Abstract:
Ceramics are an essential part of the Holocene archaeology of eastern Africa and
the development of increasingly complex typologies has rightly played a key role in
our understanding of chronology and social identity. However, this focus on
taxonomies can also be restrictive, as we lose sight of the communities who
made and used the ceramics in our endless search to classify and re-classify
ceramics. Focusing on ceramics from the Great Lakes and Rift Valley
(Kansyore, Pastoral Neolithic and Urewe), we critique past approaches to
ceramic analysis, and suggest future studies should better recognise their social
role.We end with a case study of Kansyore ceramics, emphasising function and use.
