Tài liệu The study of pottery collections from the settlement site of seglamen 2010 field season

ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND HERITAGE MANAGEMENT The Study of Pottery Collections from the Settlement Site of Seglamen: 2010 Field Season By: Friyat Angesom Addis Ababa, Ethiopia June, 2017 The Study of Pottery Collections from the Settlement Site of Seglamen: 2010 Field Season By: Friyat Angesom Advisor: Tekle Hagos (Ass.Professor) Co-Advisor: Luisa Sernicola(PhD) A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Addis Ababa University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Art in Archaeology. June, 2017 Addis Ababa University School of Graduate studies This is to certify that the thesis presented by Friyat Angesom entitled: The Study of Pottery Collections from the Settlement Site of Seglamen: 2010 Field Season submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Masters of Art in Archaeology complies with the regulation of University and meets the accepted standard with respect to originality and quality. Signed by Board of Examiners ___________________________________ Examiner ___________________________________ Examiner ____________________________________ Supervisor _____________________ Signature _____________________ Signature _____________________ Signature DECLARATION I, the undersigned, declare that this thesis is my own work; it has not previously been published or presented for a degree in any other university and that all sources of materials used for the thesis have been cited and duly acknowledged. Name: Friyat Angesom Signature: __________ Date: _____________ Acknowledgments Most of all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratefulness and respect to the Almighty God for giving me the courage, power, and mercy to finish my study. “God and St. Marry thank you so much for everything”. Next to this, I would like extend my deepest gratitude and great fullness to Aksum and Addis Ababa Universities respectively for sponsoring my education fully and rendering me the necessary budget to accomplish my research. Completing my study without the support of the two universities would have been very difficult. Next, I would like to extend my genuine appreciation and gratitude to my principal advisor Assistant Professor Tekle Hagos for his unrelenting supervision, tolerance, encouragement and determined support. My advisor, I want to thank you so much for your invaluable, unchanged and continued support. It has been a real blessing to have you. My heartfelt appreciation, respect and gratefulness also goes to my co-advisor Dr. Luisa Sernicola for her priceless comments and guidance, and for the complete effort she made for the completion of this study. Besides her overall effort and determination to succeed this thesis, her role in translating different articles and books from Italian to English was quite indispensable for me to access important literary sources. Thank you so much my dear. I would also like to extend my gratitude to peoples who were working with me at different times. I want to thank Gabriella Giovannone, one of the ceramic analysts working at the site of Seglamen, for her active support while I was doing the description and documentation part of the work in the laboratory of Aksum’s museum. Her experience was really valuable. I would like to express my gratitude to Ato Worku Derara for enhancing the drawings of potsherds using Adope Photoshop. Next I would like to thank my beloved family (Brhan, Hadush, Alula and Natnael) for everything. I can’t imagine life without you. Finally, I would like to say thank you to my friends, classmates and other peoples whose name is not mentioned here. THANK YOU SO MUCH INDEED I Abstract Archaeological investigations were conducted at the pre-Aksumite settlement site of Seglamen at different times starting from 2010, but systematic analysis on the ceramics that were recovered in 2010 field season from the building exposed at excavation unit SEG I has not yet been conducted. These potteries are presently stored in the archaeological museum of Aksum. This study was conducted aiming at providing the typological, functional and chronological classification of the pottery collection from one of the very few undisturbed contexts excavated at SEG I, namely unit 5, the living floor of Room 1. This was done in order to chronologically ascribe the building to one of the three major architectural phases exposed and documented in the settlement area during 2010 