A Technological Approach to Ceramics: A Framework for Studying Maritime Exchange Networks during the Metal Age in Wallacea. The Case of the Ceramic Assemblage from Goa Topogaro 7

Mélanie Ligot1*, Rintaro Ono2, Harry Octavianus Sofian3, and Sriwigati4

Human migrations from Maritime Asia and Oceania, beginning in the Neolithic period, have been studied through the spread of ceramic styles and decorations, enabling the development of theories regarding settlement patterns and exchange networks. However, we could understand deeper the inter-island interactions by studying ceramic traditions from a technological perspective. These ‘traditions’ are specific to social groups and form part of a social history (Roux 2010). As part of a PhD on exchanges networks in Wallacea from the Neolithic to the Metal Age, a technological study of ceramics, focusing on reconstructing the stages of manufacture, was carried out at Goa Topogaro 7. This study aims to characterize ancient social groups from sites on Sulawesi, as well as from Indonesian sites on several islands in the future, in order to establish a sequence of cultural exchanges. Here, we present the technical tradition of pottery manufacture at Goa Topogaro 7.