21 Change and Stability in Pottery Production

Pottery is physically very sensitive to change due to its plastic and additive nature. Thus, archaeologists are often able to observe changes and continuities in the features of the vessels but, a priori, the dynamics ruling over these changes and their intensity are unknown. However, ethnography has also demonstrated that both potters and their products can be very conservative and reluctant to change, even in social environments in which there is severe acculturation. The reason is that the adoption of an innovation is always an action that individuals carry out consciously, thus involving some reflection of at least certain aspects of technology. In this way, in certain circumstances, people may react and generate an innovation, especially if they are under external pressure or their biological or social survival depends on it (Arthur, 2007; Bonifay, 2007; Dobres and Hoffman, 1994; García Rosselló, 2008; Lavan, 2007; Mannoni, 2007; Vince, 2009).

There are multiple viewpoints to interpret technological change in pottery. The determination of the factors which may cause change in the ceramics can therefore depend largely on the perspective of the analyses applied. In any case, among the several proposals available, functional and ecological perspectives are the ones most widely used to deal with technological change in material culture. Thus, interpretations that do not use evolutionary perspectives in terms of “progress” or functionalist approaches in terms of “efficiency” are quite unusual in pottery studies. In this sense, the explanation of change from other viewpoints is one of the remaining issues for archaeological interpretation and specifically for ceramic technology. In short, the dynamic dimension of the objects is often neglected in many studies. It is then crucial to reconsider this dynamism since, as seen before, it can greatly transform the meaning of material culture in both time and space.

21.1 Pottery Change in Processual Archaeology

From a processualist viewpoint, it is assumed that changes take place at a systemic level and generate an intense feedback. In this theoretical framework, the change recorded in the chaînes opératoires, the organisation of production and the pottery itself has been typically explained according to ecological and economic models that promote certain adjustments in other subsystems. In this sense, a change in the intensification of agricultural production is considered to affect not only the diet, but also the ceramics, architecture, settlement pattern, political and social order, etc. (Arthur, 2007; Schiffer and Skibo, 1987).

Changes in these subsystems affect the lifestyle of the individual and cause alterations in one or more technologies, thus producing disruptions in the biological, social and ideological function of the artefacts. This process encourages innovation and change in technology and materiality as a whole. Thus, the changes generated in the ceramic material ultimately involve a better adaptation to the environment and a greater ability to act on it.

Authors such as P. Rice (1984a) explained the change in ceramics with the concepts of equilibrium and oscillation from systems theory. In this sense, there are external and internal elements that cause cyclical qualitative and quantitative oscillations in stable cultural contexts. Changes at the internal level occur due to problems or “pathologies” originated within society itself. Furthermore, there are multiple external factors that can distort and affect the system as a whole (vide infra). These disruptions can be differently reflected in the features of the pottery, for instance through the substitution, addition or subtraction of certain elements. In this sense, this scholar notes that the process of subtraction is the easiest to identify in archaeological terms.

For instance, when a conquest takes place, the change in the local ceramic is usually subtractive rather than additive or substitutive. Thus, it can result in the elimination or the alteration of certain phases of the chaîne opératoire, such as the addition of temper or the application of slips. In this regard, P. Rice (1984a) cites the case of the Aztec hand-made productions after the Spanish conquest. In this case, potters neither incorporated new designs nor did they stop to manufacture vessels. Instead, changes were mainly focused on those actions and phases of the chaîne opératoire that affected less the aesthetic and the technical dimensions of pottery. For the Spaniards, it was easier to train the individuals that had been out of the traditional pottery production in the use of new manufacturing techniques (e.g., wheel-thrown, kiln, etc.), rather than to teach the ancient potters new forms of production.

We can see that in these interpretations of change the individuals are passive. Changes are imposed from outside or from top to bottom and people do not have any chance to become active agents. In this sense, it is said that infrequent actions are not taken by potters unless new problems or needs arise which require an innovative interaction with the materials (Van As, 1984). Similarly, P. Rice (1984a) concludes that people usually do not change their behaviour just because they consider an alternative attractive, but rather because they fail to see the procedures that they were following feasible in the short-term.

From a functionalist perspective, the force of change in pottery technology is constituted by the feedback that takes place between individuals, objects and use, where the biological, social and ideological dimensions are more or less constant. A change in consumption patterns and the way the users assign to the vessels can promote modifications in the manufacturing process and the organisation of production. Thus, through mechanisms such as experimentation, individuals can improve the functional adaptation of their products according to the user’s practical needs in a process in which technology itself can also promote social change (Hoard et al., 1995; Schiffer and Skibo, 1987). In these cases, a slower innovation rate and an increased standardisation of the method of production may indicate that the objects produced are, from a technical perspective, highly suitable for a specific function, and that, therefore, their effectiveness has significantly increased (Calvo, 2007).

