Mansiri in Northern Sulawesi: a new dentate-stamped pottery site in Island Southeast Asia

This short report outlines new findings from the Mansiri site, close to Toraut village, in Northern Sulawesi. Initially discovered during survey activities in the early 1990s by Dr Joko Siswanto, Balai Arkeologi Manado, the site has not been focus of archaeological activities until a re-visit of the area by Puslit Manado in 2011 and a surface survey of the surrounding area detected additional artefactual material. Previous excavations conducted by Balai Arkeologi Manado in 2011 - 2013 uncovered large numbers of decorated ceramic sherds indicative of an early Neolithic site. Initial radiocarbon examination of a small sample showed evidence of a possible pre-3000 BP deposit at the site

Automated analysis of pottery by QEM-EDS: A case study from Mansiri, Sulawesi

The analysis of raw materials and manufacturing techniques is central to the investigation of pottery assemblages. While various analytical techniques exists, petrography generally remains the go-to method to analyse the fabric of pottery. It combines relatively cheap and simple sample preparation protocol with the ability to yield very detailed information related to provenance and manufacturing technique. Here, we test the utility of performing QEM-EDS on archaeological pottery from the Mansiri site, Sulawesi, to complement petrographic observations. We identify the main non-plastic inclusions as plagioclase, quartz, calcic amphibole, iron oxides and volcanic rock fragments, consistent with the pottery being made locally. Quantitative analysis of inclusion size and direction suggests that the non-plastic inclusions were not manually added, and that in contrast to other Neolithic Sulawesi sites, coiling with beating/paddle and anvil was used to manufacture the pots