November 14-15, 2019

Integrative Approaches to Ceramic Anthropology in Early China: New Directions in Pottery Research

The Integrative Approaches to Ceramic Anthropology in Early China Workshop was held at the Tang Center for Early China, Columbia University from November 14th to 15th, 2019. It brought together experts in ceramic analysis from around the world with archaeologists working with ceramics in China for two days of presentations and discussions. The aim of this workshop is to introduce participants to new theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches for interpreting ancient pottery, as well as to provide participants with the practical foundation needed to apply these to their own research. The workshop consisted of four sessions that focus on burgeoning areas of ceramic research that are not commonly applied in Chinese archaeology: experimental studies, landscape approaches to pottery production, ceramic ethnography, and the use of new analytical technologies. Each session featured two headline speakers who presented on their own research in their respective area of the world as well as a speaker who is investigating similar questions in the context of early China. Through discussion, speakers and participants brainstormed ways that these new or alternative approaches to ceramic analysis can benefit work currently taking place in China.

Co-Organizers:
Andrew Womack, Stanford University
Camilla Sturm, Columbia University

Presenters:
Matthew Chastain, MIT
Ellery Frahm, Yale University
Olivier Gosselain, Université libre de Bruxelles
Kostalena Michelaki, Arizona State University
Camilla Sturm, Columbia University
Karine Taché, CUNY Queens College
Anne Underhill, Yale University
Andrew Womack, Stanford University

Co-sponsored by the Columbia Center for Archaeology