Ceramic Artifacts

Abstract

This chapter reviews the fairly standard terminology to describe pottery vessels and their attributes and then details manufacturing sequences that are part of the chaînes opératoires of pottery from acquisition and preparation of raw materials, through various alternative strategies of construction, finishing, and firing. After reviewing some of the macroscopic and microscopic methods for inferring aspects of pottery production, it goes on to discuss evidence for pottery function and use. A brief review of stylistic analysis of pottery follows, and two case studies demonstrate the potential of ceramic analyses for inferring social structures and meaning, and of lot acceptance sampling to ensure the quality of observations on pottery.