Ceramic Production

Representing the largest class of artefacts recovered from post-medieval and historic sites, ceramics play a central role in the archaeology of industrialized societies. This chapter outlines the main production technologies involved in the creation of ceramic domestic wares and clay smoking pipes. It demonstrates how changes in fabric type and manufacture technologies reflected a broader shift from craft-based local production and distribution networks to industrial mass-production and globalized commercial distribution. It also summarizes the primary diagnostic characteristics commonly used for both stylistic and archival dating of these ubiquitous post-medieval artefacts. Finally, this chapter highlights the role of ceramics in archaeological studies of aesthetic and decorative changes, ethnicity and colonialism, social identities, consumption patterns, and domestic foodways.