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Assessment of the Gripability of Textured Ceramic Surfaces

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Matthew T. Boulanger
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 107 Swallow Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211 (boulangerm@missouri.edu)
Corey M. Hudson
Affiliation:
Informatics Institute, 241 Engineering West, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211 (coreymhudson@gmail.com)

Abstract

Archaeologists have suggested that various methods of surface texturing, specifically those resulting in alternating ridges and grooves, affect the gripability of a ceramic vessel. Various methods of vessel texturing were applied to ceramic test tiles and evaluated using a tribometer outfitted with a malleable skinlike substrate. Nontextured (smoothed) ceramic tiles were similarly evaluated. Tiles were evaluated under both dry and wet conditions. Coefficients of static friction suggest that, under wet and dry conditions, smoothed surfaces generate less friction than textured surfaces and that not all textured surfaces produce the same amount of friction. Results indicate that vessel-wall texturing may be an adaptation for increased vessel longevity. Explanations of the development and use of textured pottery must now consider gripability along with a variety of factors related to vessel performance.

Resumen

Resumen

Los arqueólogos han sugerido que varios métodos de texturizar una superficie, específicamente los que implican estrías, afectan la habilidad de asir una vasija cerãmica. Se sometieron a prueba piezas de cerámica con varios métodos de estriar. Esas fueron evaluadas empleando un tribómetro equipado de un sustrato de superficie dúctil. Igualmente se evaluaron losas sin textura (lisas). Estas se evaluaron bajo condiciones tanto húmedas como secas. Los coeficientes de fricción estática sugieren que, bajo condiciones húmedas y secas, las superficies alisadas generan menos fricción de la que generan las estriadas, y que todas las superficies estriadas no producen la misma cantidad de fricción. Los resultados indican que la estría de la vasija puede ser una adaptación para aumentar su duración. Las explicaciones del desarrollo y del uso de vasijas texturizadas deben ahora considerar la habilidad de agarre como una variedad de factores relacionados a la ejecución de la vasija misma.

Type
Reports
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2012

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