Main Page; Courses; Curriculum Vitae; Ethnoarchaeology Research among the Gamo of Southwestern Ethiopia

JOHN W. ARTHUR

Assistant Professor of Anthropology

University of South Florida St. Petersburg

Pottery Use-Alteration as an Indicator of Socioeconomic Status: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of the Gamo of Ethiopia. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory (2002). See article at http://www.kluweronline.com/issn/1072-5369/current (Go to Journal Contents and click on December 2002 link).

Abstract

The use of a pottery vessel leaves markers on the ceramic wall that can inform archaeologists how the vessel functioned in the past. At present archaeologists have little information for understanding how use-alteration reflects the complex nature of ceramic function and socioeconomic status. I conducted a two-year ethnoarchaeological research project among the Gamo people of southwestern Ethiopia, who continue to produce and use pottery on a daily basis. This research indicates that interior surface attrition occurs primarily on pottery vessels used in wealthy households because of fermentation processes from high status foods. Thus, the Gamo example suggests that there is a relationship between ceramic use-alteration and household socioeconomic status.

Brewing beer: status, wealth, and ceramic use-alteration among the Gamo of southwestern Ethiopia. World Archaeology (2003). See article at http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/00438243.asp

Abstract

Ethnoarchaeological research among the Gamo people of south-western Ethiopia indicates that pottery vessels used for beer fermentation have characteristic interior surface attrition. The Gamo's strict social hierarchy orchestrates who produces and consumes beer; ritual-sacrificer households are able to produce and consume more beer than non-ritual-sacrificer households and this pattern also was found in the ceramic inventories of the two types of household. The Gamo example suggests that the study of ceramic use-alteration can be an additional tool in identifying the production of beer, the essential ingredient of feasting.