Sherd Shatter Patterns Experiment

• Main Authors: S. Evans, S. Barrera
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: EXARC 2017-08-01
• Series: EXARC Journal
• Subjects: ceramics; experiment; neolithic; chalcolithic; bronze age; iron age; roman era; viking age; early middle ages; late middle ages; newer era; canada
• Online Access: https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10301

In field archaeology, the importance of non-diagnostic sherds is often overlooked. This archaeological experiment suggests that archaeologists should take into greater consideration, contexts where sherds are found grouped together in close proximity. The authors tested a series of experimental drops of modern pots which were treated as substitutions for ancient examples. Dispersion patterns of the pot sherds were analyzed to determine if it was possible to understand how vessels were used, and thus broken and discarded by people in ancient times. Amongst the variables tested were various vessel sizes filled with different contents which were dropped from varying heights. The results produced interesting findings that could indeed prove useful to archaeologists if they were applied in the field and laboratory. Due to budget constraints and the narrow scope of the project, only preliminary findings were addressed. In future, the authors would encourage other scholars to build upon their promising research which could be beneficial to archaeologists around the world.