The Last Potter in the Village: The Story of a Local Potter in Van, Eastern Turkey
Van’s Bardakç? village is no different to many other Anatolian villages, with its dusty roads and smell of fresh manure. However, its traditional mud brick houses and subsistence strategies have changed considerably when compared to the past, which is why we have decided to document traditional pottery making processes before they disappear entirely.
Our ethno-archaeological and experimental archaeological studies in Van’s Bardakç? began in 2014, focussing on ceramics studies. For us, as archaeologists, excavated pottery is important and valuable, and provides abundant information about the culture of the excavation site. Fortunately for us, ceramics are found in great numbers on the dig, providing us with excellent possibilities to learn more about the original settlers.
Generally, archaeologists first concentrate on defining the physical properties of any pottery they excavate. I had previously worked on Urartian pottery (not extensively) while working on my area of expertise, Urartian culture. The excavations at Ayanis Fortress, an Urartian fortress on the edge of Lake Van, exposed thousands of glossy red-slipped ceramics called Urartian red polished wares (Fig. 1). While appreciating the beauty of the fragments found, I first thought of the red polished ceramics that identify the Urartian ware as being quite uniform (Fig. 2). With further consideration regarding the production of these vessels, I began to notice the fine details, and therefore the skill and ability required by the potters to overcome many of the difficulties associated with the making process. The production would also have required a collective and organised movement. My initial thoughts associated with the mundane aspect of producing identical numbers of vessels, were replaced by a keen curiosity.
