'Technological changes in ceramic production during periods of trouble. Methodological approaches and matters of scale' in I. Caloi, C. Langohr (eds.)

Abstract

In the framework of our ARC research project 'A World in Crisis? Archaeological and Epigraphical Perspectives on the Late Bronze Age (13th c. BC) Mediterranean Systems' Collapse: a case study approach' based at UCLouvain (Belgium), we questioned the reliability of archaeological data as crisis indicators. Therefore, following the perspective of archaeological and anthropological works that assess pottery technology as a social product, there is an interest to address the social and cultural aspects of technological change in pottery production in the specific context of crisis and period of trouble. The main goal of such an examination is to detect whether and how technological choices or changes observed in the archaeological ceramic record may reflect periods of disruption, crisis and/or transformation of social, political, economic, and environmental conditions.