Stories of Matter: Ceramic Production and Urban Dynamics in Southern Mesopotamia

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• Dr Sara Pizzimenti (University of Pisa)
• Tuesday 11 November 2025, 17:15-19:30
• McDonald Seminar Room, Department of Archaeology.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Lucy Emanuel.

Pottery production in the Kingdom of Lagash during the 4th–3rd millennia BC offers important insights into the relationship between craft, economy, and urban development. The ceramic sequence, spanning from the Jemdet Nasr to the ED IIIB periods, shows gradual changes in forms, styles, and manufacturing scale. Archaeological evidence from kilns, wasters, and workshop areas indicates the existence of distinct production zones and the interplay between domestic, specialised, and institutional activities. The study of these contexts reveals how ceramic manufacture was embedded in the rhythms of everyday life and how its organisation reflected broader patterns of economic management and community structure within one of southern Mesopotamia’s earliest urban kingdoms.

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This talk is part of the Ancient Near East Seminar Series series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Ancient Near East Seminar Series
• McDonald Seminar Room, Department of Archaeology

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