The incomplete Chaîne Opératoire. Potentials of the traceological approach applied to figurines made of unfired clay

This contribution addresses the potential of manufacturing trace analysis through the case study of the unfired clay figurines found at Lahun (Egypt, MBA). The peculiarity of these artefacts consists in their material. Figu- rines were mostly made of ceramic (fired clay), which is one of the conditions allowing their preservation over time. Nevertheless, in rare contexts, due to favourable environments, unfired clay artefacts have been found suggesting that these miniatures, often invisible in the archaeological record, were common in daily life. The lack of firing makes the production sequence of the clay figurines incomplete, especially if they are compared to a standard ceramic chaîne opératoire. Nevertheless, we can investigate their manufacturing by combining the trace analysis and the reverse reconstruction of the creative process. These data can reveal who made this peculiar category of objects, which techniques were used and how complex and standardised the production was. In this brief contribution, the approach and the criteria to identify and interpret figurine manufacturing are presented, highlighting the potential of this method to study clay miniatures technology. The results sug- gest that the production analysed was not standardised and people of different ages and dexterity shaped the figurines found at Lahun.