Pottery Use-Alteration As An Indicator of Socioeconomic Status: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of The Gamo of Ethiopia

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Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, Vol. 9, No. 4, December 2002 (
Pottery Use-Alteration as an Indicator

of Socioeconomic Status: An Ethnoarchaeological
Study of the Gamo of Ethiopia
John W. Arthur1
The use of a pottery vessel leaves markers on the ceramic wall that can inform archaeologists how the vessel functioned in the past. At present, archaeologists have
little information for understanding how use-alteration reflects the complex nature
of ceramic function and socioeconomic status. I conducted a 2-year ethnoarchaeological research project among the Gamo people of southwestern Ethiopia, who
continue to produce and use pottery on a daily basis. This research indicates that
interior surface attrition occurs primarily on pottery vessels used in wealthy households because of fermentation processes from high-status foods. Thus, the Gamo
example suggests that there is a relationship between ceramic use-alteration and
household socioeconomic status.
KEY WORDS: pottery; use-alteration; wealth; Ethiopia.
INTRODUCTION
Archaeologists use a number of methods to measure social and economic
status among agrarian societies. The three most common methods depend on
variation in residential architecture (McGuire, 1983; Wilk, 1983), burials (Bartel,
1983; Chapman et al., 1981; Gamble et al., 2001), and household artifacts (Jones,
1980; Smith, 1987). Pottery, one of the most ubiquitous of household artifacts,
provides another means of establishing status. Previous research has linked social
status to ceramic vessel size (Blitz, 1993), style/decoration (Pauketat and Emerson,
1991), volume (Nelson, 1981; Potter, 2000; Trostel, 1994), and quantity of vessel
types and forms (Cowgill et al., 1984, p. 166; Deal, 1998, pp. 101107; Lewis,
1951, p. 183). However, most important, ceramic vessels are tools (see Braun,
1 Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, 1112 Turlington Hall, Gainesville, Florida 32611;
e-mail: jarthur@ufl.edu.
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1983) that are used to process foods that vary in cost and availability, and there are
many studies that demonstrate the cross-cultural use of food, especially luxury or
high-cost foods, as a social status marker (Blitz, 1993; Carlson, 1990, pp. 303304;
Damerow, 1996; de Garine, 1996, p. 210; Dietler, 1996; Hayden, 1996; Netting,
1964, pp. 376377; Potter, 2000).
One of the most promising methods of relating food processing to household status and ceramics are use-alteration studies. A primary function of ceramic
vessels is to change the structure of edible foods by boiling or roasting, and for
storing and serving particular types of food. People cook, store, serve, and transport their foods in low-fired earthenware pottery vessels. Experimental, ethnoarchaeological, and archaeological studies reveal that these activities leave specific
use-alteration attributes, such as scratches and carbon deposits on the ceramic
wall (Arthur, 2000, 2001; Beck, 2001; Bray, 1982; Crown, 1994, pp. 99113;
Hally, 1983; Henrickson, 1990, 1992; Jones, 1989; Kobayashi, 1994; OBrien,
1990; Reid and Young, 2000; Sassaman, 1993; Schiffer and Skibo, 1989; Skibo,
1992; Skibo et al., 1997; Skibo and Blinman, 1999; Skibo and Schiffer, 1987).
Although a relationship between ceramic use-alteration signatures and household wealth and status has been postulated (Griffiths, 1978, p. 77; Smith, 1987,
p. 314), at present archaeologists have little information for understanding how usealteration attributes reflect differences in household socioeconomic status. There
should be a direct link between pottery use-alteration and the status of the household, because pottery directly reflects the daily food preparations of households,
which vary in their socioeconomic status and their ability to obtain different food
types.
The results of this paper are based on my 2-year ethnoarchaeological study
of ceramics among the Gamo people of southwestern Ethiopia. The goal is to
provide archaeologists with a means to understand diet and socioeconomic complexity through deciphering one form of use-alteration, surface attrition. Surface
attrition is defined as the removal or deformation (erosion, pitting, and scratches)
of ceramic surfaces during use that can occur as the result of the chemical reaction of foods (e.g., nonabrasive attrition) or the mechanical contact (e.g., abrasive
attrition) between the ceramic material and an abrader (Schiffer and Skibo, 1989,
pp. 101102; Skibo, 1992, p. 106). This paper will demonstrate the association
between nonabrasive surface attrition on household ceramics and the processing
and storage of high status foods, such as grains, dairy, and beer, which are more
commonly found in wealthy households.
THE GAMO
The Gamo people of southern Ethiopia, some 600,000 people strong, inhabit
the mountains west of the Rift Valley lakes of Abaya and Chamo (Fig. 1; Arthur,
2000; Hasen, 1996). The Gamo have a social organization that includes a rigid
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Fig. 1. Map of the Gamo region within Ethiopia and Africa.
caste system of elected and hereditary leaders, farmers, and a submerged artisan
group (i.e., potters, hideworkers, smiths, and groundstone producers).
I studied three Gamo villages, focusing on the life cycle of pottery to explore
how pots move through different social and economic contexts from the time they
are produced to their eventual discard (Arthur, 2000). Gamo potters are predominately women, who are full-time specialists. Depending on the household, men do
help with some production tasks such as digging and cleaning the clay, collecting
the wood, firing the pots, and carrying the vessels to the market. The potters
placement in Gamo social hierarchy is ascribed and determined by birth, and no
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action may change the hierarchical positioning of individual potters or other craft
specialists.
Each village and/or potter family has their own set of clay sources, ranging
from one to five clays depending on the potters access to land with suitable material
(Arthur, 1997, 2000). Some potters add naturally mined aplastics and/or grog to
the clays, while other clays already have enough naturally occurring temper. Once
the vessels have been formed, decorated, and dried, they are prefired and fired in
an open fire for approximately 2 h. Immediately after removal from the fire, the
potters apply a coating of etema (i.e., liquid from the enset plant) to the exterior
and/or interior of all vessel types except for the beer jars. Although the Gamo
potters use different clays, tempers, surface treatments, fuelwoods, and postfiring
treatments, vessels throughout the Gamo region have evidence of interior surface
attrition.
GAMO POTTERY AND FOOD PRODUCTION
There is a strong association between the use of pottery and food in Gamo
society. Different pottery forms are used to process a variety of Gamo foods for
everyday consumption. The Gamo produce 14 different vessel forms, with 10 of
these forms exhibiting surface attrition (Table I and Figs. 2 and 3). The Gamo use
their vessels for multiple functions, but it is the shape and size of the vessel (i.e., jar,
bowl, or plate) that determines if vessels are used for cooking, storing, serving, or
transporting foods. The Gamo have seven different types of jars and for this reason
jars have the widest variety of functions including cooking, serving, transporting,
and storing. Only the narrow-mouth small jar (tsua) has a single function as a
drinking cup. The Gamo people use bowls for serving and storing food, while
plates function for baking breads and roasting different types of crops (Table I).
Table I. Gamo Vessel Forms Exhibiting Surface Attrition
Emic name
Etic name
Kolay
Single-handle jar
Tayche
Wide-mouth small jar
Tsua
Diste
Tsaro
Narrow-mouth small jar

