During the upcoming PCMA seminar series “Pot Talks – A Multidisciplinary Approach to Ceramics from Africa and Beyond,” Ewa Czyżewska-Zalewska (PCMA UW) will deliver a presentation: “Mobility and Transmission of Pottery Knowledge”.
Abstract: The Early Makuria Research Project was a significant initiative focused on studying the period between the 4th and 7th centuries, known as Early Makuria, in the Dongola Reach (between the 3rd and 4th Nile Cataracts) in ancient Nubia. Following the decline of the Meroitic State, this region transformed into an independent polity known as Makuria after its conversion to Christianity (5th /6th -14th century AD). This study investigates pottery found in funerary contexts at early Makurian sites of El- Zuma, El-Detti, and Tanqasi, located in the Dongola Reach. The absence of settlement sites from this period limits direct evidence of pottery production use and distribution. Therefore, this research combines archaeological analysis of vessel assemblages from funerary contexts with ethnographic studies of modern Sudanese pottery-making traditions. By comparing ceramic production techniques and vessel forms, this study examines whether pottery traditions spread through the mobility of potters or local knowledge transmission. This approach explores how ancient potters may have worked and how their knowledge was spread.
The seminar will be held on Thursday, 27th March 2025, at 2 pm (Warsaw time) – on the Zoom platform. To receive the link, please write to seminarium.pcma@uw.edu.pl
The “Pot Talks – A multidisciplinary approach to ceramics from the African area and beyond” is a thematic series within the PCMA Seminar. It is organised by Dr. Katarzyna de Lellis-Danys from the Department of African Studies, PCMA UW, and the National Museum in Warsaw. Lectures in this series will include topics related to multidisciplinary ceramic research, which will enable participants to exchange experiences with researchers working in different parts of Africa and beyond.