Crafting Beyond Habitual Practices: Assessing the Production of a House Urn from Iron Age Central Italy

Abstract

A house-shaped urn dating to the Early Iron Age from Central Italy was technologically assessed in order to establish the forming techniques necessary to produce it. This hypothesized forming sequence was then tested through the production of two experimental urns. It was found that there is a meaningful relationship between the clay texture choices, the forming techniques, and the overall morphology of the finished object. The implications of this relationship are explored based on the reality that such house urns were made relatively rarely and that they present unique, if recognizably architectural, morphology. It is established that by assessing such unique objects, significantly greater insights can be drawn than from examinations of trends in habitually-formed ceramic objects. Unique objects such as this house urn are opportunities to view a potter’s individual choices and strategies in forming, which necessarily draw on habitual practices but also require a large degree of problem-solving in order to resolve unique challenges.

Keywords

• funerary
• iron age
• italy
• clay
• ceramics