Strength Testing Archaeological Ceramics: A New Perspective

Abstract

The measurement of ceramic strength is an important source of evidence for assessing any pottery technology. However, the adoption of strength testing within comprehensive ceramic analyses in archaeology has been hindered by the absence of a reliable format for testing archaeological specimens. This paper presents results of research undertaken to develop the ball-on-three-ball test, which measures the tensile strength of archaeological, ethnographic, and experimental ceramics in biaxial flexure. Laboratory experiments demonstrate that the test produces reliable and accurate results largely unaffected by the irregularities of sherd-shaped specimens. In an example from the prehistoric Southwest, strength tests are used to investigate technological change in the Cibola White Ware sequence and the role of strength in the formation of archaeological assemblages. It is suggested that the development of a versatile, dependable technique can help to move strength testing out of experimental laboratories and into mainstream ceramic analyses.