Biography of an Artefact

The following web pages present the results of project involving a step-by-step study of the reproduction of a faience artefact held in the collections of the UCL Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology. The project attempts to reconstruct the sequence of the manufacturing process known as "châine opératoire". This process is defined as "...[t]he range of processes by which naturally occurring raw materials are selected, shaped and transformed into usable cultural products" (Schlanger 2005).

This project is an endeavour to show how we can extract valuable information from an archaeological artefact in order to reconstruct its life history and provide information on past technologies, technological innovation and the development of craft specialisation. Such information in turn enables investigatation of the sources for raw materials, technological choices and spatial, economical and social factors which may have influence past makers and users.

This page last modified 6 November, 2009 by Kathryn E. Piquette