CRAFT INTERACTIONS AND DEVELOPMENTS IN LOCAL CERAMIC WORKMANSHIP AT S’URAKI (SARDINIA) BETWEEN THE EARLY IRON AGE AND PUNIC PERIOD

Abstract

This paper focuses on pottery manufacture and use at the site of S’Uraki (west central Sardinia) through the detailed study of a collection of finds from ongoing excavations. S’Uraki, originally an indigenous Nuragic site which was continuously inhabited between the Bronze Age and Roman period, underwent profound transformations during the Iron Age as a consequence of the sustained interaction which took place between indigenous inhabitants and Phoenician newcomers from the 8th c. BC onwards. Our primary aim is to trace the long-term development of local ceramic manufacture, which is understood as a traditional artisanal activity embedded within one community’s social practices. This allows us to understand, from an artisanal perspective, broader cultural changes which were triggered by phenomena of co-residence and knowledge transfer, eventually leading to the appearance of a distinctly and typologically new Punic ceramic repertoire, as well as innovations within manufacturing techniques.