In short, such positions have paid more attention to the use of the vessels than to their production in order to explain technological change. Thus, Kingery (1984) has pointed out that once the potters recognise a number of users’ needs that are not satisfied, they can quickly adopt certain technological choices, materials and techniques in order to address such needs, always keeping in mind the resources available. Once the maximum efficiency is reached, the changes made to the vessels are limited and related to stylistic or social aspects that are considered secondary in the production process. This is the case of features that act as potter’s signatures (e.g., decorative patterns) which are aimed at identifying and distinguishing an ethnic group, lineage or production unit, etc.

The ecological, economic and functional perspectives understand that it is necessary to invest in certain materials and energy in order to achieve a pottery adapted to the environment and pre-existing needs. In this sense, many changes can be introduced in the pottery-making process in order to reduce the energy needed for production (Rice, 1984b). Nevertheless, in this same line of thought, technological change itself does not exist without a cost. Potters must learn new behaviours related to the management of resources, the manufacturing process and the properties of the vessels with which they are unfamiliar. Thus, until the potters move with ease in the use of new techniques and materials, they must experiment with new clay sources, raw materials, techniques and even tools that meet the new needs of the production. This situation, in addition to increasing the risk of failure in the pottery production, generates a process of experimentation through which potters try to achieve an efficient artefact according to their needs, knowledge and abilities (Arnold, 2000).

The uncertainty that derives from putting poorly standardised products into circulation as a consequence of some new behavioural patterns of the potters also affects the users. These users should know the reasons underlying the changes introduced in the artefacts and which are the functional possibilities or physical properties of the vessels they purchase, as well as the type of maintenance they require. In short, the risk of failure of the activities developed by the users is also increased if these parameters are poorly stipulated.

According to the processualist viewpoint, widespread changes regarding the manufacture and use of the pottery are produced as a result of transcultural ways of perceiving reality and of common cognitive structures. An example linking diet and ceramics is related to perceptual abilities such as the sense of taste, which is partially influenced by the contents that are filtered into the vessel walls through the pores (Skibo, 1992). In many societies taste can play an important role in the cultural justification of the use of certain ceramic assemblages and culinary methods (Arnold, 1985; Skibo, 1992). Thus, one argument that is often used for the maintenance of traditional cooking vessels in the culinary tradition is precisely the characteristic flavour that their use gives to the food cooked in them. The perception of a particular flavour can inhibit change in many societies, since the taste of foodstuffs is considered a key element of culture (Balfet, 1984; Mills, 1999; Rice, 1984b; Schiffer and Skibo, 1987; Sillar and Tite, 2000).

In short, from this perspective the adaptation to the environment and the use of the vessels, along with common cognitive structures, determine the way in which transcultural technological changes are manifested in the pottery as well as how they relate to certain forms of social organisation. Nevertheless, there are two processes that make the interpretation of the changes in the attributes of the artefacts exclusively by means of practical or adaptive terms more difficult. On the one hand, although in this perspective both the individual and the material culture are understood as passive agents unable to generate changes (Hodder, 1991), it is accepted that there is some variability in the pottery as a consequence of individual strategies based on artistic and social criteria. Thus, these individual actions have little to do with functional or technical purposes. On the other hand, it is thought that changes in the function do not always entail changes in the characteristics of the objects, since reuse or amortization processes often involve just a translation of the contexts of use (Hodder, 1991; Mills, 1999; Nelson, 1987 in Schiffer and Skibo, 1987; Rice, 1984b; Van As, 1984). Finally, such theoretical positions entail epistemological problems, since the cause (i.e., the change itself) is at the same time a consequence of the change: researchers always refer to the subsequent effect rather than to the origin of the change itself or the people’s intentions and previous ideas (Hodder, 1991).

In the following paragraphs we summarise some of the processes that, from a systemic viewpoint, are considered to be involved in the technological change in pottery.

a) External Contacts

Changes in the pottery can result from external processes. People are not static but move around the territory, giving rise to cultural contacts, migrations and returns, commercial links, conquests and invasions, etc. In this sense, the information exchange that takes place between people as a result of these contacts and movements can promote changes and innovations in the material culture that individuals make and use not only in their socioeconomic relations but also in other aspects such as culinary traditions (Lavan, 2007; Mills, 1999; Steponaitis, 1984).

As it is well documented in many cultures and places, for example in Scandinavian or British prehistory (Mannoni, 2007; Williams, 1982), intense contact with external agents affect the system and reactivate certain internal stimuli that can cause changes in pottery production. These dynamics can promote changes in the knowledge transfer systems and the organisation of production that are reflected in the end products, for example, in the types of vessels produced or the techniques and materials used in their manufacture. An evidence of the impact of these contacts in pottery production is the emergence of new forms, manufactured or not with the same techniques and materials, linked with ideas, values, aesthetic standards or traditions that differ from the ones traditionally established in a given society. This process of interaction between internal and external agents can culminate, for instance, in the production of vessels inspired in foreign models or the adoption of certain techniques such as the potter’s wheel. The contacts can also result in a close interaction between the different types of ceramics (e.g., hand-made or wheel-made pottery) in certain contexts. Furthermore, the opposite phenomenon occurs when there is a geographical or social isolation of some potter communities or social groups. In this case, this isolation may promote more stable pottery traditions.