Wide-mouth medium jar
Narrow-mouth medium jar
Otto
Large jar
Batsa
Shele
Peele
Bache
Beer jar
Bowl
Dish
Baking plate
Typical uses
Multifunctional jar used for cooking
and serving
Multifunctional jar used for cooking
and serving
Drinking
Cooking and storage
Multifunctional jar used for cooking,
storing, and transporting
Multifunctional jar used for cooking,
storing, and transporting
Fermenting beer
Communal eating and storing food
Communal eating
Roasting foods and baking breads
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Fig. 2. Profile drawings of (A) wide-mouth small jar, (B) single-handle jar, (C) narrowmouth small jar, (D) wide-mouth medium jar, (E) narrow-mouth medium jar, (F) large
jar, and (G) beer jar.
Subsistence agriculture is the primary occupation for the majority of Gamo

people. The Gamo region is extremely mountainous (11603540 m) and the production of agricultural crops corresponds to distinct ecological zones governed
largely by altitude. In the lower altitudes ranging from 1160 to 2300 m, people
produce and consume maize, cabbage, coffee, and enset (Ensete ventricosum).
Enset is an indigenous Ethiopian crop that is a large fibrous-leaf plant with the edible portions consisting of the roots, pseudo-stems, and leaf-stems (Shack, 1966;
Westphal, 1975, p. 123). Farmers plant enset throughout southern Ethiopia and
are able to grow it in every ecological zone from 1600 to 3100 m (Huffnagel,
1961; Westphal, 1975). In the higher altitude (23003000 m), the Gamo also
rely primarily on enset, and in addition grow barley, wheat, and potatoes. The
Gamo diet consists of a range of foods, but depends, in part, on the seasonal
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Fig. 3. Profile drawings of (A) dish, (B) baking plate, and (C, D) bowl.
availability of specific crops. Meat is eaten only during religious holidays. If people have the economic means, they can purchase foods that are not grown near
their village from one of the many weekly markets dispersed throughout the Gamo
hinterlands.
Food represents socioeconomic status in Gamo society. Foods, such as cabbage, potatoes, and enset, represent lower-income foods. One of the most common
foods grown and eaten is the corm of a young enset plant. The Gamo prepare the
enset corm by cutting it into a number of pieces and boiling it (chaday) usually with either cabbage or potatoes; also garlic and/or onions may be mixed
into the narrow-mouth medium jar (tsaro) or large jar (otto). Another common
type of meal is prepared by fermenting enset by burying it or placing it in large
storage bowls (shele) for 7 days, trampling it with their feet, and finally storing it again for another 7 days. After 2 weeks, the enset has fermented and is
made into bread (ooetsa) that is cooked on a baking plate (bache) or mixed and
cooked with a combination of grains (e.g., barley, wheat, maize, or sorghum) in
the narrow-mouth medium jar (tsaro) or large jar (otto). Other types of foods include boiled enset and potatoes cooked within either the narrow-mouth medium
jar (tsaro), large jar (otto), or the wide-mouth medium jar (diste). Breads made
from grains and enset or a combination of both are cooked on the baking plate
(bache).
The production and consumption of butter and beer are associated with
wealthy, high-status households. Butter in Gamo society represents a direct measure of status and wealth and is tied to Gamo symbolic life. Cattle are expensive,
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the average cost of a cow is 600 Ethiopian birr (U.S. $85.70), and the income for
the lowest status households is approximately 1050 Ethiopian birr (U.S. $150.00).
Hence, households that own cows are wealthy and the main producers of butter
in Gamo villages. Milk is transformed into butter by using a large pottery jar
(otto). The milk is separated after 1 week, with the thick curd placed in the jar
and then the jar orifice is securely covered with enset leaves. Butter in Gamo society is used during both life and death ceremonies (Freeman, 1997; Olmstead,
1997, pp. 41, 49, 144145; Sperber, 1974, pp. 6061). Butter is placed on the
head of the wealthy ritual-sacrificers during marriage and initiation ceremonies.
Ritual-sacrificers are responsible for performing animal sacrifices to ensure health
of people, crops, and livestock in their community. When ritual-sacrificers have
authority over their region, they wear butter on their heads. In addition, when the
ritual-sacrificer died in the past, butter was placed on his head and people from his
region brought milk and butter to the ritual-sacrificers relatives (Olmstead, 1997,
p. 41).
Beer is produced using a number of different grains such as barley, wheat,
or maize. Low-status households do not have the land to produce the quantity of
grain required to make beer. Beer also is directly associated with status because of
its use in ceremonies conducted by Gamo ritual-sacrificers. The grain is ground
on grinding stones, with the flour placed in a large serving bowl (shele). There are
two ways to produce beer. One is that water is boiled in a large cooking jar (otto)
and the boiled water is poured over the flour and stirred in a large serving bowl
(shele) and left to cool. Then it is poured into a beer jar (batsa) to ferment for
5 days. The second way to produce beer is to boil the water and the flour together
and then store it in either large jars or beer jars for fermentation.
The Gamo provide a rare opportunity to examine vessel function and the socioeconomic variation within a society. An important element is that the Gamo still
produce and use pottery on a daily basis among all of its members, which allows
for documenting the relationship between food, wealth, and pottery. Furthermore,
the Gamo do not usually wash their vessels after they are used for cooking, serving, transporting, or storing. Therefore foods and beer are allowed to sit in vessels
for a long time and those that ferment, such as grains, enset, and diary products,
may begin to ferment within the vessel. This causes nonabrasive surface attrition
on the exterior ceramic wall, by exfoliating in spalls or completely eroding the
interior wall.
METHODS
Ceramic vessels are an excellent material for identifying household wealth,
because household ceramics directly reflect a societys economic structure in terms
of frequency, cost, and use-alteration attributes (McBride and McBride, 1987;
Miller and Stone, 1970, p. 98; Otto, 1977, 1980; Smith, 1987). To determine the
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relationship between use-alteration attributes and socioeconomic status, I collected

