Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-2018

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

Anthropology

Major Professor

Stephen A. Collins-Elliott

Committee Members

David G. Anderson, Aleydis Van de Moortel

Abstract

This study examines 144 sherds of common ware ceramics collected as part of the 2016 survey season of the joint INSAP-UT project titled Gardens of the Hesperides: The Rural Archaeology of the Loukkos Valley (Project Hesperides). The initial goal of this study is to create a preliminary fabric typology of these 144 ceramics, which are sorted into 7 groups: Noyes 1, Noyes 6, Noyes 8, Noyes 10, Noyes 11, Noyes 12, and Noyes 13. These groups are created based on fabric recipes and inclusions, and an analysis of these groups indicates the level of standardization of common wares in the Loukkos River valley. This study also establishes a preliminary chronology for these fabric groups. Although these groups cannot be tied to periods more specific than two centuries or more, this preliminary chronology is useful for illuminating wide diachronic changes in ceramic production over time. Finally, this study undertakes a distribution analysis of these common ceramics over the landscape of the Loukkos River valley. The distribution of fabrics in the river valley shows certain sites to be quite significant in the trade of common wares, and moreover suggests an increased level of economic integration in the countryside around Lixus. Ideally, this research will aid Project Hesperides in its study of economic development and settlement patterns in the Loukkos River valley and will contribute to the bibliography of common ware studies in northwest Morocco.

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