Eight jar rims have been exposed in situ at the base of level 7, unit 0W 0S, Mound 5, Makala Kataa Station 6. The jar rims are broken off below the neck of the pot and appear to have been placed around a room where they were used as pot stands. In a raised area (bottom center), not excavated to the same depth as surrounding soil, a concentration of reddish soil and gravel marks the traces of a house wall. Archaeologists interpret unit 0W 0S as a part of a kitchen area where foodstuffs were likely stored. The pots and their contents have been removed, with only the pot stands remaining. In the background sits a headpan filled with soil from cleaning the 2 x 2 m unit prior to photoing. A scale arrow with 10 cm intervals points north. View to the west. Makala Kataa, 19 July, 1994.
Excavations in unit 42N 4W have exposed clusters of pottery, grinding stones, tuyeres and an area of burned soil associated with metal working at Mound 6, Ngre Kataa. Foreground, left, a grinding stone (GS 08-10) rests with its working surface face down. It sits at a slightly higher level than a nearby (left) whole pottery jar (NK 08-406). To the right of these, a partial pot (NK 08-282) and a tuyere fragment (NK 08-284) are clustered together with two halves of a broken pottery jar, lying with its exterior surface facing down. To the south (behind), near the sign board and framed by photo scales, is a burned feature. Next to it sits a hand-held hammerstone (GS 08-11). Another partial pottery jar (NK 08-520) and a small flat grinding stone (GS 08-12) have been exposed to the left of the sign board at 77 cm below the unit's datum. The narrow dark bands visible in the soil are the traces of animal burrows. Photo scale adjacent to the sign board in centimeters. View looking south. Site Ngre Kataa. 7 July 2008.
Photo of a pottery bowl rim and body, with profile depicted (left). The bowl's interior surface is decorated with lines of red paint applied in reticulate and pendant patterns. The rim of the bowl is slightly everted. A portion of the interior surface is blackened as an effect of firing. An INAA sample ("Banda 27-11") from this bowl was assigned to the "K2" group of ceramic fabrics. It was therefore likely made from clays mined east of the Banda hills. Rim diameter: 34 cm at exterior lip. Sherd represents an estimated 20% of the bowl's circumference. Scale in cm. Site Banda 27. 28 February, 2001.
Photo of a pottery bowl rim and body, exterior surface, with profile depicted (left). The rim of the bowl is slightly everted. The bowl's exterior is decorated with several bands of red paint, one applied below the angle of the rim, one mid-way down the bowl body, and one toward the base. Blackened areas of the exterior are a result of firing. An INAA sample ("Banda 27-11") from this bowl was assigned to the "K2" group of ceramic fabrics. It was therefore likely made from clays mined east of the Banda hills. Rim diameter: 34 cm at exterior lip. Sherd represents an estimated 20% of the bowl's circumference. Scale in cm. Banda 27. 28 February, 2001.
Photo of a pottery bowl rim, exterior surface, with profile depicted (left). The bowl is decorated with several shallow horizontal grooves above its angular carination. A row of vertical impressions marks the carination, below which is a zone of angled "dentate" impressions, bounded by a shallow groove at its lower edge. Traces of red paint appear on the upper portions of the bowl. An INAA sample ("Banda 27-1") from this bowl was assigned to the "K2" group of ceramic fabrics. It was therefore likely made from clays mined east of the Banda hills. Rim diameter: 20 cm at the interior lip. Sherd represents an estimated 15% of the bowl's circumference. Scale in cm. Site Banda 27. 29 January, 2001.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution--NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Provenance:
Banda 27, Mound 1, Unit 1, Level 3
Date:
2001-01-29
Location(s) Facet:
Site Banda 27
Subjects:
Dentate impression; Red paint; Bowl; Neutron Activation Analysis
The circular outline of a burned basin (Feature 3) is bracketed by photo scales (center) in unit 50N 4W (130 cm below the unit datum) at Mound 6. A pottery jar sits to the right side of the basin, its opening covered by a potsherd lid. To the left, a grinding stone sits, grinding surface down, over top of another pottery jar. Burned features like these were associated with metal working in this Mound 6 workshop area. Photo scale at bottom in centimeters. Site Ngre Kataa. 29 June, 2009.
The circular outline of a burned basin (Feature 3) is bracketed by photo scales (left of center) in unit 50N 4W (130 cm below the unit datum) at Mound 6. A pottery jar sits to the right side of the basin, its opening covered by a potsherd lid. To the left, a grinding stone sits, grinding surface down, over top of another pottery jar. Another grinding stone (far left) sits at a higher level in unit 50N 6W. A second burned feature is associated with a grinding stone tipped on its side, far right. Another pottery jar sits nearby, also lidded with a broken sherd. Burned features like these were associated with metal working in this Mound 6 workshop area. Photo scale at bottom in centimeters. Site Ngre Kataa. 29 June, 2009.
A perforated pottery jar lidded with the pedestaled base of another pot sits in situ at the base of level 6, unit 46N 2W at Mound 6. The pot contained eight cowries and is interpreted by archaeologists as a shrine pot placed in association with metalworking facilities. Photo scale in 5 cm increments. Site Ngre Kataa. 24 June, 2009.
The mouth of a perforated shrine pot (left) is covered with the pedestaled base of another pot. It remains in situ as the surrounding areas of unit 46N 2W are excavated to lower levels. Behind, the stratified layers of Mound 6 are visible in the unit's north wall. Center (back) are a series of anvil and grinding stones exposed at higher mound levels in other excavation units. During excavations in 2008, a cluster of four anvil/grinding stones was found at a level slightly higher than but adjacent (left/west) to the perforated pot. At right, in lower levels, two grinding stones rest at an angle in association with a burned feature. Archaeologists interpret Mound 6 as a metallurgical workshop at which stratified levels built up through repeated use of the same location. Photo scale in centimeters. Site Ngre Kataa. 2 July, 2009.
A partially reconstructed everted-rim pottery jar excavated from Banda area site A-212, Mound 7, level 10. The jar's exterior surface is decorated below the neck with closely spaced rows of dentate (comb) impressions, intersected by a double diagonal line of dentate impressions. Double lines of dentate impression applied in a chevron pattern form a band between the upper zone of dentate decoration and jar's plain base. The jar's interior is finished with an orange-red slip. An INAA sample ("A212-16") from this jar and was assigned to the "G1" group of ceramic fabrics and therefore likely made west of the Banda hills. Rim diameter 24 cm at exterior lip. Photo scale in cm. Site A-212. 1 February, 2001.