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INTERDISCIPLINARIA ARCHAEOLOGICA
NATURAL SCIENCES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
homepage: http://www.iansa.eu
The Ancient Greek Potter’s Wheel: Experimental Archaeology and Web
Applications for Velocity Analysis
Brandon Neth
1
, Eleni Hasaki
1*
1
University of Arizona, Tuscon, Arizona 85721, United States of America
1. Introduction: General trends of potter’s wheel research
As the potter’s wheel is central to the operation of a pottery
workshop, archaeologists have attempted to extract as much
information as possible from the device, the user, and the
fnished product. In this section, we capture a few of the
major aspects that wheel research has covered within the
scope of the Greek prehistoric and historical periods. The
general trends can be grouped into four major categories:
1.1 The wheel apparatus
In this category we consider four subsets:
1) The study of archaeological remains (mostly of
wheelheads, as no entire wheel apparatus has survived
from Greek antiquity; Evely, 2000; Hasaki, 2019;
Rotrof, 2006).
2) The rather well-known list of two dozen depictions
of Athenian, Corinthian, and Boeotian ceramics that
depict potters working at the wheel (Hadjidimitriou,
2005; Hasaki, 2019; Stissi, 2002; Vidale, 2002;
Williams, 2019) (Figure 1).
3) A small number of Greek and Latin literary references
in epics and philosophical works praising the skill and
patience of ancient potters, and claiming Athens and
Corinth as the birthplaces of the potter’s wheel (Cuomo
di Caprio, 2017; Hasaki, 2019). Two well-known
references attest to the arduous wheel apprenticeship
based on observation and participation method:
“Did you never observe in the arts how the potters’
boys (sons) look on and help, long before they touch
the wheel?” (Plato, Republic 5.467a)
“Is not this, as they say, to learn the potter’s craft by
undertaking a pithos…and does not this seem to you
a foolish thing to do?” (Plato, Gorgias 514e)
Volume XII ● Issue 2/2021 ● Pages 115–125
*Corresponding author. E-mail: hasakie@email.arizona.edu
ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Received: 11
th
February 2021
Accepted: 7
th
October 2021
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24916/iansa.2021.2.1
Key words:
potter’s wheel
ancient Greece
Mediterranean
visualization
velocity measurement
web application
ABSTRACT
The potter’s wheel is central to the understanding of ancient technology, knowledge transfer, and social
complexity
.
With scant evidence of potter’s wheels from antiquity, experimental projects with replica
potter’s wheels can help researchers address larger questions on ceramic production. One such set of
experiments, performed using the Ancient Greek wheel replica in Tucson modelled on Athenian and
Corinthian iconographic evidence, provided useful insight into the qualitative experience of ancient
potters. In past experiments, the quantitative analysis of the throwing sessions included data on wheel
velocity which had been collected collected over large intervals, comprising entire stages of the
throwing process. While this method provides an overview of rotational speed, a continuous velocity
graph provides a clearer picture collected data on wheel velocity. To address this, we developed a web
application (WheelVis; brandonneth.github.io/wheelvis) to aid in the velocity analysis of experimental
potter’s wheels. Users provide a recording of the throwing session and while advancing through the
recording, they mark points where the wheel has completed rotations. Using the time intervals between
these points, the tool reconstructs a graph of the velocity of the wheel throughout the throwing session.
This innovative application provides fast, fne-grained velocity information, and helps archaeologists
answer questions about the physical properties of their experimental replicas or wheels used in
traditional workshops. Future development of the application will include contextual partitions to
allow users to split the throw into diferent stages, enabling further analysis into the throwing process.
Moreover, intelligent error detection would notify users when a mark is likely to be made in error and
allow them to correct their mistake.
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These passages also convey successfully the well-
structured framework of potters learning to proceed
from smaller to larger vessels in the course of such
apprenticeships apprenticeships.
4) The ever-increasing number of experimental replicas
of prehistoric and historic wheels (for example,
a Minoan-type wheel, or a Classical Athenian potter’s
wheel; Evely and Morrison, 2010; Hasaki, 2019;
Morrison and Park, 2007–2009).
