Pottery and Its History --
Pottery and Ceramics: Definitions and Products --
History of Pottery and Ceramics --
Pottery and Ceramics in the Old World --
The Near East --
The Far East --
Europe and the Mediterranean --
Pottery in the New World --
Overview of Pottery Studies --
The Raw Materials of Pottery Making --
Clays: Their Origin and Definitions --
Earth Materials --
Feldspars, Weathering, and Clay Origins --
Definitions of Clays --
Depositional Situation of Clays --
Granulometry of Clays --
Chemical Definitions of Clays --
Mineralogical Definitions of Clays --
Phyllosilicates --
Lath-Structure Clays --
Commercial Uses of Clays --
Functional Definitions of Clays --
Properties of Clays I: The Clay/Water System --
The Clay/Water System --
Plasticity --
Factors Influencing Plasticity --
Measuring Plasticity --
Drying and Shrinkage --
Water in the System --
Processes of Drying and Shrinkage --
Drying Defects and Green Strength --
Measuring Shrinkage --
Inclusions and Impurities --
Coarse Inclusions --
Colloids, Ions, and Organics --
Properties of Clays II: Firing Behavior --
Variables of Firing --
Physical and Chemical Changes in Firing --
Loss of Volatiles --
Changes in the Clay Minerals --
Changes in Inclusions and Impurities --
Quartz --
Feldspar --
Calcium --
Glaze Formation --
The Thermal Reaction Sequence --
The Fired Product: Stresses and Defects --
Some Considerations of Firing Technology --
Pottery Manufacture and Use --
Pottery Manufacturing Technology: An Ethnographic Overview --
Ethnographic Pottery Studies.

A comprehensive sourcebook, drawing together diverse approaches to the study of pottery - archaeological, ethnographic, stylistic, functional, and physicochemical. The author uses pottery as a starting point for insights into people and culture and examines in detail the methods for studying these fired clay vessels.