University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2017 Ceramic Entanglements In The Urartian Periphery: Technology As The Nexus Of Politics And Practice Susannah Goldblum Fishman University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, and the Near Eastern Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation Fishman, Susannah Goldblum, "Ceramic Entanglements In The Urartian Periphery: Technology As The Nexus Of Politics And Practice" (2017). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2281. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2281 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2281 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Ceramic Entanglements In The Urartian Periphery: Technology As The Nexus Of Politics And Practice Abstract This project examines the dynamic relationship between political context and technological practice by investigating how ceramic production at local centers in Nax�ıvan, Azerbaijan shifted with the changing political landscape. The regional center of Oğlanqala was one of many locally governed polities in the Early Iron Age (1200-800 BCE), became a vassal on the edge of the Urartian Empire in the Middle Iron Age (800-600 BCE), and finally had ot survive on the battlefield between Parthia and Rome in the Classical Period (200 BCE-100 CE). Technological production is always embedded in a social context, and new political configurations create new desires, changing methods of identity construction, and shifting market access. In order to reconstruct the ceramic production sequence— including raw material acquisition, forming, decoration, and exchange— samples were analyzed using petrography, neutron activation analysis (NAA), scanning electron microscopy-electron dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), surface treatment analysis, and formal stylistic analysis. By layering this information, it was possible to document how inhabitants of Nax�ıvan employed ceramic technology as a means of negotiating changing relationships. In the Early Iron Age, ceramics were locally produced within a regional stylistic tradition. Later, Urartian imperial expansion promoted a diversification of style and local material use alongside a significant expansion of multi-directional exchange. In contrast, Roman Period ceramics were produced within a uniform stylistic and technological tradition common throughout the Roman east, but half of the pottery was imported from Artashat, the capital of Roman Armenia. This imperial borderland was never completely incorporated into its powerful neighbors, and technological practices materialized changing relationships of engagement, ambivalence, and resistance. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Anthropology First Advisor Lauren Ristvet Keywords Azerbaijan, Ceramics, Empire, South Caucasus, Technology, Urartu Subject Categories History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology | Near Eastern Languages and Societies This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2281 For Matt ii ACKNOWLEDGMENT This dissertation would not have been possible without the support, guidance, patience, and encouragement of so many people and institutions. I am extremely grateful for their willingness to walk this path with me. First and foremost, I must thank my advisor Lauren Ristvet, who has profoundly shaped my intellectual growth and development as a scholar. She guided me through complex theoretical tomes, initiated my fieldwork in Azerbaijan, and edited countless versions of my work. She has been unfailingly generous with her time, contacts, knowledge, resources, and support, and without her neither this nor my future research would have been possible. Thanks also to my other committee members who shaped this project in different ways. My research is predicated on the ceramic typology developed by Hilary Gopnik. I am deeply grateful for her willingness to share her work in progress with me, as well as her extensive knowledge of ceramics, theory, relationships, and food over countless hours at the pottery table. Marie-Claude Boileau taught me ceramic petrography and archaeological science. She was instrumental in helping me translate my passionate but vague interest in empire and technology into an actionable research plan, and then guiding me through the process of learning the skills I needed. When life took me to North Carolina, Michael Smith gave me a second academic home, generously providing the resources and technical expertise to help me complete my dissertation. Finally, Megan Kassabaum and Holly Pittman provided essential feedback and perspective, each helping me to see possibilities in my research I would not have considered otherwise. iii My research has benefited from the support of many people beyond my committee. Veli Bahkshaliyev from the Azerbaijan National Academy of Science, Naxҫıvan made it possible for me to collect the ceramic and geological data for this project, and has been a strong partner for international collaboration. Emily Hammer (University of Chicago) shared her survey data and made it possible for me to have a comparative sample. I am indebted to William Gilstrap (MURR) for doing the initial work on my NAA, and then teaching me how to conduct my own analysis. Going further back, I am grateful to Charlotte Whiting, my first archaeological mentor at the British Institute in Amman, who gave me clear eyed advice on the field I wished to enter and contacts for my first project. Also, Ms. Hansbury, my ninth grade history teacher who ignited my love of the past. This project received generous support from the National Science Foundation through a doctoral dissertation research grant (DDIRG #1420111) and a MURR NSF Subsidy Grant to conduct NAA (#1110793). The American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC), the Penn Museum, and the Penn Anthropology Department all provided fieldwork grants that enabled me to work in Azerbaijan. The Louis J. Kolb Society supported the final years of my research, and helped me to develop my dissertation into future prospects. I have been incredibly fortunate in being surrounded by so many brilliant, funny, and supportive friends and colleagues. My Oğlanqalettes Hannah Lau, Selin Nugent, and Jen Swerida, my co-pilot Lara Fabian, and my grad school family of Meagan Rubel, Steve Renette, Kate Morgan, Darren Ashby, Andrea Spence-Aizenberg, Jenny Brown, iv Tom Hardy, Mary-Kate Hildebrandt, and Emily Goodman. All of these wonderful people shaped my thoughts through countless conversations over drinks and responded to panicked requests for last minute editing help. I would also like to thank my wonderful friends outside of academia who forced me to develop an elevator pitch to understand what I do, and then, thankfully, made me switch to another topic. My parents, Debbie Fishman and Josh Goldblum, who told me that I could be whatever I wanted when I grew up. I cannot thank them enough for supporting me when I took them at their word and decided to become an archaeologist. Really, I want to be like them when I grow up. Thanks to my cool big sister Sarah Goncher, who has always been my role model. I would be remiss if I did not thank my cats Gus and Milo, who were by my side every day, telling me that I could do it/they needed food. Finally, saving the best for last, I thank my husband, Matt Breuninger, my favorite human. He is the smartest, funniest, kindest person in the world. I am extremely grateful for his support, insight, silliness, and ability to surprise me. I cannot imagine how I would have done this without him. I love our family. v ABSTRACT CERAMIC ENTANGLEMENTS IN THE URARTIAN PERIPHERY: TECHNOLOGY AS THE NEXUS OF POLITICS AND PRACTICE Susannah G. Fishman Lauren Ristvet This project examines the dynamic relationship between political context and technological practice by investigating how ceramic production at local centers in Naxçıvan, Azerbaijan shifted with the changing political landscape. The regional center of Oğlanqala was one of many locally governed polities in the Early Iron Age (1200-800 BCE), became a vassal on the edge of the Urartian Empire in the Middle Iron Age (800- 600 BCE), and finally had to survive on the battlefield between Parthia and Rome in the Classical Period (200 BCE-100 CE). Technological production is always embedded in a social context, and new political configurations create new desires, changing methods of identity construction, and shifting market access. In order to reconstruct the ceramic production sequence— including raw material acquisition, forming, decoration, and exchange— samples were analyzed using petrography, neutron activation analysis (NAA), scanning electron microscopy-electron dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), surface treatment analysis, and formal stylistic analysis. By layering this information, it was possible to document how inhabitants of Naxçıvan employed ceramic technology as a means of negotiating changing relationships. In the Early Iron Age, ceramics were locally produced within a regional stylistic tradition. Later, Urartian imperial expansion promoted a diversification of style and local material use alongside a significant vi expansion of multi-directional exchange. In contrast, Roman Period ceramics were produced within a uniform stylistic and technological