1.2 The wheel and the fnished pot
To produce a pot, multiple rotary devices and multiple
forming techniques are involved. A fast wheel for throwing
a pot is just one of the many possible variations. For over
20 years, scholars have worked hard on identifying specifc
marks left on a pot “thrown on a wheel”, situating the
potter’s wheel within the wider spectrum of rotary devices,
from turntables to fast wheels (Eiteljorg, 1980; Courty and
Roux, 1995; Roux and Courty, 1998). A refned terminology
for capturing the various combinations of rotary-surface and
forming methods has enhanced our understanding of this
crucial stage and made us realise how fundamental such
distinctions are, as for example the importance of Rotational
Kinetic Energy in producing a wheel-thrown pot; (Choleva,
2012; Choleva, 2020). For the Greek ceramics, emphasis has
been paid on the turning marks on the underside of pots for
establishing the direction (clockwise or counterclockwise) of
the ancient Greek wheel (Schreiber, 1983; 1999).
1.3 The wheel and the potter
Extensive ethnographic research has focused on the use of
a potter’s wheel by a potter; with the use of video recordings,
computer modelling, and statistical analysis, scholars have
expanded the scope of questions to cover topics such as
standardization, apprenticeship length and structure (Roux
and Corbetta, 1989; Hasaki, 2012; Hasaki, 2019; Langdon,
Figure 1
. Wheel Representations on Corinthian Pinakes from Penteskouphia (1–6) and Athenian and Related Vases (7–17). 1: Paris, Louvre MNB
2857; 2–6: Berlin, Antikensammlung 2: F 868; 3: F 869; 4: F 640+fr.; 5: F 870; 6: F 885; 7: Athens, National Museum, Akr. 1.2579; 8A–B: Karlsruhe,
Badisches Landesmuseum 67/90 ; 9: London, British Museum 1847,1125.18 (B 432); 10: Athens, Acropolis Museum GL 166; 11: Athens, National Museum
1114-2624 (442); 12: Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek 1717; 13: Caltagirone, Museo Regionale della Ceramica 1120; 14: Athens,
National Museum, Acropolis Collection 1.853; 15: Athens, National Museum, Akr. 2.470; 16: Athens, National Museum, Akr. 2.739; 17: Athens, Ancient
Agora PNP 42. All drawings by Y. Nakas (except no. 4 from Zimmer 1982; nos. 5–6 by J. Denkinger). Not to scale. From Hasaki (2019).
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2013), or potters’ adjustment to new shapes (Gandon and
Roux, 2019), to name a few. The potters’ responses to newly-
introduced shapes should be better integrated in the study
of Greek decorated ceramics as we have not fully explored
the technical skills associated with specifc shapes, a potter’s
modifed output, and the fnancial demands on the workshop.
The quintessential role of the wheel in a workshop is not
easily grasped when one sees the small spatial footprint it
occupies in a workshop, typically 3% of the space, when
one potter is involved (Hasaki, 2011). It makes it therefore
easier to explain why archaeologists rarely fnd its exact spot
during excavations. Although the wheel is not heavy and
could theoretically be moved around in the workshop, in
reality potters choose the location of setting up their wheels
carefully (for example, access to a good source of natural
lighting and access to outdoors for short-term drying) so they
rarely move them.
1.4 The potter’s wheel and complex societies
The potter’s wheel has served as an index of craft specialization
and social complexity. The exact time and circumstances of its
appearance in the Early Bronze Age is a hotly debated issue,
precisely because of its potency to mirror the wider trends in
craft production and social organization. Once it is introduced
and widely adopted, then it also serves to diferentiate the
most complex mode of craft specialization and economic
organization, especially in the prehistoric periods (Berg, 2007;
2015; Gorogianni, Abell, and Hilditch, 2016; Jefra, 2011;
2013; Knappett, 1999; 2004; Knappett and Van der Leeuw,
2014; Roux and Jefra, 2015; Roux and de Miroschedji, 2009).
