The prehistory of pottery restoration - ICOM-CC

The prehistory of pottery restoration In some instances, the potter covered the
cracks with a layer of plaster. In other
In recent years there has been an instances, gaps in the wall were filled with
increasing professional interest in the plaster. Plaster was a material very
history of pottery repairs. Restorers and commonly used by prehistoric
archaeologists alike have begun to study communities at this time, for covering floors
the restorations carried out during earlier and walls of houses, and for producing
life stages of the objects placed in their large waterproof containers, so the choice
hands. These physical modifications attest of this material for repairing broken pottery
to the complex biographies of the vessels is perhaps not surprising.
artefacts. Every professional restorer will be
familiar with earlier repairs made in the Fig. 1. A coarse ceramic vessel from Tell Sabi
past centuries, and many have come Abyad. A large crack was repaired by covering
across more ancient examples from the it with plaster. Early Pottery Neolithic period, ca.
classical past. However, archaeology 6600 BC. Height of vessel ca. 50 cm. (Source:
shows that the history of pottery repairs has National Museum of Antiquities Leiden).
a much more ancient pedigree.

Excavations at archaeological sites in the
Near East are bringing to light what may
well be the oldest pottery repairs from the
Old World. In the Fertile Crescent, pottery
first appears around 7000-6900 B.C. in what
are today south-eastern Turkey, northern
Syria and northern Iraq. Soon after the first
introduction of containers made in fired
clay, various techniques for repairing them
are attested in the archaeological record.
Two main early techniques are plastering
damaged vessels with lime/gypsum, and
fitting broken pieces together using
perforations, string and glues.

The earliest examples of restored pottery
vessels were treated with plaster made
from lime or gypsum (the chemical
distinction between these two raw
materials is difficult to identify in the field).

Fig. 2. A coarse ceramic vessel from Tell Sabi Fig. 3. A stone vessel from Tell Sabi Abyad,
Abyad. A missing part was repaired by filling it northern Syria. The vessel was broken in
with plaster. Early Pottery Neolithic period, ca. antiquity, and repaired by fitting the fragments
6600 BC. Height of vessel ca. 15 cm. (Source: together with perforations and string, using
National Museum of Antiquities Leiden). bitumen as glue. Early Pottery Neolithic period,
ca. 6,500 BC. Reddish stone, diameter of vessel
The second technique, which appears at ca. 18 cm. (Source: National Museum of
about the same time, would remain the Antiquities Leiden).
most common solution for repairing pottery
vessels throughout prehistory. Perforations Fig. 4. A painted pottery vessel from Tell Sabi
were placed on either side of the break, Abyad, northern Syria. The vessel was repaired
after which the fragments were kept by fitting the fragments together with
together with a piece of string or rope. perforations and string, using bitumen as glue.
Occasionally traces of dark bitumen used Transitional (Proto-Halaf) period, ca. 5,900 BC.
as an adhesive are still visible on the Standard Fine Ware, diameter 14 cm. (Source:
breaks. This method may have been
adopted from the restoration of stone
vessels. Excavations at Tell Sabi Abyad in
northern Syria have yielded some fine
examples of broken vessels made in stone
and pottery repaired this way.

National Museum of Antiquities Leiden). discussing the issue of prehistoric pottery
repairs with colleagues working with similar
Finds such as these are not just interesting materials from other parts of the world, be
because they document the history of they trained as archaeologists or pottery
specific technologies for repairing restorers.
artefacts. They can also inform us about
the social meaning of these objects. Here Selected references
the archaeological context is key. The
presence or absence of repairs in specific 1. Benz, M. and Kästner, U. (eds). 2007
time periods or at specific sites, the Konservieren oder Restaurieren: Die
association of particular types of repairs Restaurierung griechischer Vasen von der
with specific artefacts, or even the Antike bis heute, Munich, C. H. Beck.
distribution of broken fragments across the
archaeological sites: these are issues 2. Chapman, J. and B. Gaydarska. 2007.
archaeologists have been trained to Parts and Wholes. Fragmentation in
investigate. Prehistoric Context, Oxford, Oxbow Books.

Of course, in order to enable the study of 3. Dooijes, R. and Nieuwenhuyse, O.P. 2007.
"Ancient repairs: techniques and social
pottery restoration technologies in meaning”, in: Benz, M. and Kästner, U.
(eds), Konservieren oder Restauriere, Die
prehistory and the socio-economic Restaurierung griechischer Vasen von der
Antike bis heute, Munich, C. H. Beck: 17-22.
meaning of ancient repairs, it is essential
4. Dooijes, R., Burghout, F., Düring, M. and
that these are systematically reported in Nieuwenhuyse, O.P. 2007. “Restorations on
the Late Uruk Pottery from Jebel Aruda -
archaeological find reports. This has not old and new”, Leiden Journal of Pottery
Studies 23: 61-77.
always been self evident. Pottery repairs
5. Dooijes, R. and Nieuwenhuyse, O.P. In
have for long been virtually neglected in press. "Ancient repairs in archaeological
research: a Near Eastern perspective",
archaeology. This is now changing, as is Proceedings of the symposium "Holding it
all together" (London, British Museum 21/2-
shown by a range of new publications and 22/2 2008), London, Archetype.

specialized symposiums.

The ICOM-CC would be the ideal platform

to stimulate this discussion and to bring

together evidence from a variety of

professional perspectives and

specializations. As a professional

archaeologist working with early ceramic

assemblages from the Near East my

awareness of the potential of prehistoric

pottery repairs has been growing over the

past years. I would be very interested in

6. Nieuwenhuyse, O.P. and Dooijes, R. In
prep. “The earliest pottery repairs in the
Near East. Some examples from Tell Sabi
Abyad, northern Syria”, Leiden Journal of
Pottery Studies 24.

Dr. Olivier Nieuwenhuyse
Postdoc Researcher
Faculty of Archaeology - Leiden University
E-mail: [email protected]