An approach to the use-wear analysis on the Iron Age pottery of Northwestern Iberia.

Abstract

Galician Iron Age pottery has been studied until now from both, a morphological and a stylistic typology perspective. However, if we want to increase our knowledge on the lifestyle of the Iron Age societies and, specifically, on the contexts and ways in which pots were used, we need to resort to the use-wear analysis.In addition to the residue analysis, the macro and microscopic traces on the pots’ surfaces can be observed and subsequently interpreted. The analysis of such traces can be based on the data provided by two different disciplines: ethnoarchaeology and experimental archaeology. Fortunately, there is a rich pottery tradition in Galicia, an im-portant collection of which is preserved in the Museum of Galician People (Museo do Pobo Galego). The ethnographic data linked to these items have made possible for us to identify the activity in which the pots were used. Thus, the traces observed on the pots’ surfaces (and the activity that caused them) have been registered and added to a database with the aim of comparing them to the traces found in the archaeological pottery. Furthermore, the Grupo de Estudios para la Prehistoria del Noroeste- Arqueología, Antigüedad y Territorio research group is currently implementing experimental protocols, using replicas of Iron Age pots in different activities with the aim of increasing the catalogue of traces linked to specific types of activities.