In the case of asymmetrical cultural contacts, one of the reasons that may promote change in the pottery is the different value given to the vessels by traditional and dominant societies (Rice, 1987). Thus, external agents and indigenous peoples can attach different values to the objects they exchange (Krueger, 2008). As pointed out by H. Neff (2014), regardless of the value of the product, the transport of the vessels in itself increases the cost of pottery, so that the presence of imported materials can be related to the dynamics of social hierarchy. Moreover, the emergence of imported wares in local contexts may involve a depreciation of the social value of locally produced ceramics (Albero, 2011a). In these situations, the use of local wares can be rejected in certain contexts and activities. All this process of depreciation can trigger changes in the organisation of the local pottery production and in some technical features of the products, such as the level of standardisation of the fabrics and their quality. The emergence of a situation in which imported ceramic wares compete with pottery manufactured by means of traditional procedures may favour, therefore, a restructuration of the indigenous production systems. Hence, the potters may try to adjust their technological traditions to a new situation in which their traditional human and material resources, in a way, do not make sense any more (Pfaffenberger, 1992).

b) Subsistence Strategy

It has been observed that alterations in the techniques, materials and forms of the ceramics often coincide with major systemic changes related to adjustments in the subsistence strategies carried on and the lifestyle of people. A good example is the decline of the Roman society in the fifth century AD and the subsequent change to hand-made pottery productions in many areas where wheel-made productions were highly standardised (Arthur, 2007). Therefore, subsistence strategy and lifestyle are elements that can affect the use of space, the management of resources and the users’ demand. In short, these are factors that can promote changes in the organisation of ceramic production, the materials used and the end products obtained (Mannoni, 2007; Schiffer and Skibo, 1987; Varela, 1990).

In many societies, pottery plays a key role in food preparation, storage and consumption patterns, aspects that are closely related to subsistence strategies. In this sense, changes in productivity can cause variations in the size of the vessels. An example is the cooking wares from Puebla (USA), which increased in size matching the intensification of agricultural production. Increasing agricultural productivity may also involve expanding the level of pottery production, thus affecting the amount of storage vessels produced, for instance. In cases in which surpluses are generated, these can be used for trade. In this context the amount of pottery produced (e.g., large storage vessels such as amphorae) can significantly increase, thus exceeding the needs of the households (Mills, 1999).

From this functional perspective, changes in both diet and subsistence patterns may also promote certain technological innovations, such as the development of particular cooking wares (Arthur, 2007; Skibo, 1992). For example, it is argued that the changes observed in the pottery fabrics in Moundville (Alabama, USA) during 500 BC-1500 AD – i.e., the introduction of shell temper to the paste – are associated with modifications in the diet (Stepoinatis, 1984). In the same way, the pre-existing subsistence strategy can also determine the mechanisms for water supply. This aspect can influence, for instance, the amount of water jars that can be found in an archaeological site. In this sense, there are ethnographic cases in which the distance to the water sources is too far or the topography of the territory limits the access to this resource; thus the increased water demand expands the production of transport jars and large water storage vessels (Arnold, 1985).

Economy is one of the subsystems that most frequently generate changes, since the pressure and competition existing in market economies may encourage potters to introduce technological innovations. The economic basis determines the forms of organisation of production and may alter the ceramic record through changes in the level of production, the functional specialisation of the end products or the development of particular potter’s skills. The economy also regulates the viability of the processes and human or material resources involved in pottery production. These economic elements can be significant even in societies in which pottery is produced on a small scale and is intended for local or self-consumption (Mannoni, 2007).

c) Distance between Producers and Users

As previously stated, the end-users demand pottery according to their needs. Therefore, the demand that they make of certain products affects the way potters develop their production as well as the distribution patterns of the vessels. On the one hand, it is thought that the significant utilitarian function of certain pottery productions, as in the case of cooking wares, usually promotes a higher technological stability (Rice, 1984b, 1987). On the other hand, the way the consumers use the vessels can promote changes in certain parameters of pottery production according to their changing needs. Thus, the relationship existing between potters and users is essential to explain the change in pottery technology. Both agents exchange information and meanings, as well as settle on a social compromise about their needs and possibilities. At the end of the process and when the product is in circulation, the manufacture of pottery must provide a number of benefits to the users in adaptive terms. This also implies that certain knowledge must be transferred between producers and users regarding the purposes, functions and properties of the pottery in order to adequately develop its utilitarian role in society (Arnold, 1985; Mills, 1999; Varela, 1990).

