Midden Ceramic Assemblage Formation: A Case Study from Kalinga, Philippines

Abstract

The 2001 field season of the Kalinga Ethnoarchaeological Project addressed ceramic discard and midden formation in Dalupa, an upland community of 380 people in Pasil Municipality, Kalinga Province, the Philippines. Despite the increasing reliance on metal cooking vessels in the project area over time, two seasons of the Kalinga Ethnoarchaeological Project still provided enough data to describe ceramic discard and accumulation within middens. Dalupa middens receive most discarded vessels and a representative sample of discarded vessel types. This is in part because transport to water sources and washing, activities heavily associated with vessel breakage, now occur primarily within the residential area. Vessels often reach middens in a complete or reconstructible state, but are reduced to small sherds by cultural disturbance processes. Because people usually use the closest midden, catchment areas for middens can be predicted if the spatial distribution of contemporaneous residences, other activity areas, and middens is known. This work may help researchers distinguish the discarded ceramics from different households or groups of households, control for any biases in accumulation, and connect ceramic attributes with social variables of interest.