Digging into Pottery: Scientific Approaches to Archaeological Ceramic Analysis Around the World

Digging into Pottery explores how scientific analysis of ceramics and related materials reveals ancient production methods, provenance, technology and exchange. Spanning diverse regions and periods, it demonstrates the value of interdisciplinary approaches for understanding past societies and material culture.

Digging into Pottery brings together studies on the scientific analysis of archaeological ceramics and related materials from a wide range of regions and periods. Inspired by the Annual Meeting of the Ceramic Petrology Group (London, CPG 2023), it highlights how petrography, geochemistry, and complementary analytical techniques reveal production technologies, craft practices, provenance, and patterns of material circulation.

Covering the Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages, as well as Roman and medieval periods across regions from East Asia and Mediterranean Europe to pre-colonial and colonial contexts in the Americas, the volume explores both local craft traditions and broader trajectories of technological innovation and cultural interaction. By integrating laboratory analyses with archaeological context, the contributions show how scientific approaches illuminate production organisation, standardisation, exchange networks, and regional diversity in material culture.

Alongside ceramics, several studies examine other inorganic materials, such as plaster, underscoring the versatility of analytical methods across different material types and archaeological settings. Collectively, the chapters demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary, multi-analytical research for producing reproducible datasets and linking scientific results to broader cultural and social interpretations.

Introduction

Preface – Patrick Quinn

Tracing Traditions: A Comprehensive Review of Neolithic Ceramics in Northern Greece – Archontoula Barouda

Investigating Pottery Technology in the Late to Final Neolithic Southeast Asia: A Case Study from North Taiwan – Che-Hsien Tsai, I-Ting Chen, Wei-Hsun Lin and Shao-Pu Tsai

Similar yet Distinct: A Comparative Study of Plaster of Architectural Features and Plaster Containers from Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria – Bonnie Nilhamn and Merel L. Brüning

Lime and Gypsum Binders through the Lenses – Paola Pizzo and Jan Válek

Silo: An Early Iron Age Ceramic Form in the Area of Western Slovenia – Manca Vinazza, Doris Potočnik, Nives Ogrinc, Aleš Šoster, Matej Dolenec and Nastja Rogan Šmuc

Tracing Pottery Consumption and Regional Interactions at Sant Genís de Rocafort Priory (Martorell, Barcelona, Spain), 12th to 16th Centuries – Esther Travé Allepuz, Josep Socorregut Domènech, Rosario Navarro Sáez and Montserrat Farreny Agràs

Interweaving Traditions: Ceramic Production at Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, before and after the European Conquest – Roberta Mentesana, Jaume Buxeda i Garrigós, Marisol Madrid i Fernández, Juan Guillermo Martín and Monika Therrien

Made in Singapore (?): Petrographic Analysis of 14th-16th Century AD Coarse Earthenware Sherds from Empress Place (EMP), Singapore – Alvin Sern Hao Chua

• Edited by Maja Miše
• Edited by Andrea Martínez-Carrasco