Glossary Archaeological method and dating
Chaîne opératoire
Also called: operational sequence
French for 'operational sequence': the full chain of steps in making an object, from choosing raw materials to finishing and firing.
The approach treats making as a series of choices: which clay to dig, how to clean and temper it, whether to coil, mould or throw it on the wheel, how to finish the surface and how to fire it. Each step can be read from the finished object, and differences in the sequence can reveal separate workshops, traditions or communities even where the finished pots look alike.
The compendium uses it mainly for Bronze Age pottery. Base Ring ware was handmade, with very thin walls, at a time when the potter's wheel was already in use on the island (Base Ring Ware), and the sequences for Drab Polished and White Painted wares point to specialised craft production. Firing, the last link in the chain, is covered in Pottery Kilns and Firing.
Related terms
- Petrographic analysis
Examining a thin slice of pottery or stone under a polarising microscope to identify its minerals and so where its clay or stone came from.
- Use-wear analysis
The microscopic study of scratches, polish, chipping and abrasion on tools and vessels to work out how they were used.
- Typology
A system for sorting objects into classes and types by shape, fabric and decoration, so that like can be compared with like and dated.