According to several authors (Balfet, 1984, Mills, 1999; Rice, 1984b), a shorter social distance between producers and users promotes higher technological stability in the ceramics. As ethnographically observed, this assumption is especially significant when the role of producer and user falls to the same individual. However, P. Rice (1984b) notes that an increase in the distance existing between users and producers, for example through the introduction of intermediaries in the distribution of the vessels, can promote greater stability in the pottery as well. In this case, the producers carry out their production being relatively unaware of the changes that take place in the context of use and the needs of the user. In consequence, potters do not introduce changes or new technological choices in the manufacturing process.

d) Demography

The demographic changes that may take place in the contexts of use can also affect the way pottery is manufactured. For example, in the Kalinga village of Dangtalan, a correlation between the number of people that inhabit each household and the size of the cooking ware was recorded (Mills, 1999). This exemplifies that there may be a close connection between the size of the serving, storage or cooking vessels and the number of members that make up a household. Thus, a change in the composition of the domestic contexts may imply changes in the intensity and scale of pottery production as well as in the size or the technology of the vessels. Ultimately, this viewpoint stills understands the change in ceramics as an adaptation to the environment, since it argues that the size of the group is determined by the environment and the economic base. As a consequence, these are the primary factors that condition how changes are manifested in the vessels.

The size, density and growth rate of the population may influence pottery production. In situations of high demographic pressure the scale and intensity of pottery production may be significantly intensified, which in turn involves a greater pressure on the environment. Thus, the changes in production can be clearly determined by the relationship that humans establish with their natural environment (vide infra). In this way, demographic factors are highly relevant in the way this relationship takes place. In this sense, authors such as W. Waldren (1982) explain the changes in the paste recipes and technological traditions observed in the Balearic Islands during the Bronze Age by arguing that the adoption of certain technological choices promoted a more efficient and sustainable relationship with the natural environment. This scholar stated that the addition of spathic calcite into the paste as temper determined the use of low-temperature firing conditions, thus promoting the consumption of lower amounts of fuel. Ultimately, the new technological choices reduced the anthropic pressure over the environment, an aspect that could be highly relevant in a situation of gradual population growth and population concentration.

Other authors (Rice, 1984a) also consider that population changes are actively involved in the technological change recorded in pottery production. In this sense, a population increase, especially if it involves the introduction of people from outside the group, may imply the incorporation of a greater number of experiences and a higher level of exchange of new technological knowledge between individuals. This new situation may entail, therefore, the redefinition of pre-existing technological traditions.

An increase or decrease in the population may also influence how people settle in the territory. Thus, the presence of new settlement patterns affects the way pottery is distributed and used across the territory. Moreover, changes in the settlement pattern often affect the level of variability of the raw materials used in pottery production, since new clays and tempers can enter the circuit (Arnold, 2000; Rye, 1981).

e) Natural Environment

Technological stability is the consequence, in a way, of the strong relationship that exists between the resources used and certain ways of making (Rice, 1984b). As seen in previous chapters, ceramic ecology considers the technological change in pottery as the result of environmental factors (e.g., floods, droughts, etc.) which can affect the accessibility and availability of certain clays, tempers and fuels used in pottery production. It considered that it is unlikely that natural phenomena may cause an intense alteration that affects the natural resources available as a whole. However, the environment largely determines the technological choices and the kind of end products obtained, as well as their level of variability. In this sense, the disappearance, even temporarily, of a given resource may cause a redefinition of the pottery production strategy.

Thus, technical and stylistic changes in pottery may be related to the quality and amount of fuels available for pottery firing (Mannoni, 2007; Rice, 1984b; Sillar, 2000; Waldren, 1982). A fuel shortage may involve changes in the exploitation strategy of biotic resources, thus altering the amount and type of fuels used to promote greater environmental sustainability and a better balance between the several needs that people meet in their daily life.

If the fuels used in the pottery firing change, the potters would need to experiment with the firing strategy, thus increasing the risk of failure in the pottery production. In this way, changes in the fuels may cause, for instance, a reduction in the firing temperature or in the intensity and level of production (Rice, 1984b; Sillar, 2000; Waldren, 1982). This aspect may be particularly significant in areas in which there is a high population pressure on the natural environment and where resources are scarce. The management of fuel can also determine changes in the location in which the pottery production is carried out. For example, in Chamula (Mexico) or in potter communities from the Philippines, the deforestation and the subsequent absence of fuel has forced the potters to relocate their production areas (Rice, 1984b).

21.2 Agency and Change in Pottery Technology

In contrast to processualist perspectives, other theories give a more active role to the individuals and their ability to act as agents who are fully capable of promoting changes based on their social motivations. In this sense, potters may expand or constrain the adoption of certain technological innovations in their own practices and those undertaken by other individuals in order to alter or maintain their position in a given social order. The potters can develop new technologies in situations of change and disorder where they are unable to adjust and reinterpret their products according to the new social needs. In this sense, the continuity of a certain pottery technological tradition depends on the potters’ ability to modify their practices when they face change (Sillar, 1997). Furthermore, potters can also use pottery technology to perpetuate a certain social order, since their products materialise identities according to specific social structures. In this sense, potters can promote the production and distribution of certain kinds of products aiming at enhancing the visualisation of certain identities and their acceptance by other social agents.

