Characterizing Asian Stoneware Jar Production at the Transition to the Early Modern Period, 1550-1650

Abstract

In this study, elemental characterization is applied to a large sample of stoneware jars and jar fragments from Asian and European wreck assemblages recovered from the China Sea as well as from along the long-distance trade routes of the period. The majority of these assemblages range in date from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century. This sample is supplemented with a museum collection of complete jars from Philippine burials and other terrestrial collections in the Southeast Asian region. The resulting compositional groups provide a robust basis for assigning provenance, and seventeen discrete production sources are identified ranging from southern China to Burma. In combination with typological information and chronological organization, these groups provide an alternative means for assessing changes in regional production strategies through the transition to the modern era. This work, while preliminary, provides a new perspective on the social, economic, and political dynamics of this time and region.