information on 1058 vessels from 60 households and conducted a complete household census in three Gamo villages: Zuza (2100 m), Guyla (2700 m), and Etello
(2600 m).
One of the most important and more difficult analyses in household archaeology involves interpreting the socioeconomic position of each household. The
analysis of socioeconomic levels among households is promising because many
of the production and consumption activities take place within the household area
and households differ on the basis of the specific cultural circumstances (caste,
class, or occupation, to name only a few). In addition to indicating the specific socioeconomic position, the analysis at the household level allows for a larger view
of the social, political, and economic conditions and changes that occur within
agrarian societies (Smith, 1987, p. 298).
My determination of Gamo household wealth is based on a household census
and the Gamo emic criteria for establishing wealth. The Gamo people assess the
wealth of a household in terms of (1) the number and quality of house construction, (2) the amount of land farmed, (3) the type and number of livestock owned,
(4) the number of wives that a man has, and (5) the type and number of household
occupations. These emic factors are the basic tenets of whether a household is
wealthy or not. Among the Gamo, the wealthiest households generally belong to
the political elite such as the ritual-sacrificer.
To measure the emic perception of Gamo economic wealth, I developed a
point system for the frequency of houses, farmland, livestock, wives, and occupations. These characteristics were noted for each household during a household
census survey of the three villages. On the basis of the ranges and the mean rank
score from the three villages, I determined the presence of three economic ranks.
The poorest rank ranges from 1 to 3 points, the second rank ranges from 4 to 6
points, and the wealthiest rank ranges from 7 to 10 points. Except for Guyla, which
does not have households included in the poorest rank, all three villages include
households of each economic rank.
For each ceramic vessel in all the households studied, I recorded distinct
use-alteration traces, including surface attrition (i.e., pitting and erosion) on each
vessel. The surface attrition attributes were described for the interior and exterior
base, lower body, maximum diameter, upper body, neck, and rim. An ordinal scale
was used to rank the degree of interior surface attrition, similar to the type of
ordinal scale used by Hardin and Mills (2000) and Bray (1982). Interior wear
was recorded as absent if the interior wall remained intact without any signs of
erosion. A slight use-alteration was recorded if only small patches of erosion
were seen on the vessel interior. A moderate category was recorded if the vessel
was beginning to show signs of erosion. A heavy use-alteration was recorded
when the interior wall was near or completely eroded.
The ceramic use-alteration patterns found on Gamo vessels were crossreferenced with observations of use and with informants knowledge of cooking,
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storage, and other activities. Informants provided information on the types of foods
that were processed in each vessel, how they were processed, and how vessel use
changed through time (i.e., primary use to discard). Hence, I was able to link specific surface attrition traces, such as pitting and erosion, to particular activities like
food and beer fermentation.
ANALYSIS OF GAMO POTTERY SURFACE ATTRITION
While conducting household studies of ceramic attrition among the Gamo,
it was discovered that the interior surface of vessels exhibited distinct pitting and
complete erosion. This became apparent in all of the vessels used for processing
grains, enset, potatoes, dairy products, and beer. One of the primary conditions
of all of these food types is that they have the ability to ferment. Dairy, grains,
and enset ferment by producing lactic acid-forming bacteria, which causes the
pH value to lower in the foods causing a high acidic material (Oura et al., 1982,
p. 113). Therefore, in the production and storage of foods such as porridges, breads,
and beer, there is a higher rate of acidity, which causes erosion of the interior of
vessels. Utensils did not cause the surface attrition because the Gamo rarely stir
their food while cooking, rather they allow the food to boil or simmer, and they
use their hands while eating from communal serving bowls.
Vessels used only for processing food and exhibited surface attrition were
analyzed separately from vessels that were used only for processing beer. I conducted this test to determine if the Gamo use different vessel types to process foods
and beer and if they would exhibit different attrition patterns.
Food Fermentation
Grains, enset, potatoes, and dairy products prepared and consumed by the
Gamo cause surface attrition. Of the 1058 vessels that I recorded, 276 foodprocessing vessels (26.1%) exhibited some type of interior surface attrition (Figs. 4
and 5). A majority of the vessels (79.7%) that have surface attrition were used for
processing a combination of foods. Although enset and potatoes are nonluxury