While it cannot be forgotten that the technological choices made by potters entail certain physical constraints that determine their range for action and the development of specific chaînes opératoires, it is also clear that this perspective implies an active vision of the role of technology in society. The reason is that primarily people act and express themselves through these technological choices and practices associated with certain materials, techniques, contexts, ways of producing, using and depositing the vessels, etc. (Pool, 2000). Therefore, the choices made by the individuals in their daily life influence the social dynamics which structured any society, for example, changing the organisation of pottery production or the status of the individuals involved in it. It is in this theoretical framework where concepts such as agency, reluctance or hybrid practices allow us to articulate new discourses as well as understand the social motivations underlying technological changes (Dobres and Hoffman, 1994; García Rosselló, 2008).

It must be remembered that these intentional actions that take place in everyday activities do not always entail conscious challenges for the individuals involved (Giddens, 1979). At the same time, the study of change may allow us to understand how and why certain technological choices take place and why they are maintained or rejected through time. Thus, we can approach the way in which technological choices are related to changes in certain processes of production and use of the vessels, the lifestyle of the individuals and the way in which societies are organised (Dietler and Herbich, 1998; Vidal and García Rosselló, 2009).

Agency is possible due to the social interaction of people and the transmission of information that exists between the members of the society. In this sense, the demand for vessels is also influenced by the social and ideological role that society gives to pottery through these information flows. Changes in the intensity of these flows or in the agents and channels of communication involved affect the way information is transmitted among individuals, thus promoting the development of new meanings. Such alterations can ultimately influence the demand of certain ceramics and alter the technological choices made by potters, the organisation of production and the physical dimension of artefacts (Bentley and Maschner, 2001).

For example, an increase in population density can promote greater interaction among individuals as well as among the potters themselves (Livingstone-Smith, 2000), which may hinder the stability of the social categories established. Hence, in situations of population increase, the creation of certain dynamics (e.g., a higher regulation of pottery technology) is required in order to promote the cohesion of the community and effectively materialise a certain social structure.

Considering these premises, it can be argued that ideological changes related to new rationale patterns, tastes, aesthetic senses and fashions, for instance, can promote changes in pottery (Mannoni, 2007). The individuals express their ideas by means of a particular material culture that identifies them. In this sense, we cannot forget that ceramics are closely involved in the everyday life of people, thus creating an active link between them. Even if ceramics can be understood as embedded with the individuals themselves, it must be further considered that the pottery can change if the ideas and values of the people involved also change.

21.2.1 Technological Context

We have already seen that, through the habitus and the transmission of information, certain contexts that are consequence of specific historical practices are constantly reproduced and transformed by new historical practices whose productive principle is created by the same structures that it tends to reproduce (Bourdieu, 1977). Therefore, any technological choice responds to certain historical processes carried out by different groups of individuals that perform diverse interactions with the social and natural environment, thus generating different historical developments in the different areas and societies. Then, as noted Dornan (2002), the agency of individuals and groups as well as the motivations that explain their purposes in space and time must be necessarily approached at the micro-scale level (i.e., human scale) and through specific historical and cultural contexts.

Pottery is always embedded in a society in a specific way, which therefore creates a complex interaction between both that requires multiple lines of evidence to grasp a proper interpretation of the changes produced. In this sense, it is important to consider that there are certain constraints in pottery studies regarding the possibility to study the changes that affect society as a whole. Hence, it is crucial to relate change in ceramic technology with social practices and the variability present in the technology of any society. As a consequence, the context in which technology makes sense and the characteristics that define the societies under study must be well-known to properly explain the change found in ceramics. The meaning of pottery within the historical processes in which it is embedded can only be understood only from serious, detailed and long-term approaches which consider a rich corpus of data and macro-scalar viewpoints (Pauketat, 2001).

For example, the role of an individual’s agency and the technological interaction developed in each culture regarding the maintenance of certain food culture, foodstuffs and culinary traditions can be considered. As we have seen, these aspects are closely related to pottery technology and can promote either technological change or stability (Albero and Puerta, 2011; Dobres and Hoffman, 1994; Fuller, 2005; García Rosselló, 2008; Mannoni, 2007). Pottery is actively involved in many daily activities, such as cooking and food consumption, developed in different contexts in which an intense interaction and exchange of information takes place between the members involved in these social practices. Thus, the act of eating and drinking is a social experience present in societies with diverse scales and composition. Such practices can be extremely resistant to change, even when the individuals are in communities other than their own.

Specific consumption patterns such as feasts can favour the development of ceramics with distinctive traits (Bowser and Patton, 2004). The features of the vessels may be related, for example, to the number of people who consume specific food or to the visibility which is often associated with the act of eating. In this sense, pottery can be used as an indicator of changes in the size of the groups involved in the feasts and their social position. Thus, changes in the status of individuals and the emergence of social differences can promote modifications in the vessels (Mills, 1999).