up to 2014 field seasons by the Italian Archaeological Expedition at Seglamen of the University of Naples “L’Orientale” conducted under the direction of Rodolfo Fattovich, Andrea Manzo, and Luisa Sernicola. Additionally, it was aimed at confirming the hypothesis that Room 1 of the building had been used as a food preparation and cooking area. To achieve this, purposive sampling technique was employed in order to select the sample potteries from the whole pottery assemblage of SEG I. Consequently, the data selected from the whole assemblage were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Hence, the result of this analysis provides two groups of vessels with the total number of 377 sherds:276 non-diagnostic and 101 diagnostic sherds. Detailed description and analysis of the diagnostic sherds allowed the researcher to extract seven types of vessels: bowls, cups, beakers, plates, basins, pots and jars, and thirteen groups of fabrics. According to the types of vessels and color, and by comparing them with the ceramics from other pre-Aksumite sites, the researcher came up with the conclusion that Room 1 of the building was used as an area for cooking, preparing, and storing food and beverages; there serving vessels were also kept. The room, and the building, can be chronologically dated to the pre-Aksumite period (1st half of the 1st millennium BC). More precisely, they can be related to architectural Phase III of Seglamen, and dated to the 6th/5th centuries BC on the basis of radiocarbon dating from other buildings belonging to the same phase. Finally, this research has come up with different recommendations which might be imperative for the future. Hence, the intensive investigation of the entire ceramic assemblage from the whole building, their analysis combined with the study of related artifacts, botanical and faunal studies, as well as the detection of undisturbed samples for radiocarbon dating will surely play a pivotal role in bringing a more detailed knowledge about the dating and function of the building, and the economy and social organization of the people living at Seglamen between the 6th/5th century BC. Key words: Seglamen, Pottery, Pre-Aksumite, Northern Ethiopia. II Table of Contents Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………... I Abstract………...………………………………………………………………………… II List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………... V List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………. V Table of contents …………………………………………………………………………III CHAPTER ONE……………………………………………………………………………….1 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………….1 1.1 Background of the Study Area………………………………………………….1 1.2 Background of the Study………………………………………………………...3 1.3 Statement of the Problem………………………………………………………..9 1.4 Objective of the Study…………………………………………………………..10 1.4.1 General Objective……………………………………………………….10 1.4.2 Specific Objectives……………………………………………………....10 1.5 Limitation of the Study………………………………………………………….10 1.6 Significance of the Study………………………………………………………...11 1.7 Research Methodologies…………………………………………………………11 1.7.1 Data Types and Source…………………………………………………..11 1.7.2 Sampling Techniques…………………………………………………….11 1.7.3 Data Collection and Analysis Procedures………………………………12 1.7.4 Ethical Considerations…………………………………………………...12 1.8 Organization of the Paper………………………………………………………..13 CHAPTER TWO………………………………………………………………………………....14 2. Review of Related Literature………………………………………………………....14 2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………..14 2.2 Previous Research on Ethiopian Pottery………………………………………....16 2.3 Characteristics of the Aksumite Pottery from the Different Successive Periods in Aksum…………………………………………………………………...20 CHAPTER THREE ……………………………………………………………………………......28 3. Data Presentation……………………………………………………………………….28 3.1 Overview of the Ceramics from Seglamen: The Settlement and the Cemetery...28 3.1.1 The Settlement………………………………………………………………30 3.1.2 The Cemetery………………………………………………………………..31 3.2 Documentation of the Ceramics from SEG I, Room 1, SU 5……………………..32 3.2.1 Non-Diagnostic Sherds………………………………………………….......33 3.2.2 Diagnostic Sherds…………………………………………………………....33 III 3.3 Description of the Diagnostic Sherds from SEG I, Room 1, SU 5……………….34 3.3.1 Rims………………………………………………………………………….36 3.3.2 Handles………………………………………………………………………37 3.3.3 Bases…………………………………………………………………………39 3.3.4 Neck/Shoulders……………………………………………………………...40 3.3.5 Decorated Sherds……………………………………………………………41 3.4 The Fabrics…………………………………………………………………………..45 3.5 From Diagnostics to Shapes………………………………………………………...48 3.5.1 Bowls…………………………………………………………………………48 3.5.1.1 Large Bowls……………………………………………………………...48 3.5.1.2 Medium Bowls…………………………………………………………...48 3.5.1.3 Small Bowls………………………………………………………………49 3.5.2 Cups…………………………………………………………………………..49 3.5.3 Plates………………………………………………………………………….50 3.5.4 Pots……………………………………………………………………………51 3.5.5 Basins…………………………………………………………………………52 3.5.6 Beakers………………………………………………………………………..52 3.5.7 Jars……………………………………………………………………………53 CHAPTER FOUR…………………………………………………………………………………...56 4. Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………56 4.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..56 4.2 An Interpretation on the Function of the Vessels from SEG I, Room 1, SU 5…...57 4.2.1 Bowls………………………………………………………………………….58 4.2.2 Cups…………………………………………………………………………...58 4.2.3 Plates…………………………………………………………………………..58 4.2.4 Pots…………………………………………………………………………….58 4.2.5 Basins………………………………………………………………………….59 4.2.6 Beakers………………………………………………………………………..59 4.2.7 Jars……………………………………………………………………………59 4.3 An Interpretation on the Chronological Classification of the Pottery Collection and the Building............................................................................................................61 4.4 Conclusions andRecommendations……………………...…………………………..65 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………….....68 APPENDIX 1………………………………………………………………………………………..VII APPENDIX 2……………………………………………………………………………………….VIII IV List of Tables Table 1: Tabulated list of the diagnostic sherds from SEG I, Room 1, SU 5…………………....35 Table 2: Tabulated list of the decoration patterns from SEG I, Room 1, SU 5……………….….42 Table 3: Tabulated list of the fabrics from SEG I, Room 1, SU5………………………………...46 Table 4. Tabulated list of the vessels identified at SEG I, Room 1, SU 5………………………...54 List of Figures Fig. 1: Map showing the location of Seglamen with respect to Aksum………………………. ….1 Fig. 2: Photo of the May Haselo/Nigus river valley from the site…………………. ….………….2 Fig. 3: Plan of the three major architectural phases exposed at the site…………………...……….5 Fig. 4: Photo and plan of the building of Phase I……………………………………………….…6 Fig. 5: Photo and plan of the structures of Phase II……………………………………………….6 Fig. 6: Photo and plan of the structures of Phase III……………………………………………....7 Fig. 7: Photos and plan of the building exposed at SEG I: below right and left, stone slabs and stone blocks with traces of fire in Room 1………………………………………………………...8 Fig. 8: Map showing major pre-Aksumite and Aksumite archaeological sites of the Tigrean highland…………………………………………………………………………………………...19 Fig. 9: Typical pre-Aksumite ceramics from Seglamen and Yeha……………………….……....22 Fig. 10: Typical Proto-Aksumite ceramics from Bieta Giyorgis………....……………………...23 Fig. 11: Typological sequence of the Aksumite ceramics (after Bard et al. 2014).……………...25 Fig. 12: Photos and drawings showing different Akumite ceramics shapes and decorations……26 Fig. 13: Map showing the location of the settlement and of the cemetery at the site of Seglamen.29 Fig. 14: Map showing the Excavation Units from 2010 to 2013………………….……………...29 Fig. 15: Graph showing the amount of non-diagnostic and diagnostic sherds……….…………...32 V Fig. 16: Graph showing the amount of the types of diagnostics……………………………........35 Fig. 17: Photos showing samples of rims from SEG I, SU 5……………………….…………….36 Fig. 18: Drawings showing samples of rims from SEG I, SU 5………………………….……….37 Fig. 19: Drawings and photos showing samples of handles from Seglamen………………….….38 Fig. 20: Photos showing samples of bases from Seglamen……………………………………….39 Fig. 21: Drawings showing samples of bases from Seglamen…………………....……………….40 Fig. 22: Photos and drawing showing samples of shoulders from Seglamen……………………...40 Fig. 23: Drawings showing samples of decorations from Seglamen……………………………....43 Fig. 24: Photos showing samples of decorations from Seglamen…....…………………………….44 Fig. 25: Graph showing the percentage of the different types of decoration...…………………….45 Fig. 26: Graph showing the percentage of fabrics…………...…………………………………….47 Fig. 27: Drawings of types of bowls from Seglamen………………………………………...…....49 Fig. 28: Drawing of types of a cup from Seglamen…………………………………......………...50 Fig. 29: Drawing of a plate from Seglamen……………………………………………………….50 Fig. 30: Drawings and photos of types of pots from D-site at Kidane Mehret, Aksum…………...51 Fig. 31: Drawing of a large basin from D-site at Kidane Mehret, Aksum……………...…………52 Fig. 32: Drawings of types of beakers from Seglamen….