Teaching workshop: pottery in archaeology: from sherd to history

The workshop aims to provide students with a background of general knowledge on pottery-making, describing the manufacturing process from raw materials through to firing. As pottery is the commonest archaeological artefact from the Neolithic onwards, it is closely tied up with human development and thus it can be considered as the connective tissue of the ancient societies. The historical focus is primarily on the Greco-Roman period, but attention is paid to the entire span of pre-modern history. The workshop also aims to introduce students to modern laboratory techniques applied to ancient pottery which are relevant to studies of characterization and provenance.

Knowledge: At the end of the workshop students gain in-depth knowledge on the complex manufacturing process of ancient pottery and can reconstruct the working practices used in antiquity, understanding why the soft and plastic clay turns into hard and solid ceramic. Students can also present a summary account of the analytical methods applied to ancient ceramics and the digital tools useful for study purposes.

Skills: At the end of the workshop students develop a basic competence in analysing ancient pottery and the ability to identify ancient working practices, focusing attention on technical issues. Students also have the skills to build a database for cataloguing ancient pottery and to choose the most appropriate modern laboratory techniques for investigating peculiar technical issues.