Furthermore, the technological changes can take place at multiple levels in the ceramics. For instance, new paste recipes can coincide with adjustments in the typology or the size of the vessels. In this sense, it is important to record the presence of typological modifications in the vessels along with other technological changes since, as pointed out by Osborne (2007), the shape of the vessels can be one of the best indicators of the existence of a certain lifestyle. In this sense, a change in the forms associated with the addition of new materials such as calcite temper in the paste is documented for example in Woodland ceramics from Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois in the USA during the first millennium AD (Hoard et al., 1995), as well as in the Balearic Islands during the Bronze Age (Albero, 2011a).

While changes may take place at the macro-scale level, i.e., affecting the entire material culture, transformations in the social organisation may not necessarily have a reflection on technology. Thus, there are cases in which certain potter’s skills, methods of pottery manufacture and the use of specific materials and techniques remain stable even though significant cultural changes occur in other technologies. However, in these cases, potters can adjust their knowledge and forms of organisation to the new situation (Mannoni, 2007). In short, as I. Hodder (1982) pointed out, there is not necessarily a connection between changes in the pottery and modifications in the culture as a whole. In other words, there may be changes in the pottery, but they do not have to be simultaneous with changes in the other dimensions of material culture (e.g., settlement pattern, architecture, etc.). The same happens conversely, changes in burial patterns may not be reflected in the ceramics. This disconnection is documented, for instance, in the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in the Balearic Islands, when deep changes take place in the settlement pattern or the typology of the architectural structures but many aspects of the pottery production and other technologies show a clear continuity (Albero, 2011a).

In many cases, changes in the ceramics do not coincide with other social and political changes well-known in the historical records. In this sense pottery seems to be related to everyday events, a specific lifestyle, habitus and ways of doing things rather than to political events, although the latter can also affect the daily life of people. This discordance and disjunction suggests that a change in the material culture is not necessarily mirrored by a change in the meaning of the action, expression or object; in other words, two different objects may have the same meaning. This process can also take place in reverse: there may be changes in the meanings that are not reflected in the materiality. Artefacts, materials and techniques that are socially consolidated can be maintained but reinterpreted and adjusted to the new needs and ideas of the individuals. Finally, as we have already noted, a given technological choice may have completely divergent roles and meanings in different technologies and societies. In short, the complex interactions between individuals, objects, uses and contexts determine the acceptance of the artefacts in each society and the way technological change or stability takes place (Arthur, 2003; Lavan, 2007; Pfaffenberger, 1992; Roux, 2003).

Technological change should be understood as a multi-causal process, with different interconnected events which in turn have multiple consequences. The reason is that from the moment a technology is established in a society and associated with certain social and ideological practices, the significance of the artefacts is also related to the multiple dimensions of society. As already stated, the artefacts acquire multiple roles by means of the deep interaction that takes place between materiality, lifestyle, agency, habitus and social organisation. The changes in the techniques and materials should then be considered in a specific technological context involving several scales and kinds of elements: social, economic, political, identity, ideological, symbolic, etc.

Deep transformations in the system occur when structural change takes place. Thus, systems in which the phenomena were previously organised into well-established categories among the members of the society give rise to other self-organised critical systems, i.e., systems in which chaos and periodic adjustment of meanings and categories are the dominant dynamics (Bentley and Maschner, 2001). Processes like this allow the mutation of the categories structuring the system, thus favouring the emergence of new elements that lead to different concepts through the praxis. In this sense, we must consider which agents are able to promote changes in the pottery and what factors and contexts may promote stability and resistance. In short, we have to consider the individuals’ willingness to change, and indeed the group as a whole, since people may be more or less receptive to, or differentially motivated regarding any specific change (Dornan, 2002).

We have already mentioned that once the apprentices are trained and used generally from an early age to the dynamics that rule over the many dimensions of pottery, their ways of doing can remain quite stable throughout their life. However, it should be also considered that, even in closed societies, not all individuals are unwilling to acquire new information. In this sense, many re-conceptualisations may take place, promoting, for instance, changes in the aesthetic sense, in the tastes or the perceptual categories of the members of a given society. In these situations, potters may react or not to the new social needs. Thus, when a new technological choice is adopted, a break up between new and old potters may take place, for example. In these situations, the old potters typically try to discredit the new ones, by blaming them for changing the traditional rules and values that make up group identity (Arnold, 1999; Varela, 1990).

In summary, contextual perspectives emphasise, on the one hand, that both individuals and their active role as social agents have to be fully considered when addressing the processes dealing with technological change. On the other hand, generalizations of the patterns of change and continuity observed in different societies cannot be made, since different communities may have diverse motivations regarding the way pottery production and material culture as a whole are developed. Once more, it is convenient to apply a wide range of criteria and approaches to properly interpret technological change in ceramics. This implies considering at least functional, ecological and sociocultural factors as interrelated in specific ways in each cultural context. The complementary application of several perspectives is the basis to undertake more holistic and complex approaches to change in past societies. However, these diverse factors may not have the same relevance in the development of certain ceramic assemblages, thus determining the features of the vessels in diverse ways. The relative dominance of one interpretative trend over another should be then assessed from a contextual well-established framework and reinforced by the crossing of various kinds of data.

