Multidisciplinary and Multiperspective Engagement with Early Ceramics

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As they are ubiquitous in the material record, ceramics have long been a major concern of archaeological research. To gain further insight into processes of ceramic production and related socio-cultural issues, in many parts of the world has become common to refer to ethnographic data and conduct ethnoarchaeological studies. In Chinese archaeology, ceramic analysis is of crucial importance, too, but ethnoarchaeological explorations have so far been limited. Furthermore, neither in China nor in other parts of the world is it common to combine ethnographic research with scientific analyses of ceramic material both ancient and modern. This presentation suggests a new approach to research on ceramic production by combining four bodies of data: geographic background, archaeological finds, ethnoarchaeological work, and material analysis. Additionally, this paper suggests taking the engagement of modern potters with ancient ceramics into account and to explore the interplay between archaeological research and present-day potting practices. The case study chosen here is the painted pottery of northwest China which has long received much attention because of its high-level craftsmanship and aesthetic appeal, attracting archaeologists, art historians, modern potters, and the general public alike. This intricate interplay between past, present, and future, between archaeologists, potters, and modern-day consumers is fascinating to observe and be part of as it very forcibly reminds us how the past is (re)created in the present by a variety of actors constantly posing the question of “who owns the past?”

Dr. Anke Hein is Associate Professor in Chinese Archaeology at the University of Oxford and St Hugh’s College. She is an anthropological archaeologist focusing on prehistoric and early historic China, especially the so-called border regions. Her research interests include, culture contact, human-environment interaction, ceramic technology, ethnoarchaeology, and the history and practice of archaeology in China and beyond. She has been involved in numerous fieldwork-based, lab-based, and museum-based research projects, and currently serves as PI on the projects “Excavating Andersson: Unlocking Forgotten Treasures in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities (MFEA), Stockholm” and Co-PI on the project “Human Response to High Altitude Environmental Change.” Core publications of hers include the 2017 monograph The Burial Record of Prehistoric Liangshan in Southwest China: Graves as Composite Objects, several edited volumes and numerous articles published in peer-reviewed journals in English, Chinese, and German including work on ceramic technology, human movement in early imperial China, culture contact across western China, the role of typology in Chinese archaeology, and on female archaeologists in China.

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