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Pottery Invention and Innovation in East Asia and the Near East

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2015

Kevin Gibbs*
Affiliation:
Archaeological Research Facility, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-1076, USA Email: k.gibbs@berkeley.edu
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Abstract

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The invention of ceramic objects made from fire-hardened clay represents an important and early step in the development of pyrotechnology. This paper examines pottery invention and innovation by hunter-gatherers in East Asia and by farmers in the Near East to examine how prehistoric communities in different socio-economic systems came to rely heavily on fired-clay containers. Drawing on advances in archaeological science, it examines from a comparative perspective early pottery's broader entanglements related to technology and use and argues that early pottery production by farmers in the Near East can be viewed as a process of innovation in a longer tradition of container technology, while the first hunter-gatherer pottery production in East Asia provides a better case for independent invention.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research 2015