lange (Eds.), The ceramic legacy of Anna O. Shepard (pp. 257–279). Boulder, Colorado: University Press of Colorado.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rice, P. M. (1984). Change and conservatism in pottery-producing systems. In The many dimensions of pottery. Ceramics in archaeology and anthropology (pp. 231–288). Amsterdam: Universiteit van Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V. (1989). Development of a taxonomy to measure throwing difficulties of prehistorical and protohistorical ceramic vessels. In The Potter’s wheel. Craft specialization and technical competence (pp. 93–145). New Delhi: Oxford and IBH publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V. (1990). The psychological analysis of technical activities: A contribution to the study of craft specialization. Archaeological Review from Cambridge, 9, 142–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V. (1997). Archéologie et cognition : habiletés impliquées dans les techniques du passé. Journal des Anthropologues, 70., Anthropologie et cognition, 51–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V. (2003a). A dynamic systems framework for studying technological change: Application to the emergence of the potter’s wheel in the southern Levant. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 10, 1–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V. (2003b). Ceramic standardization and intensity of production: Quantifying degrees of specialization. American Antiquity, 68, 768–782.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V. (2009). The potter’s wheel in Middle Bronze II in the Southern Levant: Technological study of the Beth Shean ceramics. The Arkeotek Journal ( www.thearkeotekjournal.org ), 3.

  • Roux, V. (2012). Pour une étude des habiletés techniques selon une approche interdisciplinaire. In S. de Beaune & H. P. Francfort (Eds.), L’archéologie à découvert (pp. 99–104). Paris: CNRS Editions.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V. (2015). Cultural transmission, migration and plain wheel made pottery in the MB II Southern Levant. In C. Glatz (Ed.), Plain pottery traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean and near east. Production, use, and social significance (pp. 69–90). Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V., & Bril, B. (2002a). Observation et expérimentation de terrain: des collaborations fructueuses pour l’analyse de l’expertise technique. Le cas de la taille de pierre en Inde. In B. Bril & V. Roux (Eds.), Le geste technique. Réflexions méthodologiques et anthropologiques (pp. 29–48. Technologies/ Idéologies/ Pratiques). Ramonville Saint-Agne: Editions érès.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V., & Bril, B. (2002b). Des “programmes” d’apprentissage comparables pour des actions techniques différentes. In B. Bril & V. Roux (Eds.), Le geste technique. Réflexions méthodologiques et anthropologiques (pp. 231–242. Technologies/ Idéologies/ Pratiques). Ramonville Saint-Agne: Editions érès.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V., Bril, B., & Dietrich, G. (1995). Skills and learning difficulties involved in stone knapping: The case of stone-bead knapping in Khambhat, India. World Archaeology, 27, 63–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V., & Corbetta, D. (1989). Wheel-throwing technique and craft specialization. In The Potter’s wheel. Craft specialization and technical competence (pp. 1–91). New Delhi: Oxford and IBH Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V., & Karasik, A. (2018). Standardized vessels and number of potters: Looking for individual production. In J. Vukovic & I. Miloglav (Eds.), Artisans rule: Product standardization and craft specialization in prehistoric society (pp. 20–39). Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stark, B. L. (1995a). Problems in analysis of standardization and specialization in pottery. In B. Mills & P. L. Crown (Eds.), Ceramic production in the American Southwest (pp. 231–267). Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stark, M. T. (1995b). Economic intensification and ceramic specialization in the Philippines: A view from Kalinga. Research in Economic Anthropology, 16, 179–226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitelli, K. D. (1989). Were pots first made for foods ? Doubts from Franchti. World Archaeology, 21, 17–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitelli, K. D. (1993). Franchti Neolithic pottery. Vol. 1. Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indian University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warnier, J. P. (2001). A praxeological approach to subjectivation in a material world. Journal of Material Culture, 6(1), 5–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Préhistoire & Technologie, UMR 7055, French National Centre for Scientific Research, Nanterre, France

    Valentine Roux

Authors
  1. Valentine Roux
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Roux, V. (2019). Technical Skills. In: Ceramics and Society. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03973-8_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03973-8_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-03972-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-03973-8

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation