Ceramic Analysis: Lecture

Pottery is one of the most enduring products of the ancient world and among the most ubiquitous classes of artifacts recovered from archaeological sites. In many cases, pottery sherds are all that remain of past societies, making them a critical source of evidence for reconstructing ancient lifeways. Archaeologists use ceramics to investigate a wide range of questions, from the transmission of craft knowledge to cooking practices, political economies, social identities, and human responses to environmental change. This course introduces the concepts and methods used to analyze archaeological ceramics, with an emphasis on how these artifacts are evaluated and used to build evidence-based interpretations of the past. Students who wish to enroll in this course must also register for the accompanying laboratory course.