10.57892/100-346Vindrola-Padrós, BrunoBrunoVindrola-Padrós0000-0003-1616-423XInstitut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu KielChristian-Albrechts-Universität zu KielScholtus, LizzieLizzieScholtus0000-0001-8627-8991Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu KielChristian-Albrechts-Universität zu KielKiel University2026930990Kiel University2026-07-26enresearch_datahttps://opendata.uni-kiel.de/receive/fdr_mods_00000346fdr_mods_00000346https://opendata.uni-kiel.de/receive/fdr_mods_00000346?XSL.Transformer=modsAttribution 4.0This folder contains all the scripts and data used to carry out the eye-tracking analysis of the paper Technical variation in the Konyak Naga tradition of steam-cooking pottery (Mon district, Nagaland, India) Paper abstract: This study examines technical variation in pottery production and use by foregrounding contingent, material-driven sources of uncertainty. Drawing on ethnoarchaeological research with Konyak Naga potters in Nagaland (India), we analyse how steam-cooking vessels, i.e. globular perforated pots used to prepare sticky rice, are produced, used, and degraded, and how these processes interact. By combining observations, interviews, and eye-tracking recordings, we demonstrate how breakage phenomena and the technical requirements of steam-cooking incentivise variation in forming techniques and operational sequences. Findings indicate potters display great technical flexibility in the production of steam-cooking vessels by alternating paddle-and-anvil, pinching and pestle-pressing techniques, as well as expediency in the acquisition and transmission of the craft, suggesting that adaptation to material constraints is embedded in practice. Furthermore, we also characterised the use-alteration traces specific to this cooking method, i.e. soot patterns, ash-based sealants, surface cracks and steam spalls, according to two household assemblages in Tanhai (n=12) and Shangnyu (n=3) villages, providing comparative criteria for interpreting steam-cooking evidence in the archaeological record, and also estimated vessel use-life from a 200-year-old assemblage. These results enhance our understanding of technical variation in pottery manufacture and use, as well as the archaeological visibility of steam-cooking methods. European Commission https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000780 951631 Material Minds: Exploring the Interactions between Predictive Brains, Cultural Artifacts, and Embodied Visual Search