Archaeological ceramics refers to products made primarily of clay and containing variable amounts of lithic and other materials as well. The term ceramic is derived from the Greek keramos, which has been translated as "earthenware" or "burned stuff." Ceramics include products that have been fired, primarily pottery but also brick, tile, glass, plaster, and cement as well. Since pottery is by far the most important archaeologically, and the methods of sampling and study are largely applicable to the others, this chapter is devoted primarily to pottery. Pottery then is the general term used here for artifacts made entirely or largely of clay and hardened by heat. Today, a distinction is sometimes made between pottery, applied to lower-quality ceramic wares, and the higher-grade product porcelain. No such distinction will be made here, so the term pottery alone will be used. Raw material that goes into the making of a pot includes primarily clay, but also varying amounts of temper, which is added to make the material more manageable and to help preserve the worked shape of the pot during firing. Of primary interest in ceramic studies are 1. the nature and the source of the raw materials—clays, temper, and slip (applied surface pigment)—and a reconstruction of the working methods of ancient potters; 2. the physical properties of the raw materials, from their preparation as a clay-temper body through their transformations during manufacture into a final ceramic product; 3. the nature of the chemical and mineral reactions that take place during firing as a clue to the technology available to the potter; and 4. the uses, provenance, and trade of the wares produced. Much of the information needed to answer these questions is available through standard geochemical and petrographic analysis of ceramic artifacts. Insight into the working methods of ancient potters also has been obtained through ethnographic studies of cultures where, because of isolation or conservative traditions or both, ancient methods have been preserved.
Microwear analysis of small recycled flakes and recycling products from the Ein-Zippori site, Lower Galilee, Israel