………..…………..……………….......53 Fig. 33: Drawings of types of small jars from Seglamen………………………………………….54 Fig. 34: Graph showing the percentage of types of vessels based on shape………….………...….55 VI CHAPTER ONE 1. Introduction 1.1 Background of the Study Area The modern village of Seglamen is located about 12 km to the southwest of Aksum along the Aksum-Adet road, in Lae’lay Maychew wereda, Central Tigray, Ethiopia. (Fattovich et al., 2012). Surface survey conducted at the site proved that the pre-Aksumite site of Seglamen extends over an area of about 7 hectares, at the edge of the western cliff of the Nigus river gorge, and is bounded by the May Negus/Haselo river gorge on the north and north-east, the Shetambo hill on the south, the Ferasit and Gerat Gabara hills on the south-west, Teenti hill on the west and Kesaad Addi Kerni hill on the north-west (Fattovich et al., 2012; Sernicola, 2014, 2015; Sernicola et al., 2013; Sernicola et al., 2016). Fig. 1: Map showing the location of Seglamen with respect to Aksum (courtesy of the archive of the Italian Archaeological Expedition at Seglamen). Page 1 of 74 The site of Seglamen is located in a conducive environment where there is a fertile soil and a regular rainfall. Although much of the terrace surrounding the archaeological site is now heavily eroded, in some places down to bare rock, elsewhere the soil remains deep and apparently fertile. The well-watered valley bottom provides lush pasturage and is also cultivated. The land is currently under traditional plough cultivation and there are traditional rural houses nearby (Phillipson L., 2012). According to Sernicola and Phillipson (2011), cited in Phillipson L. (2013) the site’s prosperity may have been due to its location in a well-watered and fertile area and to its strategic position on a main route leading in one direction to the Tekeze River and thence into central and southern Ethiopia, and in the other direction joining a major route that extends from the Red Sea coast westwards into Shire. Fig. 2: Photo of the May Haselo/Nigus river valley from the site (courtesy of the photographic archive of the Italian Archaeological Expedition at Seglamen). Page 2 of 74 The site encompasses the areas of Amda Tsion and Mogareb, in the eastern sector of the present village, where the settlement and the related cemetery are respectively located (Fattovich et al., 2012). The definitive location of the pre-Aksumite settlement was identified during the survey conducted in 2006 in the framework of the World Bank Ethiopian Cultural Heritage Project (Fattovich and Tekle Hagos, 2006) and was confirmed in 2009 during a visit to the site by members of the Italian expedition and representatives of the Aksum University (Fattovich et al., 2012). Starting from 2010, the Italian Archaeological Expedition at Seglamen of the University of Naples “L'Orientale”, under the direction of Rodolfo Fattovich, Andrea Manzo, and Luisa Sernicola1, is conducting systematic archaeological investigations at the site with the aim of reconstructing the cultural and environmental history of this area and to provide a detailed archaeological map for the cultural heritage management of Central Tigray (Fattovich et al., 2012; Sernicola, 2014, 2015; Sernicola et al., 2013; Sernicola et al., 2016). Significant information has been collected so far and remarkable new ideas have also emerged. 1.2 Background of the Study In Ethiopia, pottery making has been practiced for a long period of time in the past and is still present in some part of the country, including the northern regions (Phillipson D.W., 2000, 2012) although, it is rapidly disappearing as traditional clay pots are nowadays progressively replaced by plastic and metal containers. Even though, the beginning of pottery making in Ethiopia is still an outstanding problem, archaeological evidence suggests that it was already practiced during the 3rd-2nd millennium BC; evidence from pre-Aksumite sites such as Yeha, Hawelti/Malazo, Matara, Kidane Mehret (D-site), Gulo Makeda, and Seglamen, proves that the use of ceramic pots and containers was fully established and widespread on the Tigrean highlands by the late 2nd millennium/early 1st millennium BC (Phillipson D.W., 2000, 2012). 