Potter craftsmanship in Iberia at the end of the Iron Age and the beginning of Roman conquest: Quality vs. Quantity

Abstract

There have been many studies that have attempted to address the complexity underlying manufactured ceramic assemblages after the conquest of Rome. So much so that today it is possible to easily find a great amount of typological lists, which mostly help to clearly establish linear temporal sequences. A reality that is most probably very different from the one that really occurred around the people responsible for carrying out their manufacturing. This paper aims, as far as possible, to overcome this lacuna by providing an alternative view about potter craftsmanship at the dawn of the Iron Age, as well as the impact it suffers as a result of the Roman conquest and acculturation. Through technology and the concept of Technical Operational Chain it is possible to glimpse a series of changes and technical resistances, which not only help to understand the intrinsic characteristics of the pottery work that occurred two thousand years ago, but also the idiosyncrasies of a society which is continually evolving.

Keywords

• tecnología cerámica
• estatus
• individualidad
• producción en masa
• especialización.