Pottery: History, Preparation and Uses

Pottery: History, Preparation and Uses opens with a discussion of silicates, the most abundant minerals on the Earth's crust. Clays (which are silicates) were used by ancient people for making pottery, bricks, and tablets for writing. The authors propose that by using a methodology borrowed from educational psychology, both the motor skills and cognitive development of various individuals may be evaluated through the analysis of brush strokes, decorative syntax, vessel symmetry, and finger marks. In this way, it is possible to determine to what extent children were involved in producing pottery in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages on Cyprus. In closing, an analysis of the functionality of 1,133 complete Iberian vessels dated from the 6th century BC until 1st century AD is provided. This analysis is carried out not only synchronically, differentiated by settlements, but also in a diachronic way.