| The ABC of pottery in archaeology |
| Why is pottery useful to archaeologists? | |
|
Pottery is durable and survives well in quantities large enough to be
useful in statistical analysis. Frequently it is the most abundant class
of material recovered in the course of archaeological investigation. It
can be studied through documentary, art-historical, chemical, physical
and archaeological techniques, leading to the formation of typological
and chronological sequences. An early example of a typological series
was achieved at Oxford on material in the Ashmolean's collection, from
excavations at the New Bodleian Library.
Pottery is also a reflector of the social and physical environment in which it was made and used, and is therefore an indicator of change in social traditions and social patterning. It is an important resource for interpreting the past. |
Baluster type jugs, a key product, from the innovative Brill/Boarstall workshops in Buckinghamshire can be arranged into a typological sequence |
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Copyright University of Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 2000 The Ashmolean Museum retains the copyright of all materials used here and in its Museum Web pages. last updated: jcm/27-jun-2000 |