Summary Description of the Pottery of the Jenne-jeno, Hambarketolo, and Kaniana Assemblages
Copied and adapted from Mcintosh, Susan, ed. (1995).
Excavations at Jenne-Jeno, Hambarketolo, and Kaniana (Inland Niger
Delta, Mali), the 1981 Season. Berkeley: University of California
Press.
Phase I/II (c. 250 B.C. - A.D. 350). The pottery assemblage in the earliest levels consists primarily of simple rims from ovoid-shaped open bowls, restricted globular jars, and domed potlids. Together, these constitute 70-100% of the rim sherds in early occupation levels. Rims from more complex forms (everted rims, carinated forms) are rare. Many of the Phase I/II vessels must have had rounded bottoms as the ratio of base to rim sherds is 12.5/100. Ring bases predominate, but flat and pedestal bases are also found. Several fragments of cylindrical potlegs were also recovered. Rim diameters are generally small, and there are remarkably few sherds with demonstrable signs of use as cooking pots.
In general, Phase I/II pottery was very well made. Paste was predominantly medium textured, with grog tempering. Occurring in variable frequencies was a distinctive category of thin-walled, finely prepared pottery that produced the high-pitched clinking of fine china when two sherds were knocked together. Its fine fabric is responsible for its high-pitched sound and refined appearance: the paste includes clay, variable amounts of quartz sand, and a small quantity of finely ground grog. Sherds with medium-texture paste have larger amounts of coarser grog. This fineware was produced only in Phase I/II. The care with which it was produced is evident not only in the fineness of the paste and thin walls but also in the exceptionally smooth and even surface finish. From the fine surface lines, it is clear that a tournette was used to turn the pot slowly during manufacture, just as it is by Jenne potters today. The careful smoothing was probably done with a piece of leather. One fineware rim and several others in the Phase I/II study collection had the characteristic dimpled surface created by the hammer-and-anvil technique which would have thinned the walls, removed irregularities, and smoothed the surface of the piece.
The dominant decorative mode in Phase I/II is twine impression. Over 75% of the body sherds are decorated with twine alone (plain sherds = <5% of the body sherds; slipped = 10-15%). Impression with a plaited strip roulette accounts for 70% of the twine-decorated body sherds. Rim sherds have smaller relative frequency of plaited strip roulette and larger frequencies of twisted twine rouletting due to the popular practice in Phase I/II of placing a zone of twisted twine roulette impression near the rim, directly above the plaited strip roulette impression covering the greater part of the pot surface. In addition to these two roulette types on the same pot, other decorative modes unique to Phase I/II include rockering, fine horizontal incision superimposed on other roulette types, cord-wrapped stick roulette, and red paint applied in cross-hatching on an unslipped zone below the lip of simple open bowls. Black and white paint and channeling (multiple grooves) are virtually non-existent in the early part of this phase. They appear at the end of the phase, foreshadowing the explosion in popularity of paint-and-channeled pottery in the succeeding phase. With the exception of single grooves and incision (on twine), other plastic motifs are largely absent throughout Phase I/II, although two examples of raised applique were recovered, both on singular objects that may not have been used in a domestic context.
Phase III (c. A.D. 350-850). Simple unrestricted and restricted vessels and plus potlids continue to dominate the rim assemblage, together accounting for 50-70% of all rims. Simple restricted rims with carination become popular in this phase and account for 10-30% of the rims in the phase. Thickened outturned rims from shallow dishes and plates also become important. Mean rim diameter increases rapidly fairly early in the phase. The distinctive curved tripod legs of Tellem bowls occur in small numbers, usually painted and, so far, always broken off the vessels of which they were a part. Bases (ring, flat, pedestal, and Tellum) occur in the ratio of 16 bases/100 rims. Twine decoration continues to be the dominant decorative mode. Between 60% and 75% of the body sherd assemblage is twine impressed; plain sherds remain infrequent (< 10%), and slipped sherds account for 10-15% of the body assemblage. Early in the phase, plaited strip twines are extremely popular, as they were in the preceding phase. But braided twines grow in popularity, increasing from 10% to 50% of the twine-decorated body sherds at the end of the phase.
The most significant decorative characteristic of Phase III pottery is the high incidence of paint decoration. Paint occurs on 20-50% of the rim assemblage and 2-5% of the body assemblage, either in monochrome (black or white) or polychrome (black, white, and/or red/magenta) application. Paint is often superimposed on channeling, which is the only plastic decorative motif of any importance in this phase. Several different, but related, styles of paint decoration have been recognized. Most common is monochrome or polychrome on channeled and slipped pottery. Here, one or more colors of paint are applied in or over the channels on deep-red slipped rims. This application can be linear (parallel to the channels), which is by far the most common occurrence, or it can be geometric, with lines painted both parallel and perpendicular to the channels or with cross-hatched triangles or lozenges painted over or adjacent to the channeling. Within this latter class is the rare and interesting geometric white on red slip, where elaborate designs (lozenges, triangles, cross-hatching) accompany linear paint on channeling over large areas of red-slipped vessels. From the partially fugitive nature of the white paint, it appears that the white paint was applied just after firing. These pieces could not, therefore, be washed without removing much of the design. Geometric white on red has been uncovered only from late Phase III deposits. A small number of geometric red- or black-on-white designs were also found, where part of the surface of the pot had been painted white, with cross-hatching executed in black or red/brown paint over the white. Early in the phase, linear white on unslipped twine is fairly common, in which a horizontal band of white paint is applied over twineimpression, usually at the lip of unslipped rims. All of these paint styles occur in Phase III deposits; only linear monochrome on channel and slip continues in Phase IV.
Phase IV (c. A.D. 850-1400). Unrestricted simple rims decline significantly in relative frequency in nearly all levels attributable to this phase. Potlids, however, appear to increase, such that the three classes of simple rim- unrestricted, restricted, and potlids- still account for 50% of the rim assemblage. Thickened outturned rims from shallow dishes and plate remain a significant part of the assemblage. New rims appear, most of which are related to, or variants of, carinated forms: beaded rims with carinations, T-rims and their variants, ledged rims, and inturned acutely carinated rims. Flanges appear on bottle rims, and tabular potlegs appear as a new kind of pot support.
Twine decoration remains a dominant decorative mode, occurring on just over 50% of the body sherd assemblage and 40-60% of the rims. Braided twine accounts for 60-80% of the twine-decorated sherds. Relative frequencies for paint decoration on rims decrease to around 10%. Among the painted sherds, distinctive geometric white-on-red ware continues into the early part of this phase, then disappears. In contrast, frequencies for plastic motifs other than channeling shoot up to 10-25%. Indeed, the combination of channeling and other plastic motifs (especially incision, comb impression, and stamping) in geometric patterns such as cross-hatching, chevrons, and triangles is the dominant decorative mode for rim sherds in this phase. Particularly appealing examples of this mode include numerous sherds of finely channeled, red-slipped pottery with intricate geometric or zoomorphic designs incised in geometric style over the channeling. Incision and comb dragging in arcs over roulette designs also occur in this phase, as does fingernail impression, often placed on a carination. Applique of raised-relief zoomorphic or anthropomorphic figures to the pot surface also appears to be restricted to Phase IV.