1 Fattovich from 2010 to 2013, Manzo and Sernicola from 2014 onwards. Page 3 of 74 Among these, the pre-Aksumite site of Seglamen is conceived as a place where the tradition of pottery making was practiced on the basis of the occurrence of a set of lithic and ceramic tools which, according to Laurel Phillipson, were used to refine and decorate pots (Phillpson L., 2013). Traces of the possible occurrence in the area of an archaeological site dating back to the 1 st half of the 1st millennium BC emerged in the early Seventies of the last century, when a royal inscription in monumental South-Arabic, attributable to the so-called pre-Aksumite period and commemorating the re-erection or restoration of a temple dedicated to the god HBS, was found by local farmers at Amda Tsion, in the southeastern sector of the modern village (Fattovich et al, 2012). Preliminary excavations at Seglamen were carried out in 1974 by the Università di Roma “La Sapienza,” Rome, under the direction of Lanfranco Ricci (Ricci and Fattovich, 1987). These excavations brought to the light a large Post-Aksumite rural house, which was apparently built on earlier foundations (Ricci and Fattovich, 1987). Archaeological excavations conducted between 2010 and 2014 in the area of the settlement distinguished three major occupational phases, all ascribable to the pre-Aksumite period (1st half of the 1st millennium BC) on the basis of the ceramics, other materials as well as radiocarbon dating, which have been classified as Phase I, II, and III from the bottom to the top of the sequence (Fattovich et al., 2012; Sernicola, 2014, 2015, in press; Sernicola et al., 2013; Sernicola et al., 2016). Page 4 of 74 Phase I: red Phase II: light blue Phase III: green Fig. 3: Plan of the three major architectural phases exposed at the site (courtesy of the archive of the Italian Archaeological Expedition at Seglamen). According to Sernicola (2015), the earliest phase (Phase I) is represented by walls directly constructed on the bedrock and is characterized by a rectangular structure SW/NE oriented with four rooms, a back-yard and a possible front-yard; to the west of the building, outside of the structure, a hearth associated to a cluster of ashy soil has been recovered. Radio carbon dating suggests a date for this building at very beginning of 1st millennium BC (ca. 940-810 BC). Page 5 of 74 Fig. 4: Photo and plan of the building of Phase I (courtesy of the archive of the Italian Archaeological Expedition at Seglamen). The intermediate phase (Phase II) is characterized by the remains of three open-air hearths and by the remains of a circular dwelling. This is the first positive evidence of the tradition of building circular houses in this region during the first half of the 1st millennium BC, so far suggested only by few clay models found at Hawelti. Fig. 5: Photo and plan of the structures of Phase II (courtesy of the archive of the Italian Archaeological Expedition at Seglamen). Page 6 of 74 Finally, the latest phase (Phase III) is represented by a quadrangular building (12m x 12m) with massive walls about 1.20m thick. Ten rooms with diversified sizes were detected: in Room 1, located in the north-eastern corner, a quadrangular stone feature 1.40m x 1.40m erected on a massive wall in the center of the room, was most likely used as a base for a pillar which supported an upper storey (Sernicola, 2015). Fig. 6: Photo and plan of the building of Phase III (courtesy of the archive of the Italian Archaeological Expedition at Seglamen) Furthermore, excavations in 2010, conducted in the southernmost sector of the settlement, brought to light the heavily disturbed remains of an architectural unit, most likely a rectangular building, covered by a very thin layer of plowed top-soil (ca. 10 cm). The walls were directly built on the bed-roc. On the basis of the fragmentary evidence of the walls, it has been hypothesized that the original building might have had three rooms: two smaller ones in the north and a larger one to the south. In one of the two smaller rooms, that located in the northwestern sector and designed as Room 1, which measures 4.30 m × 4.70 m in area, an arrangement of three large stones with evidence of ashes associated with a great quantity of potsherds, bones, and grinding stones were found on the preserved living floor (SU 5), suggesting this was an area devoted to food preparation and cooking (Fattovich et al., 2012). Page 7 of 74 Fig. 7: Photos and plan of the building exposed at SEG I: below right and left, stone slabs and stone blocks with traces of fire in Room 1 (courtesy of the archive of the Italian Archaeological Expedition at Seglamen). The excavation at SEG I was conducted as a field-school for 3rd year BA students of archaeology and heritage management of the