“Tell Mozan ceramics: Munsell colours,”
Frankfurter elektronische Rundschau zur Altertumskunde 24, pp. 12-46.
In this paper, the ceramics found at Tell Mozan are analysed on the basis of the ‘Munsell Soil Color Charts’ [for the Munsell Color System, see the official website] providing unique codes for each colour: the aim is to provide a description of ceramic colours avoiding general and vague definitions as ‘buff, red, gray’ (etc.).
This system, applied for the first time in the archaeological field for the description of soils, can be usefully adopted for ceramic colours, with the purpose of obtaining a standardization of the colour determination.
After an introduction stressing how this system can avoid vague colour definitions and can allow comparison with pottery from other sites (described according to the same method), the author provides an analysis and use of colours in ceramic studies and in archaeology in general.
Afterward, the specific procedure applied at Tell Mozan is explicated, referring to Munsell Company website for a in-depth explanation of the system. Some specimens of actual analysis are then provided, offering statistics about Tell Mozan’s ceramic exterior colours and the relationship (of equivalence or diverging) between exterior and interior colours, also connecting shapes and ware types with respective colours.
Furthermore, pottery is compared (as regards the colour) with other fire clay objects from Tell Mozan (i.e., miniature wheels, discs, sealings, sling balls, plaques, human and animal figurines). In conclusion, “the sample of notations of pottery colour presented here display a remarkable homogeneity. The colours most commonly observed occur within a limited range of hue, chroma and value, and this is the case both for exterior and interior surfaces. […] The standardisation lends support to the existence of pottery workshops, and comparison with other artefacts may indicate related, but to some degree separate workshops. […] As seen elsewhere, comparisons could aid our understanding of production techniques and organisation, and more broadly of the interaction between sites (movement of both craftspeople and the pottery)” (pp. 16-17).
[A PDF version of the ‘Munsell Colour Chart’ can be find here. The following link refer to a publication explaining the colour classification used in the chart. NB: just remember than a printed version of this chart could present flawed or not perfectly matching chromas, according to the inks used by printers].