foods, only 5.8% of the vessels with surface attrition were used only for processing these two types of foods. Luxury foods of grains and diary are associated with
the majority of vessels (94.2%) that have interior surface attrition. The location
of the surface attrition associated with food processing vessels is random because
it depends on a combination of factors, such as how diligent the user is in terms
of cleaning the vessel and where the food adheres to the vessel. The placement of
attrition on the vessel interior occurs from the base to the maximum diameter or
upper body of the container.
The vessel types demonstrate that different forms of food processing can
affect the interior wall of ceramic vessels. The majority of vessels (65.2%) that
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Fig. 4. Serving and storage vessel showing severe erosion.
show surface attrition were used for both cooking and serving (Table II). Vessels
used for storage (25%) are less likely to have surface attrition, because most of the
foods are stored dry. Households with farmland need to store their excess grains
to sell at the market or to consume during the rest of the year. Most transport
vessels (11.2%) are used also for cooking a variety of foods, which are consistent with causing attrition on the interior wall. Table II lists the volume and rim
diameter in association with the different functions for vessel forms that have
evidence of surface attrition to provide more contextual information concerning
how vessel morphology is associated with actual use. As expected, the storage
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Fig. 5. Bowl with severe erosion caused by fermented foods.
and transport vessels have larger volumes than the cooking and serving vessels,
but unfortunately for archaeologists, the rim diameter data are similar throughout the different functional classes. This suggests that in addition to the presence of surface attrition, that overall vessel morphology (i.e., jars, bowls, plates,
etc.) and contextual information regarding the spatial use of vessels within households may provide the best indicators for understanding function regarding food
processing.
The majority of the Gamo food-processing vessels with attrition exhibited a
heavy amount of erosion on the interior wall (41%). Those vessels with a
6.4
10.3
4.6
6.8
4.2
0.9
8.9
4.4
0.9
5.1
7.6
4.5
0.7
0.4
12.4
13.5
15.3
5.0
65.4
0.7
20.0
10.4
8.9
13.4
12.8
14.1
5.2
22.4
24.4
8.2
10.3
4.8
13.4
4.8
0.9
8.9
4.4
0.9
7.1
8.7
5.0
0.8
0.4
15.1
15.1
15.6
5.4
65.4
0.7
20.0
11.6
10.6
13.4
13.1
14.0
4.6
22.4
24.4
Cooking (n = 74)
Large jar (n = 27)
Baking plate (n = 14)
Wide-mouth medium jar (n = 13)
Narrow-mouth medium jar (n = 11)
Narrow-mouth small jar (n = 4)
Bowl (n = 2)
Dish (n = 2)
Wide-mouth small jar (n = 1)
Serving (n = 98)
Bowl (n = 70)
Dish (n = 15)
Single-handle jar (n = 1)
Storage (n = 20)
Bowl (n = 8)
Large jar (n = 6)
Beer jar (n = 1)
Single-handle jar (n = 1)
Transport (n = 2)
Large jar (n = 2)
Cooking and serving (n = 8)
Bowl (n = 6)
Large jar (n = 2)
Cooking and storage (n = 22)
Large jar (n = 15)
Beer jar (n = 1)
Wide-mouth medium jar (n = 1)
Median
Mean
Function and vessel form
22.7
26.2
14.1
16.7
16.3
13.0
19.1
25.4
22.3
15.6
52.3
18.0
11.9
8.6
21.2
40.1
10.5
22.7
23.1
35.4
7.3
7.1
20.6
28.1
16.4
12.6
29.2
8.5
17.6
Mean
21.9
27.1
14.1
15.5
15.5
13.3
19.1
25.4
15.8
15.6
54.8
18.2
12.5
8.6
21.2
40.1
10.5
22.6
22.8
37.6
7.5
7.1
16.5
30.9
15.7
12.5
29.2
8.5
17.6
Median
13.335.0
20.235.0
13.314.9
930.5
14.419.5
12.013.7
5.967.0
11.520.0
36.467.0
7.527.3
5.915.5
7.89.6
13.029.4
39.041.2
5.146.0
7.939.4
22.546.0
5.19.4
8.535.3
12.735.3
14.419.7
12.313.1
Range
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0.9
7.1
4.8
1.1
4.4
1.6
15.6
1.5
9.8
5.5
2.8
0.9
11.6
1.5
9.7
6.3
6.8
1.5
8.6
7.5
1.9
0.4
SD
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6.9
1.0
7.5
6.5
1.4
8.5
4.2
1.4
17.3
2.7
0.3
10.5
0.4
6.0
6.1
2.4
0.5
14.4
9.3
6.7
1.4
6.2
SD
Rim Diameter (exterior) (cm)
5.0-26.5
5.026.5
12.814.1
1.328.7
6.428.7
3.05.6
0.365.4
4.220.6
3.17.9
0.965.4
0.39.2
0.51.3
1.416.4
4.14.7
0.224.9
0.724.9
2.411.8
0.21.8
0.765.4
0.731.5
6.426.5
4.27.2
15.624.4
Range
Volume (L)
Table II. Functions and Dimensions of Food-Processing Vessels That Have Evidence of Surface Attrition
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Bowl (n = 1)
Cooking and transport (n = 25)
Large jar (n = 7)
Cooking, serving, and storage (n = 3)
Bowl (n = 2)
Cooking, storage, and transport (n = 3)
Large jar (n = 2)
Serving and storage (n = 20)
Bowl (n = 20)
Storage and transport (n = 1)
Large jar (n = 1)
1.3
17.1
4.2
4.2
14.1
1.4
9.2
9.2
0.7
8.2
8.7
3.6
6.7
12.8
1.3
17.1
6.5
4.5
13.9
1.3
6.4
9.2
0.7
7.0
8.7
3.6
11.4
12.8
0.919.7
2.68.2
8.219.7
0.91.6
0.79.2
3.69.2
8.29.2
0.933.5
5.3
1.7
4.2
0.4
4.9
3.0
0.7
11.1
17.3
9.0
30.5
12.7
12.5
15.5
8.8
21.1
28.0
7.1
14.1
14.4
13.5
25.2
17.3
9.0
30.5
12.4
12.3
14.9
8.7
27.8
28.0
7.1
14.0
14.4
13.5
24.2
8.617.2
10.514.5
14.317.2
8.69.1
7.128.3
0.3
13.514.8
14.014.8
12.241.1
2.3
1.1
1.1
0.3
12.1
27.828.3
0.6
0.6
8.6
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slight (29.3%) or medium (29.7%) amount of interior erosion had an almost

