Archaeology Magazine - May/June 1982 - 4

Pomerane

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Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona,l'icson, AZ: "TraditionalDress and
Masks of the Indians of Mexico: The
Donald and Dorothy Cordry Collections"
(through April 30, 1983), exhibits more
than 800 pieces of contemporary and historical clothing and masks, illustrating the
origin and development of masked dancing and traditional dress amongrural Mexican Indians.

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Denver Art Museum, Denver,CO: "Treasures of Asian Art from the Idemitsu Collection" (through May 23, 1982),displays
Chineseceramics,Japanese stonewareand
porcelain,and Chineseritual bronzes,many
of which have never been seen outside of
Japan. Catalogueavailable."Circlesof the
World: Traditional Art of the Plains Indians" (through June 6, 1982), an exhibition of 150examples of nomadic Plains
Indian art representing 18 tribes during
the period 1840-90. Catalogue available.
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, San
Francisco, CA: "The Search for Alexander" (through May 16,1982),displays over
90artifacts includinggold,silverand gilded
objects from the royal tomb at Verginain
Greece as well as ivory portraits of Alexander and his father, Philip, and a bronze
krater from Derveni.(SeeArchaeology,
November/December 1980, pages 52-5.)
Catalogue available.
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, CA:
"Pompeii: XIX Century Drawings and
continued on page 81
4

ARCHAEOLOGY

FREDERICK

Archaeological
America
Contributions

Archaeology

Mask from the state of Guerrero,Mexico,
in "TraditionalDress and Masks of the
Indians of Mexico"at the Arizona State
Museum.
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco,San
Francisco, CA: "The Effie B. Allison Collection: Kosometsuke and Other Chinese
Blue and White Porcelains"(through June
6, 1982),exhibits 50 rare porcelainsmade
in China between 1620-50for Japanese tea
masters. "Those Magnificent Manchus:
The DecorativeArts of the Ch'ing Court"
(May 15-July 20, 1982),displays 17th and
18th-century Chinese paintings and objects in porcelain,enamelware,rhinoceros
horn, lacquer,ivory,and glass. "Yearof the
Dog" (through December 1982),displays
three tomb figurine dogs of China's Han
Dynasty (206 B.c.-A.D.211).

Award

R. MATSON

In the course of his distinguished career,
Frederick R. Matson has strived, with
untiring persistence and ultimate success, to demonstrate the value of scientific analysis in the study of ancient ceramics. As far back as he can remember,
Matson wanted to be a ceramic engineer.
While pursuing his engineering degree
at the University of Illinois, he developed
an interest in anthropology and took
courses in Greek and Roman archaeology taught by a young instructor named
George Mylonas. Matson received the
M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of
Michigan in anthropology and ceramic
archaeology under the guidance of Carl
Guthe, A.E.R. Boak and Clark Hopkins.
The last offered Matson his first archaeological field experience at Seleucia-onTigris. On his return from Iraq, Matson
was introduced to Greek archaeology in
Athens by the famous 1930's Agora
team, many of whom became his lifelong
friends.

Returning to Ann Arbor in 1937,Matson
was asked by Carl Guthe to establish a
laboratory for the analysis of the materials in the Ceramic Repository for the
Eastern United States. During this period Matson began his pioneering efforts
to join his technical expertise in ceramic
analysis to his knowledge of archaeology. The structural analysis of ancient
ceramics was seen by Matson as an important tool in the ultimate search for the
understanding of a culture. In 1954-55,in
Iraq, Matson began to observe the activities of village potters. By the early 1960's
he was in the forefront of those who emphasized the observation of traditional
pottery-making, a dying art, as a means
of understanding the potters of antiquity. Since then Frederick Matson has
pursued several lines of inquiry. He has
continued his laboratory analysis of ancient pottery from many parts of the
world. He has established himself as the
leading expert in applying observations
of modern potters of Iran and Afghanistan to the study of ancient pottery. He
has acted as ceramic analyst for excavations at Dura-Europos, Jarmo, Persepolis, Tarsus, Pylos, Lerna, Porto Kheli, the
Franchthi Cave, Messenian sites, Siphnos and the Athenian Agora.
He held a professorship at The Pennsylvania State University for thirty years
until his retirement in 1978. He has
maintained a breathless schedule of
travel, lectures and publications as the
leading proselytizer of the method he
create. He organized the imporhelped
tant '''Ceramics and Man' 7conference in
Austria in 1961 and edited its proceedings. His numerous awards testify to
professional acclaim, culminating in his
election to the Presidency of the Archaeological Institute of America for 1975-76.
Modern ceramic-oriented ethno-archaeology has no more vigorous spokesman.
In presenting to Frederick R. Matson the
Pomerane Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology, the Archaeological Institute of America honors one who
has joined ceramic science to cultural anthropology and traditional archaeological fieldwork. What has seemed only
common sense to Matson - not much
"to raise an eyebrow about" - has in fact
provided an important technique for the
understanding of the social, political and
economic structure of antiquity.

Archaeology Magazine - May/June 1982

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - May/June 1982