Counting the earth : the development of a typological framework for the analysis of earthenware from sites in 14th-century Singapore

Abstract

The main interest of this research is to elucidate the activities carried out by the local inhabitants involving the use of earthenware, and the potential considerations made by the potters in the production process, to shed light on the habits and lifestyle of the local inhabitants. This is achieved by the development of a typological framework where artefacts are analysed according to their constituent attributes without assuming that any one attribute is necessarily associated to another, and types formed based on statistically significant co-occurrences – attribute combinations and attribute clusters – observed within the data. The resulting observations raised pertinent questions regarding the decision-making process of potters during clay preparation and elucidated the common dining practices of the inhabitants and distinctions between the activities carried out at the sites. Importantly, this thesis contributes to the existing research by systematically quantifying the earthenware sub-assemblages from Saint Andrew’s Cathedral (STA), Fort Canning Spice Gardens (FTCSG), and Colombo Court (CCT) in Singapore.