equal distribution. Pitting and erosion mostly are present on the interior of jars
(49.3%) and bowls (45.6%). Experimental research has demonstrated that smudging (i.e., a postfiring treatment in which the vessels are blackened by placing the
hot vessels in an organic substance causing an oxygen-free atmosphere), strengthens the ceramic wall and reduces surface attrition (Rice, 1987, p. 158; Skibo et al.,
1997). Thus, it was surprising to find that Gamo serving bowls, which are smudged
routinely after being fired, have a high incidence of surface attrition. Baking plates
(5.1%) rarely have any indication of interior surface attrition.
The correlation between the degree of surface attrition of food-processing
vessels with age exhibits a very weak positive or negative correlation. The amount
of attrition seems to be a reflection of how much the vessel is used and if the
person cleans the pot between functions. The average use-life of the 86 foodprocessing vessels that have broken is 1.3 years (SD = 1.4; minimum = 0.01;
maximum = 7.0) (Table III). The extreme heat from the hearth and moving the
pots from location to location was the cause for the majority of breaks among
the 79 broken pots. Only 79 of the 86 broken vessels could be recorded as to
how they broke, because the person that used the vessel at the time it broke has
died and the daughters-in-laws were not living at the house. A majority (76%)
of the vessels broke from cooking or were dropped (Table III). Therefore surface
attrition is not causing pots to break, but rather they are breaking from food processing related to cooking activities and people moving the vessels around the
household.
Socioeconomic Status and Food
The distinct economic differences between Gamo households and their sole
reliance on pottery for processing household foods provide an excellent means to
demonstrate how surface attrition is caused by different foods and indicative of
household wealth. A chi-square test indicates a significant difference is present
at the 0.05 confidence level ( 2 = 8.79; df = 2; p < 0.05) between the socioeconomic status of Gamo households and the percentage of interior surface attrition
from foods (Fig. 6). Poorer Gamo households have only 10% fewer vessels in
which they processed grains than do wealthier households (Table IV). However,
the quantity of grains and dairy products poorer households processed must have
been much less because there is less surface attrition on their vessels. Both grains
and dairy are expensive foods to purchase and poorer households do not have the
land to grow wheat, barley, or maize and do not own livestock.
The wealthier Gamo frequently have feasts that mark religious holidays and
the induction of ritual-sacrificers (Halaka). Gamo ritual-sacrificers are men, who
are appointed by district assemblies and must be circumcised, married, wealthy,
and morally respected (Sperber, 1975, p. 215). Ritual-sacrificers usually do not
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Table III. Use Life and Types of Breakage on Food-Processing Vessels

