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Wheelmade or Wheel-Finished? Interpretation of ‘Wheelmarks’ on Pottery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2011

Robert C. Henrickson
Robert C. Henrickson*
Affiliation:
Conservation Analytical Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560
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Abstract

Analysis of patterns of breakage and xeroradiographs have shown that ‘wheelmarks’ provide an incomplete and potentially misleading diagnostic for forming methods. The location and distribution of such marks over the entire vessel is crucial. Patterns of breakage reveal the characteristic patterns of weakness in the vessel fabric left by each type of forming method. Examination of both the overall patterns and surfaces of breaks in relation to the vessel profile aids reconstruction of the original forming process. Selective xeroradiography aid this interpretation. Despite the ubiquity and extent of ‘wheelmarks’ on Godin III painted buff ware vessels (bowls and closed shapes), patterns of breakage and xeroradiography demonstrate limited but persistent use of true throwing of small vessels on a potter's wheel (western Iran, 2600-1400 B.C.). All others were built using combinations of hand-forming methods and finished on a tournette.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 185: Symposium G – Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology II , 1990 , 523
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1990

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