Abstract:
Lead-glazed ceramics are one of the most distinctive features of archaeological sites from the early Islamic period (8th/9th-12th c. CE). This highly dynamic technology was spread thousands of kilometres in a matter of decades, and these glazed wares served as important cultural markers that demonstrate the intentional affiliation that the residents of lands from Iberia to Central Asia developed with the culture of the Islamic World. An ideal place to observe this rapid technological transfer is Central Asia, where there were no glazing traditions prior to the Islamic Period. This lecture will present the results of archaeometric studies of early Islamic glazed ceramics from a range of sites in Transoxiana and the Semirechye region of Central Asia, including the major sites of Bukhara and Tashkent, as well as sites in the Talas and Chu River Valleys. Through the characterisation of ceramic provenance (by neutron activation analysis of ceramic pastes and Lead isotope analysis of the glazes) and ceramic glazing technology (using electron microscopy), I will demonstrate how this technology was transmitted, and local traditions adapted with the influx of nonlocal goods and peoples across Central Asia.
Speaker:
Dr. Catherine Klesner is a postdoctoral fellow in Ancient Ceramics at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on reverse engineering ancient ceramic technologies through archaeometric analysis to study how technological knowledge was developed, transmitted, adopted, and adapted in the past. She received her Ph.D. (2021) in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Arizona, where her project examined the development of lead-glazed ceramics in early Islamic period Silk Road cities in southern Kazakhstan. Examining these early glazed ceramics by compositional, isotopic, and microscopic analysis not only reveal the physical trade networks in place, but also how distinctive technological traditions were transmitted and adapted into the region. She has since worked on material from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to further investigate the nature of craft production and cross-craft interactions in early period Islamic period Central Asia.
*** Please note this is a hybird event, it will be hold on Zoom and at McDonald Seminar Room***
Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7212046194?pwd=ZjVtSnBydnp5THpnQ3dtVWN4N1ROdz09