2. The Ancient Greek wheel replica and experimental
sessions
Shifting our attention to our current project, the Ancient
Greek wheel replica started in 2012 as a student project
for a course on Ancient Greek Technology in conjunction
with the Laboratory of Traditional Technology at the School
of Anthropology of the University of Arizona, Tucson
(Hasaki, 2019; ltt.lab.arizona.edu/content/greek-wheel-
project); Stephen Corcello produced a wheel 1.067 m in
height. Its wheelhead measures 0.81 m and weighs 27.8 kg.
In autumn 2017 the wheel was lowered to 0.53 m to more
accurately refect the ancient depictions (Figure 1). Its frame is
made of oak wood and the wheelhead is made of spruce with
polyurethane coating (Figure 2). We held two experimental
sessions in 2013–2014, where Dan Pont took detailed
measurements of the RPM of the wheel during specifc
phases. A second set of experiments was conducted in 2017
and both Dan Pont and Brandon Neth were involved, as we
were trying to improve both the wheel’s performance and
our recording methods.
After reducing the height of the wheel, we collected data on
the use of the wheel by experienced local potters. One potter
had experience with the wheel in both height confgurations.
In total, eight vessels were formed, using a variety of potter-
spinner confgurations. The frst confguration (Experienced)
featured only the experienced potter, Andy Iventosh, age 61
(in 2017), who both spun the wheel and threw the vessel.
In this confguration, the wet clay on the potter’s hand
quickly impeded their ability to grasp the wheel. The second
Figure 2.
Ancient Greek wheel experimental
replica in Tucson, post-lowering its height.
Laboratory for Traditional Technology,
School of Anthropology, University of
Arizona.
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confguration (Experienced/Novice) featured an experienced
potter throwing the vessel and a novice spinning the wheel.
In this session, Dan Pont, age 24 (in 2017), flled the spinner
role. In this confguration, the potter was able to focus more
on the process of throwing. However, as the novice spinner
did not have experience with throwing pottery, he lacked
the implicit understanding of the throwing process. Thus, he
would often spin the wheel at an inopportune time, jostling
the wheel during delicate moments of the throwing. The third
confguration (Experienced/Experienced; Andy Iventosh/
Joni Pevarnik; age 61/59 in 2017 respectively) featured
an experienced potter in both roles, one spinning and one
throwing. In this confguration, the inopportune jostling
was reduced, but the age of the potters (both in their 60s)
disallowed sufcient angular velocity for sustained throwing,
requiring more spinning. The age of the participants is noted
to highlight how extensive experience could compensate for
limited physical strength.
While the potters were throwing vessels, we collected two
sets of data with two diferent methods. In the frst method,
we used a micro digital tachometer (Hangar 9 model) to
measure the rotational velocity of the wheel (Hasaki, 2019;
section 3, this study). In the second method, we used video
footage, recorded by the authors.
3. Methodology
We developed the web application WheelVis (https://
brandonneth.github.io/wheelvis) to aid scholars in collecting
and visualizing velocity information for potter’s wheels
(Figure 3). While physical analysis of wheel remains and
qualitative analysis of throwing are undoubtedly useful in
understanding the technology and technique of ancient potters,
the value of quantitative measures cannot be ignored. Velocity
and the related property of momentum are two such measures.
Faster, longer, and easier spinning wheels enable potters to
produce pieces with less total labour. Thus, when studying the
dissemination of technology and technique in a community of
potters, these measures play an important role.
WheelVis works by collecting displacement information
from its user. By displacement, we refer to the distance
through which the wheel has rotated since the previous user
input. As the user inputs displacement quantities, WheelVis
calculates durations for those displacements using the video
timestamps. WheelVis then calculates the average velocity of
the wheel over that time period by dividing the displacement
amount by the duration. If the wheel has rotated
d
times
between times
t
0
and
t
1
, the average velocity is given by the
formula
v = d / (t
1
– t
0
).