Types of breakage
Use life (years)

Function
All vessels (n = 86)
Mean Median
1.3
1.0
Cooking (n = 31)
1.1
1.0
Serving (n = 15)
1.3
1.0
Storage (n = 6)
1.4
1.0
Transport (n = 2)
0.8
0.8
1.6
1.5
Serving and storage (n = 8)
2.0
1.0
Cooking and Transport (n = 6)
1.3
0.2
Cooking, storage, and

transport (n = 2)
Cooking and serving (n = 1)
Storage and transport (n = 1)
0.6
0.6
0.01
1.0
0.01
1.0
Range
SD
Reasons for
breaking
0.017.0 1.4
Cooking
Dropped
Use for a long
Hitting a stone
Doesnt know
Falling from
storage area
Picked up with
one hand
Dog stepped
on pot
Hit with a stick
Hit on another
pot
Making butter
0.016.0 1.5 Cooking
Dropped
Falling from
storage area
0.014.0 1.4 Dropped
Hitting a stone
Doesnt know
Falling from
storage area
Picked up with
one hand
0.63.0 0.9 Dropped
Use for a long
time
Doesnt know
Dog stepped
on pot
Making butter
Hit with stick

Hitting a stone
0.14.0 1.4 Cooking
Dropped
0.87.0 2.1 Use for a long
time
Dropped
Hit on another
pot
Picked up with
one hand
0.074.0 1.7 Cooking
Dropped
0.60.7 0.07 Cooking
Cooking
Dropped
n (%)
43 (54.4)
16 (21.5)
5 (6.3)
3 (3.8)
3 (3.8)
2 (2.5)
2 (2.5)
1 (1.3)
1 (1.3)
1 (1.3)
1 (1.3)
25 (89.3)
2 (7.1)
1 (3.6)
7 (46.1)
2 (15.4)
2 (15.4)
1 (7.7)
1 (7.7)
2 (28.6)
2 (28.6)
1 (14.3)
1 (14.3)
1 (14.3)
1 (50.0)
1 (50.0)
12 (92.3)
1 (7.7)
3 (42.8)
2 (28.6)
1 (14.3)
1 (14.3)
4 (66.7)
2 (33.3)
1 (100.0)
1 (100.0)
1 (100.0)
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Arthur
Fig. 6. Histogram showing wealthier households have significantly more vessels

with surface attrition caused by processing food compared to poorer households.
2 = 8.79; df = 2; p < 0.05.
volunteer for the position, because it requires redistributing a substantial amount

of their resources through feasting, however it is taboo to refuse. The feasts encompass 4 days of providing beer and Gamo foods. The regional ritual-sacrificer
produces two feasts, one at his household and the other in a special meeting place
for the region. He must provide food and beer for his entire region, and this entails
having enough ceramic containers to cook, serve, store, and transport beer and
food. Frequently grains, milk, and butter, which cause interior surface attrition,
are prepared for feasts. For example, a common type of food prepared and eaten
during feasts is gordo. Gordo causes severe surface attrition and is made by mixing
ground barley and milk and then boiling them in either a narrow-mouth medium
jar (tsaro) (n = 1, 16.7% used for gordo) or a large jar (otto) (n = 5, 83.3% used
for gordo). Gordo is served in a communal bowl (shele) (n = 42, 100% used for
gordo) with melted butter. The wealthiest (19.3%) and the average (19.8%) ranked
Table IV. Percentage and Frequency of Vessels Used in Different Wealth Households in Association
With Specific Foods
Food types
Grains
Dairy
Enset
Potatoes
Wealthy
percentage (n)
Average
percentage (n)
Poor
percentage (n)
All households
combined percentage (n)
87.5 (77)
62.5 (55)
37.5 (33)
19.3 (17)
85.6. (134)
71.8 (112)
37.2 (58)
26.9 (42)
75.0 (24)
28.1 (9)
59.4 (19)
21.9 (7)
85.1 (235)
63.8 (176)
39.8 (110)
23.9 (66)
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households had a similar percentage of vessels with surface attrition that were
used for processing gordo. However, only 3.1% of the vessels with surface attrition were used for processing gordo among the poorest households. Clearly, this
demonstrates that certain foods are associated with a households socioeconomic
status.
Beer Fermentation
This section pertaining to beer expands on an another paper (Arthur, in press),
in which I discuss the social and economic context of beer production and consumption in Africa and among the Gamo in particular. Arthur (in press) focuses on
the differences of beer production between Gamo ritual-sacrificers and nonritual
sacrificers (ritualpolitical status), while this paper addresses how Gamo economic
ranks differ in their beer production and consumption. Beer in Gamo society is
tied directly to the wealth and status of Gamo households, as only the wealthy can
afford the grains or have the land to grow these crops. The processing of beer includes cooking, drinking, storing, or transporting. The majority of beer-processing
vessels (88.9%) are used for a specific function (Table V). Table V indicates that
vessels associated with beer processing are larger in volume than vessels used for
food processing (see Table II). The two serving vessels are the only exception.
Storing beer to ferment is the most common type of function (52.4%) among the
63 vessels. Ceramic drinking vessels are rare (3.2%), corresponding to the Gamo
custom of using gourds for drinking beer, rather than using the narrow-mouth small
jar type (tsua). Jars (92.1%) are most commonly associated with the production,
distribution, and consumption of beer. The majority of the jars (84.1%) used for
processing beer are large jars (otto) and beer jars (batsa) (Table VI). The beer
jar is the largest of the Gamo jar types and is used primarily for storing beer in
the fermentation process and to store crops. The large jar is the second largest jar
type, which is used for multiple household functions including cooking, storing,
or transporting beer. Bowls (n = 5) were used only for storing beer and represent
7.9% of the assemblage used for Gamo beer processing.
All of the 63 vessels associated with beer processing have pitting and erosion
(Fig. 7). In addition to the 63 vessels, there were more vessels (n = 53) that were
used only for beer processing, but because they were full of beer, no analysis
could be conducted. The possible cause of surface attrition from beer processing
is due to the yeast activity within the beer that eventually erodes the interior vessel
wall. The fermentation of the yeast affects all different types of clays, as attrition
was present throughout the Gamo region on vessels that were manufactured from
different clay sources.
Pots that function to cook, store, cool, or transport beer all had erosion on
the interior part of the vessel wall. The majority (76.2%) of the beer-processing
vessels had a heavy amount of erosion on the interior wall and only 12.7% and
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Arthur
Table V.
Functions and Dimensions of Beer-Processing Vessels That Have Evidence of

