Reading clay
The temporal and transformative potential of clay in contemporary scientific practice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2391236 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lindsay Bryant (0000-0001-8247-8718, Academic Unit: Justice and Society, University of South Australia, Magill, Australia, corresponding author), Kimberly Jamie (0000-0001-9151-0871, Durham University), Gary J Sharples (0000-0003-2495-0062, Durham University) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 87-105 |
| Publication date | 2023-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Material Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1359-1835 • E-ISSN: 1460-3586 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/13591835221074159 |
| OpenAlex | W4213155782 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 56 |
Clay has a long history in the global south and has been extensively studied by 'Western' social scientists particularly anthropologists and archeologists in relation to histories of earlier civilisations and cultural practices. Clay in relation to contemporary 'science' has received less attention in social science despite the emergence of the sub-discipline of 'clay science' and its increasing focus on clay to transform wide ranging aspects of social life. In this paper we work towards an exploration of clay in science. We begin with the question of 'what is clay?' from the perspective of a multidisciplinary group of scientists, whilst being alert to culturally located and past knowledges of clay that shape current scientific knowledges and practices. Drawing on interviews with six clay scientists we explore the ontological and epistemological process for scientists in 'reading' clay to reveal how clay is 'classified', 'worked upon' and 'partnered'. Our findings suggest that clay comes into being for scientists by being read as an informational and temporal medium and agentic matter with transformative promise to remedy specific threats to human and environmental health
Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Multidisciplinary approach · Pedagogy · Political science · Reading (process · Relation (database · Social science · Sociology · Transformative learning · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Law · Therapeutic Uses of Natural Elements
Ungendering Archaeology
The Social Life of Materials
When Nature Goes Public
Understanding Pottery Function
The science question in feminism
Visuality/Materiality
Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis
Posthumanist Performativity
The Age of Clay
Smashing Pots
Exhausted Futures
Soils, stones and symbols
Scientific Work and Social Worlds
Pottery Function
Body Matters
Shifting sands
The Explanation of Artifact Variability
Successful Qualitative Research
Coins, Beads, and Necklaces
Contestation over an island imaginary landscape
Studying technological change
Making
Situated Knowledges
In Pots we Trust
Substances
Engaging with soil, past and present
Human-thing entanglement
Earth, sky, wind, and weather
Why Is Geophagy Treated Like Dirt
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |