‘Operational sequence analysis’ applied to pottery making techniques in Korea

This study uses ‘operational sequence analysis’ to examine the technical processes, methods and strategies that Korean potters have used in the adoption and rejection of new pottery technologies. We contend that the introduction of new technical elements weakens the relationship between the traditional agents of the pottery-makingprocess. In particular, potters are compromising traditional techniques by using modern technology. On the one hand, potters still use traditional tools such as the bottom flattener, the wooden paddle, the anvil and cloth finishing strips while at the same time using improved kilns and electronic potters’ wheels. This compromise has arisen because of changes in technical knowledge about making pottery which have resulted in this synthesis of traditional and modern methods. Anthropological studies will explain pottery-making techniques and knowledge relating to the craft in Korea on both macro and micro levels.