The frst step is to record the wheel throwing session.
The only strict requirement at this stage is that the video has
a mostly unobstructed view of the wheelhead. The video
can be from any angle, and the angle can change during
the throwing session, as long as the user can compensate
for those changes during the later analysis stages. We fnd
that angles greater than horizontal work better, but any
angle greater than 30 degrees above horizontal is more than
sufcient. While not required, the analysis stages are much
Figure 3.
Homepage of WheelVis.
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Figure 4.
Five points during data collection. a: Starting frame. Use “s” key to begin. b: Wheel has made 1 rotation. Enter “1”. c: Wheel has made quarter
rotation. Enter “0.25”. d: Wheel has made three quarters of a rotation. Enter “0.75”. e: Wheel has made two full rotations. Enter “2”.
easier if there is a high contrast mark on the wheelhead, such
as masking tape.
The second step is to navigate to the web application and
upload the video to the tool using the “Choose File” button.
If the upload is successful, the video should appear in the
box below the fle selection button.
The third step in the process is the frst of two pre-
analysis steps. Many recordings do not align exactly with
the beginning and end of the wheel’s use. Thus, before data
collection begins, the appropriate point in the video must
be reached. Using the “n” key on the keyboard, progress
through the video until the desired starting point is reached.
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Figure 5.
Web Application layout. 1 is the fle selector, 2 is the entry feld, 3 is the video being analysed, 4 are the position and velocity graphs, and 5 is
the position table.
Figure 6.
Velocity data gathered with tachometer method. Experienced Potter/Novice Spinner confguration. Vessel: closed form, H. 19 cm.
It is recommended that the visual mark on the wheelhead
is aligned with a static element of the recording, such as
the seat of the potter or the top of the frame. For the fourth
step, once the desired starting point for analysis is on frame,
press the “s” key to begin the analysis. This marks the start
of data collection. The ffth step is the analysis stage. Again,
using the “n” key, stream through the video until the wheel
has made a sufcient amount of rotation. Once the wheel has
made the desired rotation, enter the amount the wheel has
turned into the text entry box. After entering the number of
rotations, use the “n” key to submit the value and to continue
to the next frame. Continue to use the “n” key until another
entry point. Into the text entry box, enter the number of
rotations since the last entry. Do not enter the total amount
the wheel has rotated. The example in Figure 4 shows how to
determine what values to enter into the text box.
The accuracy of the analysis stage depends heavily on
the accuracy of the user’s determination of the amount of
rotation. For this reason, it is highly suggested that the user
does not input a new value for each frame. Instead, the user
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should wait until there has been an easily distinguishable
amount of rotation since the last entry. In the developer’s
experience, the best values are normally multiples of
0.25. Rotation amounts less than 0.25 are subject to more
estimation error and are thus less accurate.
Once data has been collected for the relevant video
portion, using the “e” key exports the data to a .csv fle. This
fle can then be opened in a preferred spreadsheet program
and further analysis can be performed (Figures 4–5).
4. Results
To evaluate WheelVis, we compare its output with data
collected using the digital tachometer method for one of
the vessels created during the November 2017 throwing
session (Figure 6). The videos analysed in this section are
uploaded on the Ancient Greek Wheel Project’s website (ltt.
lab.arizona.edu/content/greek-wheel-project). The digital
tachometer procedure split the throw into four segments, the
Figure 7
. Velocity data gathered using WheelVis. Experienced Potter/Novice Spinner confguration. Vessel: closed form, H. 19 cm.
Figure 8.
Velocity data partitioned, as a post-processing stage, by throwing stage; stage. Experienced Potter/Novice Spinner Confguration. Vessel: closed
form, H. 19 cm.
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specifc timestamps of which are not recorded. During the
starting stage, velocities ranged from 71 to 74 rpm, while
during maintaining, 62 to 88 rpm. During the fnishing
stage, it ranged 54 to 57 rpm, and then during smoothing 47
to 51 rpm (Figure 6). We also recorded the same throwing
session and used WheelVis to collect data on the same
throwing session (Figure 7). Because the information was
collected with higher granularity, it paints a clearer picture
of the throwing process than the digital tachometer method.