Aksum University under the supervision of Dr. Hiluf Berhe. The field-school was organized in the framework of an affiliation program established in 2008 between University of Naples “L'Orientale” and Aksum University to provide students with practical training in archaeological field procedures. However, at the moment, although the materials collected can be ascribed to the pre-Aksumite period, a detailed attribution of the recorded building at one of the three major architectural phases, and its functional classification are not yet possible as the ceramics associated to the structure have not yet been systematically analyzed. Therefore, undertaking a systematic study of Page 8 of 74 the ceramics may help to provide important indications for a more precise chronological and functional classification of this structure. 1.3 Statement of the Problem Ceramics from the different contexts excavated at Seglamen have been systematically studied by Dr Michela Gaudiello, who focused on the ceramics from Excavation Units II, V, VI, VIII, IX, X, XII, and XIII from the settlement, and by Dr Luisa Sernicola and Mrs Gabriella Giovannone, who dealt with the ceramics coming from the cemetery (Fattovich et al., 2012; Sernicola, 2014, 2015; Sernicola et al., 2013; Sernicola et al., 2016). The ceramics have been described and classified in conformity with the typology Fattovich (1980) suggested in the mid-1970s for the classification of the “Pre-Aksumite” pottery (Fattovich et al., 2012). As stated before, so far, no systematic study has been conducted on the ceramics from Excavation Unit SEG I excavated in 2010. The systematic scrutiny of all field reports from 2010 to 2014 (Fattovich et al., 2012; Sernicola, 2014, 2015; Sernicola et al., 2013; Sernicola et al., 2016) motivated the researcher to undertake a systematic study of the pottery collections of the building exposed at SEG I, with a special focus on the ceramics assemblage from SU 5 which represents one of the few living floors still preserved within that very disturbed archaeological deposit. Preliminary field observation suggested the occurrence of typical pre-Aksumite specimens, nevertheless the exact attribution of the building to one of the three architectural phases recorded at the settlement is not yet defined. Sernicola added that, forthcoming analysis on collected materials would provide more detailed information not only with respect to the chronological attribution of the building, but also for a more detailed reconstruction of its function and the internal organization of space (Fattovich, et al., 2012; Sernicola in press). Therefore, these field reports led the researcher to dig out what has been considered as a missing and poorly understood part of the research project at Seglamen. The concern of the researcher was to critically study the ceramics assemblage from SU 5, Room 1, of the building excavated at SEG I. By conducting the systematic analysis of the ceramics Page 9 of 74 from this unit, and by comparing the ceramics from this unit with those coming from the buildings of the three different architectural phases, the researcher attempted to (a) provide the chronological classification of the structure, and (b) confirm the hypothesis of Room 1 as an area of food preparation and area of cooking. 1.4 Objectives of the Study 1.4.1. General Objective  The general objective of this thesis is to study the pottery collections from the living floor (SU 5), Room 1, of the building exposed at Excavation Unit SEG I in 2010. 1.4.2 Specific Objectives The specific objective of this thesis are:  To describe the whole pottery collection from SU 5, Room 1 at SEG I.  To conduct a typological classification of the same ceramics on the basis of diagnostic fragments.  To provide a functional classification of the vessels (processing food, cooking food, serving food, containers and storage vessels) on the basis of their shape, size and surface treatment and by comparing with the vessels from sounding pre- Aksumite and Aksumite sites.  To undertake a chronological classification of the pottery collections in order to assign the building to one of the three architectural phases recorded in the settlement. 1.5 Limitation of the Study This thesis was confined to studying the ceramic assemblage of the living floor (SU 5) of Room 1 of the building exposed at SEG I, in the settlement of the pre-Aksumite village of Seglamen. This would provide the reconstruction of the function of this room and a preliminary hypothesis Page 10 of 74