New Considerations on the Relationship between Predynastic Spiral-Patterned D-Ware Pottery and Breccia Vessels. The Contribution of an Unpublished Vessel from the Macquarie University History Museum (MU5038)

Abstract

Abstract Based on a comparable color scheme, Naqada II decorated pottery (D-ware) with spiral motifs is often described as an imitation of breccia stone vessels. Using MU5038 as an example, this article traced the time line of development for both during Naqada II. Results indicated that pottery with spiral motifs did not appear as an imitation of stone vessels, as previously thought. This article proposed that they appeared earlier with breccia vessels following as luxurious versions. The latter point could be justified by the need of the rising elite of the period to use raw materials, whose sources they controlled. Stone quarries being located outside of the Nile Valley allowed for this control. In an attempt to explain the sudden occurrence and significance of spiral motifs on D-ware pottery, this article uses analogy and “ethnographic imagination” (Lane 2005) to shed light on the origins of spiral motifs in different cultures.