For example, between timestamps 50 s and 150 s, we can
see a jagged shape in the velocity. This correlates with the
process of hand-spinning the wheel. The upward segments
are where the spinner is speeding the wheel up, while the
downward segments are the potter lifting and shaping the
clay. Breaking up and colouring the velocity data based on
the stage of the throwing session produces a very informative
graph (Figure 8).
In the throwing session discussed above (Figures 6 and
7), the confguration was Experienced potter/Novice spinner.
We also created a diferent chart to analyze the velocity data
when only one experienced potter is involved (Figure 9). In
this velocity data, we see more pronounced changes in the
velocity, as the potter can only perform one task at a time.
5. Discussion
Previous researchers have addressed questions about
rotational velocity with low-fdelity methods or without
discussion of methods at all. Amiran and Shenhav describe
their experiments with replica wheels, noting that they
reached a maximum rotational velocity of 60 rpm, but
do not provide details as to how they arrived at this fgure
(Amiran and Shenhav, 1984). In another study examining
experimental replicas of ancient Egyptian potter’s wheels,
Powell provided more details about the method used. Powell
recorded the amount of time required for 50–60 revolutions.
Dividing the number of revolutions by the recorded times,
Powell calculated the number of revolutions per minute
(rpm), and averaged across four tests (Powell, 1995).
Another example of a low-fdelity collection method can
be found in Doherty’s study on potter’s wheels in ancient
Egypt. Doherty used a similar method to Powell, counting
the overall number of rotations and dividing by time to get
an average rpm value. In contrast to Powell, Doherty used
slowed down videos to perform the analysis (Doherty, 2014;
2015). This allowed Doherty to more accurately collect the
average values. However, collecting fne-grained velocity
data by hand is highly labour-intensive. Another attempt to
collect velocity data from wheels is the previous work on
the Ancient Greek wheel replica in Tucson. Thér and Toms
(2016) used a laser tachometer to measure the velocity of the
wheel. As we discussed above, the earlier method used on
the Tucson wheel replica also involved the use of a digital
tachometer to calculate ranges of speeds for each section of
the throwing session (Hasaki, 2019).
While the laser tachometer method can accurately establish
wheel velocity, it has a number of drawbacks compared
to WheelVis. First, it requires additional technology. The
tachometer and any peripheral cables, software, or computers
Figure 9.
WheelVis velocity data collected for a throwing session where the experienced potter both spun the wheel and shaped the vessel. Vessel: closed
form, H. 27 cm.
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Figure 10.
Estimated minimum throwing times for standard Athenian vases (courtesy of Yoji Horikoshi). The total time includes only active throwing and
assembling the diferent parts of a vessel, not the intervals between these stages. Drawing by Eleni Hasaki and Yannis Nakas.
all must be prepared to collect velocity data. This is in
contrast to WheelVis, which only requires the camera most
people carry in their pocket as part of their phone. Second,
its capabilities are limited by user knowledge and user error.
For example, during our sessions, the tachometer user only
recorded velocity ranges rather than velocity at regular
intervals. Third, tachometer-collected data lacks verifability.
Using WheelVis, two researchers can confrm their velocity
results by independently analysing the same video. Lastly,
tachometer-collected data is single use. Video recordings
capture much more than the velocity of the wheel. A video
recording can capture the potter-spinner interactions, jostling
of the wheel, and the sounds of the process, all of which are
lost to the tachometer method.
6. Conclusions
Future development of WheelVis will proceed in two
directions based on feedback from users. First, WheelVis
will incorporate intelligent error detection to help users
identify potential erroneous inputs.
