The technology of ceramic reuse: Formation processes and archaeological evidence

Abstract

Archaeological and ethnoarchaeological research has shown that broken and discarded ceramics may represent potentially useful artifacts in storage or ‘provisional discard’. Because they are durable, fire‐resistant, and easily modified ‐ properties that are rarely associated with products of the natural environment ‐ reused ceramics may be used to solve a variety of technical problems of daily life. Thus, a substantial portion of ceramic assemblages that have been interpreted as ‘trash’ may, in fact, represent important elements of the technology of ceramic‐using societies. These points are illustrated with an analysis based on the exhaustive refitting of ceramics from a Kayenta Anasazi settlement, located near the Grand Canyon in the American Southwest, which was excavated completely.

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