21.3 Change and Variability in Pottery

We have seen how technological change in pottery can be explained, for instance, by means of a better efficiency and adaptation to use, environmental or economic models, as well as by the ability of the individuals to act in a society. However, the fact is that, in order to develop a solid argument for an interpretive theory of change, we must first be able to record which aspects of the vessels are changing and how they are related to modifications in the organisation of production or in the materials and techniques used in the manufacture of ceramics. Thus, technological changes may affect certain physical features of the pottery and their level of variability.

Many phenomena related to technological change are intangible and, therefore, difficult to assess in archaeology. However, we can consider them through the manifestations observed in the vessels. Stability and change in pottery can be addressed through archaeometric, macroscopic, typological, etc., studies that allow some understanding of the manufacturing, use and deposition processes of vessels (Mills, 1999; Van As, 1984).

To study the processes of change in pottery, it is important to consider how the qualitative and/or quantitative variability existing in the life cycle of ceramics can be recorded in diachronic terms. In this sense, the characteristics and differences of the ceramic assemblages are a clear reflection of certain sequences of actions related to manufacturing, use, and depositional processes that take place in a specific time and space. The study of the diachronic variability in pottery implies, therefore, a valid procedure for addressing technological change and its significance.

Both innovation and resistance take place within certain formal and thematic constraints in any pottery item. Anyway, the aspects that change in the ceramic record can be diverse and noticeable to varying degrees. Thus, not all the features in a ceramic are modified in the same way and have the same change rate. Certain phases or aspects of the pottery production process offer more options to technological change than others. For instance, motor habits and the use of certain raw materials or paste recipes are usually more rooted in people by the habitus.

Technological changes can affect simultaneously both the fabrics and the typology of the vessels, among many other aspects. However, there are sometimes alterations in the fabrics that do not coincide with changes in the forms or the decorative patterns in use at that time. This fact indicates that pastes, types and decorative patterns may obey different dynamics and phenomena within the life cycle of ceramics. Thus, the diverse physical dimensions of pottery may have different relevance and a variable persistence regarding the materialisation of cultural tradition, identity or ideology, as well as tastes, fashions or aesthetic sense.

Such dynamics are documented for instance in the Orkney Islands between the Neolithic and the Iron Age. In this case, the use of certain clays, pastes and fabrics are related to very specific technological recipes that have a long life. In this time range, the types produced changed but the pastes remained highly homogeneous (Williams, 1982). Subsequent studies interpreted these characteristics of the ceramic pastes as related to the ideology and the establishment of connections with the ancestors (Jones, 1997 in Sillar and Tite, 2000), thus also explaining their long persistence.

As previously stated, while significant alterations in the form and size of ceramic assemblages take place certain techniques may remain unchanged for a long time. In this sense, clay procurement and paste preparation procedures are usually very stable within the pottery production process. According to ceramic ecology, the reason is that the use of certain raw materials involves a process of intense interaction with the resources located in the natural environment. Thus, a change in the clays and pastes used may entail, especially if it is not grounded in previous knowledge, the reconfiguration of the entire chaîne opératoire and higher risks during the production process. In these cases, there is a high probability of failure due to the limited interaction existing between the potters and the new raw materials being exploited (Arnold, 2000; Rice, 1987; Steponaitis, 1984).

However, despite being rather resistant, there are several ethnographic studies that show that the way in which potters prepare their pastes can also be prone to change (Barley, 1994; García Rosselló, 2008; Gosselain, 1992; Tilley, 2006). Potters can alter their technological choices by multiple causes and implement strategies of experimentation and individual innovation regarding the various techniques and materials, as well as mixtures with different proportions of the raw materials which are involved in the manufacturing process (see, for instance, Sillar, 1997). This experimentation process increases the level of variability found in the pastes and the ceramic assemblages produced. In this sense, diversity and heterogeneity in the ceramic record refer, unlike homogeneity, to behaviours at the individual rather than the communal level (Arnold, 2000; Rice, 1987).

There are many societies in which changes in the kind of temper and materials used in pottery production are observed. In the following paragraphs we will present an example focused on the modifications occurring in paste recipes that are characterised by the use of organic matter as temper. Moreover, these changes are explained from different theoretical perspectives. Broadly speaking, from an evolutionary viewpoint, it is considered that organic temper is a material that characterises many pottery productions of Early Neolithic societies, being usually associated with a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle (London, 1981; Sestier, 2005). In this sense, pastes rich in organic matter were eventually replaced by paste recipes characterised by the presence, and often by the addition, of high amounts of mineral components. It is considered that these kinds of paste are less porous, more functional and durable, and thus better suited to the needs of sedentary societies. For instance, in Moundville (Alabama, USA) potters abandoned the use of organic matter and started to temper their pastes with shell and certain mineral components (Steponaitis, 1984).