Intelligent error detection will be incorporated by
developing a prediction system. Using information about the
previously provided inputs, the system will predict a range of
likely inputs, and if the user’s input falls outside of that range,
it will warn the user that their input is unusual. For example,
if the wheel has been consistently moving at 60 rpm, and
an input suddenly changes the speed to 120 rpm, WheelVis
will warn the user of a potential error. This addition will
improve the accuracy and speed of using WheelVis because
it helps identify errors as soon as they happen.
Second, WheelVis will incorporate context partitions
automatically, allowing the user to break up a throwing session
into diferent contexts based on relevant characteristics.
Context partitions will enable real-time context labelling for
recordings. This functionally is best explained through the
third chart on screen. Consider the question of how velocity
difers across diferent phases of the throwing process. One
might expect certain phases, such as fnishing, to have slower
velocities than other phases, such as centring. With context
partitioning, the user can mark diferent parts of the video as
parts of diferent contexts. Then, this context data would be
used to diferentiate the velocity data for diferent phases.
Another use of this feature will be to study how wheel
contact changes with diferent potter-spinner confgurations.
As we move forward with our experimental wheel
program, we have identifed areas that can be further
explored: for example, after carefully measuring the weights
of clay lumps placed on the Ancient Greek wheel replica, we
started paying more attention on the weight of the pot while
being formed on the wheel. In a project parallel to recording
wheel speeds and timings, we also weighed a small group
of Greek and South Italian vessels to estimate the original
mass of clay a potter had to throw on the wheel in order to
form a vessel in one or several pieces (Hasaki, 2019; 2021).
A small aryballos 10 cm tall requires at least 0.16 kg of clay
(post-trimming), a large-sized skyphos requires ca. 1.36 kg
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of clay (in separate pieces), while a large krater at almost 1 m
in height, requires an astounding amount of 24 kg of wet clay
(this weight is after the neck, handles, and foot are joined
together). If using the of-the-hump technique the potter
could centre a larger mass of clay on the wheel (for example,
3 kg), and throw about 10–15 aryballoi.
Another aspect is time: it will be extremely useful to
develop a dataset of approximate time requirements to
produce certain basic shapes from prehistoric and historic
times. One set of experimental replicas of standard Athenian
vases illustrates the variability of throwing times between
small vessels (5–10 mins for a fsh plate), elaborate drinking
vessels (17–18 mins for diferent types of kylixes) to larger
storage vessels (30–40 mins for amphoras) (Figure 10).
Jefra’s detailed videos for throwing specifc shapes (
e.g.
,
a Geometric pyxis) can also be a valuable resource when one
collects all the throwing time data (https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=22dDqJHzJJ0). Such estimates could help
us better gauge the annual production of Greek ceramics,
a perennially thorny topic in the scholarship, which relies
mostly on the estimated survival rate of decorated ceramics,
and on the estimated annual production rate of distinguishable
vase-painters (Sapirstein, 2013; 2020; Stissi, 2016; 2020).
The ever-expanding feld of potter’s wheel research can
defnitely beneft from interdisciplinary approaches. We hope
that fne-grained information on the wheel’s performance
through the study of its velocity and the WheelVis application
can complement current research programs which focus on
the potter’s hand positions over time (Gardon and Roux,
2019), or on the shape contour of a vessel during the forming
phase (Roux
et al.
, 2018). An equilibrium of emphasis on the
potter, the pot, and the wheel will help us better understand
their interdependence.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the conference organisers, especially
Caroline Jefra for welcoming us to the conference. We are
deeply indebted to Andy Iventosh, Joni Pevarnik and Michael
Schifer for throwing vessels on the experimental wheel, Dan
Pont for his research design and critical input in the pre 2017
and 2017 experiments, and to Ruben Moreno (at Arizona State
Museum) for adjusting the height of the wheel replica. We
express our appreciation to Alan R. May for always providing
technical expertise. Financial support was provided by the
School of Anthropology and the Laboratory for Traditional
Technology at the University of Arizona. We would like to
dedicate this article to Dr. Anna Lemos, Professor Emerita at
the University of Athens, Greece for introducing one of us
(Eleni Hasaki) to the fascinating world of pottery.
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