Decoding potter groups of the Western Zhou: insights from material characterization and geometric morphometrics analysis

Abstract

The identification of the production groups within a workshop has been a research topic attracting extensive scholarly attention. A series of proxies including material characteristics, forming techniques and pottery typologies have been widely employed in this type of investigation. Additionally, the morphological variation at specific parts of the vessel (e.g., the rim) has been proven to reflect the differences between various production groups and production events. However, previous studies have rarely combined pottery morphology analysis with ceramic material characteristics to reveal production group distinctions. In order to integrate these two important types of data and explore their full potential in the analysis, this study is dedicated to developing an approach based on micro-CT and Geometric Morphometrics (GMM), which is applied to the Western Zhou Li tripod sherds excavated from the site of Dayuancun (大原村). The site was a Late Western Zhou pottery workshop with three concentrated production zones and specialized in making Li tripod. This study systematically investigate both the material properties and morphological features of the Li tripods from this site. We have identified a relatively high degree of consistence in both material composition and morphological characteristics within individual production zones. In contrast, marked dissimilarities emerge among the three zones, strongly suggesting the presence of discrete production groups operating at the site. We contend that the Dayuancun pottery workshop was organized in a comprehensive manner, and the three zones were capable of completing the entire production process from raw materials to finished products while maintaining their own morphological preferences.