However, there are some unusual cases, such as the ceramic assemblages from Canterbury in England (Mainman, 1982) or the Iron Age in Mallorca (Albero, 2011a; Palomar, 2005), in which pastes rich in mineral components in some sedentary societies are replaced by others very rich in organic matter. This change in the materials and paste recipes has been considered from evolutionary and functionalist perspectives as a technological involution in which the use of organic matter provides lower quality products related to highly porous and brittle fabrics. Therefore, this change was considered not to obey the evolutionary principles associated with a technological development in terms of the maximum efficiency of the products manufactured, but as the consequence of other certain social factors (Mainman, 1982).

It can be accepted that this change in pottery recipes involves significant alterations in the physical and mechanical properties of the vessels, thereby affecting the processes of manufacture, use and maintenance of the pottery as well as their potential life expectancy. In short, the quality²⁴ of the ceramics is reduced by introducing organic matter into the paste. However, from a social perspective of the role of technology it must be considered that these traits do not necessarily imply a technological setback per se. In contrast, these new technological choices affecting the way the paste is prepared respond to changing social needs and practices that the individuals should meet as far as possible.

Thus, although these kinds of fabrics are often seen as poor quality and nonfunctional materials, in many ethnographic cases, such as in the Benishangul-Gumuz region in Ethiopia (González Ruibal, 2005) organic temper is added to the pastes of vessels with a utilitarian purpose. Despite not being the most effective technological choice, pastes rich in organic matter could have been used to produce cooking pots.

In order to enlarge on the reasons that motivate the development of this technological choice, we can try to identify if there are changes in the intensity of production, as there may be a close relationship between an increase in this parameter and a worsening of the quality and durability of the pottery produced (García Rosselló, 2008). Likewise, one can also consider whether similar changes are taking place in the firing strategy and the scale at which this phase of the chaîne opératoire takes place. In short, we can confirm if the innovations observed in the techniques and materials used may be related to a change in the social organisation of pottery production. Such a change can be visible not only in the contexts of production, but also in the level of variability of the vessels and the management and preparation of raw materials as well as the firing strategy.

As we have already seen, the study of firing strategies involves much more than economic determinism or physicochemical aspects, since this phase of pottery production implies the expression of the cultural tradition and the social organisation of production (Gosselain, 1992b). On the one hand, the use of certain firing procedures may be associated with structures that require a greater degree of interaction between individuals, as observed between the Kusasi potters in Ghana (Calvo et al., 2011, 2013). In these cases, there may be a greater degree of cooperation between the potters in activities such as fuel procurement, loading the vessels into the firing structures or monitoring the firing process. On the other hand, there are firing structures, as in the case of Konkomba potters (Calvo et al., 2011, 2013), which are better adapted to independent productions. The organisation of pottery production can explain, in turn, an increase in the variability of ceramics. For example, when pottery production is carried out seasonally, in domestic contexts and is complementary to other subsistence activities, social groups external to the household cannot control the production, since it is intended for family and individual consumption exclusively. This restriction of the production developed by each potter increases the variability of the vessels manufactured within a potter community.

The changes in the ceramics that the individuals consciously undertake through agency are frequently focused on those aspects of materiality that are more easily perceived by the rest of the society. This explains why, as documented in Niger (Gosselain, 2008), Kenya (Herbich, 1987) or Ghana (Albero et al., 2013), the decorative patterns or forms are the aspects of pottery production most likely to vary and in regard to which the apprentices have more possibilities to innovate. In the case of decorative patterns, it can be assumed that a change in the design does not usually involve structural changes in the chaîne opératoire. Therefore, alterations in the decorative designs allow changing the meaning of the vessels without necessarily modifying the whole production strategy.

However, both shapes and decorations are aspects of the materials that can be easily visualised and perceived by both the other potters and the users, thus facilitating the transmission of social meanings and identities. This explains why the pottery used in ritual and public contexts is often intensely decorated or, as is frequently recorded elsewhere, for instance in the transition from the Bronze to the Iron Age in the Balearic Islands (Albero, 2011a), there is often a change in the types but not in the pastes and fabrics used.

In this sense, surface treatments (e.g., polishing or slips) can hide the components of the paste from the users and artisans who are not connected to the potter community. In consequence, these individuals also do not notice the social relationships established in the first phases of pottery production associated with the collection of clay and the preparation of the paste in the use of certain elements. Therefore, the symbolic, social and identity significance of these practices may then be exclusively restricted to the social sphere of those potters of the community that follow a specific technological tradition. In these cases, the significance of the pottery is closely articulated through certain learning processes that take place among the potters (Jones, 2002).

Figure 21.1: Conceptual map summarising multiple variables that interact in the technological change in ceramics.

24 It should be noted that the concept of quality is typical of a western and modern viewpoint and carries strong economic and functionalist implications. Hence, different qualities are usually related to different investment strategies (e.g., regarding labour, materials and time or energy) carried out according to the achievement of different types of products that must meet certain specifications and requirements. Therefore, this term should be considered specifically in economic terms and does not include the social and cultural value that each individual or society gives to the products.