Documentary on prehistoric ceramics produced by the UAB, now online
"In Their Hands. Reshaping pottery of the European Bronze Age", produced by the UAB, can now be viewed on the University's YouTube channel. The documentary, selected by several international festivals in archaeological cinema, is the result of the CRAFTER project, scientifically coordinated by ASOME, a research group of the Department of Prehistory, to reactivate the European ceramics’ sector and reveal its prehistoric techniques.
Prehistoric ceramics can become a source of inspiration for today's ceramists. With this argument, the documentary shows how today's craftsmen and women experiment with the creation of ceramic vessels based on the techniques used by four European Bronze Age societies: El Argar (Spain), Únětice (Czech Republic), Füzesabony (Hungary) and Vatin (Serbia).
The documentary is composed by four parts, each of them filmed by prestigious directors from each area (Marcello Peres, Nicola Tagliabue, Thomas Claus, Csaba Balogh and Vladan Caricic Tzar), and as an introduction shot a recreation at the archaeological site of La Bastida (Totana, Murcia). Throughout 30 minutes and using only music and images, it shows the process of creation of four societies from more than 4,000 years ago, all of which used different techniques to make their vessels to which they gave very similar uses.
"In Their Hands" arrives at the UAB’s YouTube channel preceded by a very good acceptance in the cinematographic field of its speciality. At the end of last year, it participated in the Bidasoa International Archaeological Film Festival (FICAB) and last February in the Firenze Archeofilm Festival. Since the pandemic, it was viewed online at the Rassegna Internazionale del Cinema Archeologico di Rovereto (Trento, Italy), the 6th International Archaeology Film Festival (Split, Croatia) and the Rassegna del Documentario e della Comunicazione Archeologica di Licodia Eubea (Sicily). For 2021 it has already been selected for the Firenze Archeofilm 2020 and Artefacta/Cinarchea Film Festival 2020 (Düsseldorf, Germany).
"In Their Hands - Reshaping pottery of the European Bronze Age" is the final culmination of the CRAFTER project (Crafting Europe in the Bronze Age and Today), led by the Association of Friends of the Archaeological Site of La Bastida and organized under the scientific coordination of the UAB research group ASOME, with the aim of reviving the ceramics sector in Europe. The project was carried out in 2019, within the framework of the European Year of Heritage, and financed by the Creative Europe programme.