After a summer break, the PCMA Seminars have resumed. This year, the seminars will continue the thematic series, “Pot Talks – A Multidisciplinary Approach to Ceramics from Africa and Beyond.” The “Pot Talks” sessions will take place on the last Thursday of each month, at least through January. The first lecture will be delivered by Dr. Romain David from the MF Norwegian School of Theology.
The “Pot Talks” series, organized by Dr. Katarzyna de Lellis-Danys from the Department of African Studies, PCMA UW, and the National Museum in Warsaw, is part of the PCMA Seminar program. It focuses on multidisciplinary ceramic research, providing a platform for scholars to share insights and collaborate with researchers working in Africa and other regions. The series explores ceramics from various academic perspectives, making it a valuable forum for discussions on the cultural and archaeological significance of pottery in different contexts.
Dr. Romain David (MF Norwegian School of Theology, Post-doctoral Fellow in the ERC DEChriM project) will present a lecture titled, “The 4th Century AD in Egypt: A View from Ceramics.”
The seminar will be held on Thursday, 31st October 2024, at 2 pm (Warsaw time) on the Zoom platform. To receive the link, please write to seminarium.pcma@uw.edu.pl.
Abstract: “This presentation highlights the results of work carried out as part of the DEChriM project (link), which aims to consolidate all available data in order to foster a multidisciplinary approach and deepen our understanding of fourth-century Egypt. For ceramics, the primary goal was to gain as clear a picture as possible of the productions circulating during the 4th century AD, helping us identify potential chronological markers that can assist in dating archaeological remains.
This was a challenging task, particularly for ceramic specialists used to working with assemblages outside such a strict chronological framework. It raised important questions about the criteria for labelling ceramics as ‘in circulation during the 4th century’ and, more generally, about the methods used to date ceramics. This led to a comprehensive survey of publications potentially related to 4th-century contexts, to assemble a corpus that met the defined criteria, and then to assess its relevance and representativeness. The analysis of this corpus has allowed us to explore the issues surrounding production and consumption in Egypt at the end of the Roman period.
A secondary aim of this presentation is to reflect on the limitations of our results, which stem from the fieldwork methods and publication models that are not always in line with the objectives of the DEChriM project. The historical approach to ceramic production that emerges from this work leads us to propose an ideal model that would have facilitated this research and contributed to freeing ceramology from the narrow framework in which it is too often confined.”
Recordings of many PCMA Seminars are available on the PCMA YouTube channel: link.
Recording from the last seminar: YouTube