Surface Attrition
Volume (L)
Rim diameter (exterior) (cm)
Function and vessel form
Mean Median
Range
SD Mean Median
Range
SD
Cooking (n = 12)
Large jar (n = 7)
Beer jar (n = 5)
Serving (n = 2)
Narrow-mouth small
jar (n = 2)
Storage (n = 33)
Beer jar (n = 19)
Large jar (n = 8)
Bowl (n = 5)
Wide-mouth medium
jar (n = 1)
Transport (n = 9)
Large jar (n = 7)
Narrow-mouth
medium jar (n = 1)
Narrow-mouth
small jar (n = 1)
Large jar (n = 5)
Beer jar (n = 2)
37.2
17.0
65.4
1.6
22.4
16.4
65.4
1.6
7.2124.7 34.1 20.8

7.224.4
6.0 16.7
20.6124.7 25.8 25.8
0.92.4
1.0 8.6
19.5
16.6
26.0
8.6
14.026.8
14.019.5
23.826.8
8.09.2
5.2
2.5
1.2
0.8
35.0
47.1
20.4
16.9
10.3
26.5
47.7
22.4
18.8
10.3
8.2102.1 22.1 22.6

23.4102.1 21.8 23.4
14.126.5
4.7 17.8
8.224.4
6.9 27.3
21.3
22.0
23.5
17.8
28.4
21.3
14.738.3
18.131.1
14.720.1
17.838.3
5.0
3.7
1.8
7.8
10.0
12.0
3.6
7.2
10.3
3.6
3.024.4
6.424.4
6.9 14.4
6.6 15.0
13.7
13.7
15.0
13.7
11.318.4 2.5
11.518.4 2.6
3.0
3.0
11.3
11.3
25.6
21.2
36.7
22.4
18.8
36.7
12.850.9
12.833.5
22.450.9
13.1 19.2
8.3 18.9
20.1 20.0
19.1
19.0
20.0
15.922.5 2.1
15.922.5 2.4
19.121.0 1.3
11.1% were recorded as medium and slight erosion, respectively. Pitting and
erosion occur from the interior base to the upper body and in some cases up to the
rim, so that there is erosion of the entire interior part of the vessel.
If people consistently use one particular vessel for beer production, it would
be expected that there would be a correlation between the degree of surface attrition with the age of the vessel. However, beer-processing vessels did not covary
significantly concerning the relationship between the age of the vessels and the
amount of vessel attrition. I expect that this is a reflection of the households variation of use, where some households vary in the amount of beer they produce.
The beer vessels that have a heavy attrition range from 1 month to 125 years old,
demonstrating that constant use can quickly erode the interior of the vessel. The
Table VI. Otto and Batsa Vessel Dimensions
Volume (L)
Type
Mean
Median
Large jar (n = 27)

Beer jar (n = 26)
Combined large jar
and beer jar
17.5
49.8
33.3
16.3
50.9
24.4
Range
Rim diameter (Exterior) (cm)

SD
6.333.5
6.97
20.5124.7 25.6
6.3124.7 24.6
Mean
Median
16.9
23.6
20.3
17.7
23.7
19.3
Range
SD
11.522.5 2.5
18.131.1 3.4
11.531.1 4.51
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Fig. 7. Bowl with beginning stages of surface attrition caused by beer

