Conference Abstracts
The role of figurines in place-making: A case study from Jebel Moya, Sudan
Isabelle Vella Gregory
Honorary Research Associate, Institute of Archaeology, University College London
Figurines are not merely representations *of* something. They are active secondary agents that both distil and forge a given social’s group choices and beliefs. They are part of a dynamic network and they help anchor aspects of that network. At the same time, figurines have an irresistible allure. They make us ponder what is this a figurine of? The questions we need to ask, however, are different. Focus should be on figurines as part of broader networks, how they functioned and by what means. This paper will focus on the figurine corpus from Jebel Moya (Site 100), Sudan, one of the largest known agro-pastoralist cemeteries and habitation sites in sub-Saharan Africa. It was first excavated by Henry Wellcome in 1911 and new fieldwork started in 2017 (although this is currently on hold due to war). The figurine corpus from the early excavations has been largely overlooked. The human form is represented in complex ways and there are numerous zoomorphic figurine. The Wellcome material was dispersed in a number of museums and collections. Contextual information is difficult to establish, indeed it was not considered to be of particular concern in the original excavations. This paper demonstrates a way forward for analyzing sets of material culture considered difficult. It argues we need to move away from the universalist view of Sudan and shift our focus to social relations and place-making. The Jebel Moya corpus is re-examined from the perspective of figurine attributes, showing how this is a useful methodology rather than the final interpretive step. Figurines are then re-examined as objects that inhabited various spaces in the social network, which has to include relationships between humans, animals, environment and belief systems.
Broken, repaired, disposed of and neglected. Taking a closer look at the social lives of Old Babylonian figurines
Enrica Inversi
PhD candidate - Institut für Vorderasiatische Archäologie, Freie Universität Berlin
Assistant Collection Manager - Middle East Department, The British Museum
During the Old Babylonian period (2003-1595 BCE) there is an increase in the production of terracotta figurines which had already started in the Third millennium BCE. The excavations at Ur conducted in the 1920’s by a joint expedition led by the British Museum and the Penn Museum, soon became a media phenomenon for the amount of luxury objects discovered. However, among the many artefacts recovered on the site, a large number of clay figurines were also found, mainly in residential areas. Many of them come from unclear contexts and present either anthropomorphic or zoomorphic features. Scholars have often interpreted figurines as ritual objects, even when these were found in non-religious contexts such as domestic settings. Over the years, substantial research has been dedicated to clay figurines from different Near East contexts, which has mainly focused on their aesthetic value and their ritual significance, thus excluding the possibility of exploring different identities and other cultural meanings. In this sense, the use of a methodological approach that includes data drawn from ethnography, technological trace analysis and a re-examination of texts can be a promising way to further understand the use of figurines within their social context. In this paper I will present a preliminary assessment of some of the animal and human figurines from Ur and discuss how a combination of different methods can help challenge and reshape existing narrative around their use in Mesopotamia.
Making clay figurines in the Neolithic Aegean: The example of Thessalian plain (central Greece)
Argyris Fassoulas
Research Associate UMR7041ArScan, Protohistoire égéenne, Université Paris Nanterre
Neolithic figurines have long been a focal point of debate in prehistoric research, yet the intricate process of their manufacture often goes underappreciated. While frequently interpreted as either artistic artifacts or ideological symbols, their technical dimensions are often sidelined. However, a closer examination of the methods used to produce these miniaturized representations can shed new light on their stylistic characteristics. The shape of a figurine is the outcome of a deliberate and precise sequence of technical actions, actions that are deeply embedded in social contexts. By recognizing the figurine’s form as a product of both technical skill and cultural choices, we can begin to reconstruct the human activities that shaped their creation. This paper focuses on anthropomorphic figurines from Neolithic Thessaly in northern Greece as a case study to explore the figurine-making processes of the Neolithic Aegean. Employing a multi-disciplinary methodology—including macroscopic analysis, radiography, and experimental approach—it seeks to unravel the technological intricacies behind idoloplastic practices. By doing so, we aim to delve into the social and cultural dimensions of figurine production, investigating how the organization of this clay production ties to the identities of its makers. This includes an exploration of the roles of gender and age, as well as the spaces chosen for these activities. Furthermore, the study will examine variations in production practices in relation to tradition, social status, individual skills, and the transmission of knowledge as part of broader technical environment.
Archaeometry as a means for multiplying material identities. Case studies based on ceramic vessels and clay figurines from the Middle Nile Valley during the Bronze Age period
Giulia D'Ercole & Julia Budka
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, ERC Project DiverseNile
By etymology, the concept of identity intrinsically evokes a principle of uniqueness. In a similar way, both in the historical and anthropological disciplines, the definition of identity commonly encapsulates a static and crystallised vision, either of people or of objects, over time and space. In the archaeology of the Bronze Age Sudan, with the Middle Nile Valley occupied by a mosaic of different local (Nubian) cultures and a foreign population of Egyptian colonisers, this idea of identity seems to waver. Likewise, the materiality of both mundane and prestige objects, such as domestic ceramics and clay figurines, suggests a much more complex, mutable and amalgamated cultural landscape. In general, the notion of an object’s identity does not have a clear and absolute dimension, but rather multiple assumptions. Firstly, there is the material identity of the object (i.e., the identity of the raw materials and place/s of production); secondly, the technological identity that is expressed during the stage of manufacturing; then the identity of the place/s of use of the object; and finally, that of discard. Added to this is all the information about the social identity of the craftsman who made this specific vessel or figurine and that of the people who used and kept this object during their lifetime and perhaps after death, as well as the way they perceived it in their overall set of materialities. Archaeometric investigation with a combination of laboratory techniques in conjunction with typological and stylistic observation of artefacts (ceramic vessels as well as clay figurines in the shape of animals and humans) enabled a more complex reconstruction of the history of Bronze Age Sudan by linking people and materialities to their past landscape. This ultimately allows for the dismantling of an individual and static dimension of object(s) - and culture(s) identity toward a manifold, fluid and eventually emic vision of identity.
A matter of choices: disclosing the production technology of terracotta figurines at Barikot (northern Pakistan)
Laura Maritan, Luca Maria Olivieri, Giusy Esposito, Gennaro Alterio & Anna Filigenzi
Università degli Studi di Padova, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia & Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale"
This contribute presents the results of the archaeometric investigation of a set of terracotta figurines found at the archaeological site of Barikot (northern Pakistan) dated to period between the Iron Age and the IV century CE. The figurines, with human and animal connotations, were petrographically analysed in order to define the similarities with the other productions attested at Barikot, such as common ware, terra sigillata and northern black polished ware, in order to explore if there was a continuity in terms of selection and preparation of raw materials and production choices between the various ceramic classes. The clay materials used to produce the terracotta figurine resulted to be locally supplied, as attested by the petrographic composition of their inclusions, and processed according to analogous procedures (depuration grade) used in other vessel classes. In terms of firing, the figurine resulted to have experienced analogous conditions of those adopted for the production of terra sigillata. The analysis of the figurines therefore allowed to disclose the production choices at Barikot.