fermentation.
average use-life of the 23 beer processing vessels that broke is 2.3 years (SD = 2.4;
minimum = 0.3; maximum = 11.0) (Table VII), a year more than food-processing
vessels. The storage vessels have almost twice as long a use-life compared to the
vessels used for cooking and storage. Erosion was a major cause of large beer jars
(batsas) breaking. Just over half (52.29%) of the vessels broke directly from the
result of the surface erosion associated with beer processing. Specifically vessels
break from the continual wear on the vessel, as well as other types of reasons
(Table VII). The vessel wall of the beer jars becomes thin from previous yeast activity causing large pits, and in some cases complete erosion of the wall. When the
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Arthur
Table VII. Use Life and Types of Breakage on Beer Processing Vessels
Use life (years)
Types of breakage
Function
Mean
Median
Range
SD
Reasons for breaking
All vessels (n = 23)
2.3
1.0
0.311
2.4
Cooking
Use for a long time
Pouring hot beer
in pot
Hitting a stone
Yeast wore the
pots body
Doesnt know
Storing beer
Dropping
Use for a long time
Pouring hot beer
in pot
Hitting a stone
Storing beer
Yeast wore the
pots body
Doesnt know
Dropping
Cooking
Cooking
Storage (n = 18)
Cooking (n = 3)
Cooking and
storage (n = 2)
2.7
1.3
1.5
2.0
1.0
1.5
0.311
1.02.0
1.02.0
2.7
0.6
0.7
n (%)
5 (21.7)
5 (21.7)
3 (13.1)
3 (13.1)
2 (8.7)
2 (8.7)
2 (8.7)
1 (4.3)
5 (27.8)
3 (16.7)
3 (16.7)
2 (11.1)
2 (11.1)
2 (11.1)
1 (5.5)
3 (100)
2 (100)
hot beer is poured into the vessel, the thermal stress is so great as to cause the vessel
to crack at the base. In addition, since the majority of the broken vessels were used
for storage, they remained in relatively stationary positions and were not exposed
to other types of breakage conditions such as cooking or dropping (Mills, 1989).
Socioeconomic Status and Beer Production
The Gamo do not distinguish between ceremonial and utilitarian serving
vessels. The pitting associated with beer fermentation in Gamo society is a direct
indicator of social status and economic wealth. Since poor households in Gamo
do not ferment beer, the lack of pitting in the ceramic assemblage is an indicator
of a households socioeconomic level.
Wealthier households grow more grains to make beer and can afford the
large beer jars that help ferment and store their beer, therefore I expected that the
wealthier households would have more beer-processing vessels than would poorer
households. A chi-square test indicates a significant difference ( 2 = 6.81; df =
2; p < 0.05) between the number of beer-processing vessels with surface attrition in wealthier households compared to poorer households (Fig. 8). In addition,
41 of the 48 farmer households studied (85.4%) are in the top two wealthiest economic ranks. Only 5 of the 12 artisan (i.e., potters and hideworkers) households
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Fig. 8. Histogram showing wealthy and average households have significantly more
vessels with surface attrition caused by processing beer compared to poor households.
2 = 6.81; df = 2; p < 0.05.
(42%) are in the two wealthiest economic ranks. This indicates that farmers have
more farmland and are able to grow more grains, and therefore produce more beer
than poorer households.
Across the different economic ranks, jars predominate as the most common
vessel form that exhibits interior surface attrition in association with household
beer processing. The number of vessels exhibiting interior surface attrition from
beer processing is 1.2 vessels among the wealthy and average households compared
to only 0.2 vessels among the poorest households. For archaeologists, the Gamo
model suggests that if a large number of households are excavated, then the amount
of large jars with surface attrition may be a signature of beer processing and more
importantly household wealth.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS
Pottery used within households supplies an exceptional medium for explaining wealth differences, especially within a complex agrarian society, where all
households rely on low-fired earthenware pottery to process their daily food. The
Gamo have a strict socioeconomic organization in which households with more
farmland and household wealth eat foods that require a higher amount of economic wealth than the poorer households can afford to purchase or process. The
household pottery assemblages and their associated surface attrition characterize
the Gamo wealth variation.
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Gamo household wealth can be interpreted through household differential

processing of luxury foods and beer. There are extreme amounts of attrition on
ceramics used for beer and luxury grains and dairy foods, which was not found on
vessels used for processing other food types. Most beer vessels, especially jars,
were used for storage, while most grain and dairy processing pots, especially jars
and bowls, were used for cooking and serving. Jars are the most common vessel
class used for beer processing and had extreme amounts of erosion extending
from the base up to the upper body and rim. The jars and bowls used in grain
and dairy processing had evidence of interior surface attrition from the base to
the upper body, which was caused by the fermenting of food. The use-life of
beer vessels was almost twice as long as food vessels. Most breakage associated
with beer vessels was the result of surface attrition. However, food vessels broke
more often because people used them repeatedly over hearths and moved them
around the household increasing their chance of being dropped or hitting another
object.
This surface attrition analysis demonstrates that pottery can contribute to a
better understanding of interhousehold wealth differences. Wealthier Gamo households own more farmland and cattle, supplying them with more grains and dairy
products than poorer households. Harvesting surplus grains provides these households with the ability to process more beer and to be able to purchase the expensive
large jars and beer jars from potters. Furthermore, these wealthier households are
able to cook foods containing grains and cattle by-products, such as milk and
butter. These products tend to ferment and the cultural practice of not washing the
vessels after food preparation causes a higher incidence of interior vessel erosion
in the ceramics of wealthier households. The relationship between household pottery, foods, and wealth provides a signifier for archaeologists delineating wealthier
households from poorer households.
The Gamo example offers archaeologists with a clear association between
the processing of certain foods and beer, severe surface attrition, and household
wealth. However, if cultures have a custom of cleaning their vessels after they are
used, then other types of surface attrition may become apparent (Skibo, 1992).
Ethnoarchaeology provides an important tool in the documentation of how people
use their material culture in context with their socioeconomic status, furnishing
archaeologists with a clearer interpretation of past cultures.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am grateful to Ken Sassaman, Marijke van der Veen, Kathryn Weedman,
James Skibo, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful and constructive
comments on the paper. I thank the Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Informations
Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage for their support and
for facilitating my fieldwork. I also thank the Gamo people and Berhanu Wolde and
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Gezahegn Alemayehu for their hard work during 2 years of fieldwork. My gratitude
goes out to Melanie Brandt, who drew the beautiful vessel profiles. This research
was supported by a National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant
# SBR 97-05781.
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Pottery Use-Alteration As An Indicator of Socioeconomic Status: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of The Gamo of Ethiopia

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Pottery Use-Alteration As An Indicator of Socioeconomic Status: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of The Gamo of Ethiopia

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November 19, 2002