Pottery and Social Dynamics in the Mediterranean and Beyond in Medieval and Post-Medieval Times

The papers collected here were originally given at a symposium during the European Archaeology Conference at Lake Garda, Italy in 2009. They have been revised and updated for this volume. Medieval and Post-Medieval ceramic studies have now for some decades been in the forefront of the archaeology of those periods, showing not only fascinating interactions with historical sources, in which both disciplines contribute novel information for each other, but also constantly exhibiting original methods and theories for the wider benefit of ceramology and archaeology in general. Topics covered here include cultural factors influencing the choice of materials from whci household containers were made in the medieval Middle East; social insights from pottery assemblages in medieval rural Granada; a reconsideration of the ceramic evidence for middle Byzantine social and economic history; ceramics as a marker of local identity and resistance in early modern Greece; the cultural implications of late medieval Florentine tableware; the interpretation of ceramic deposits traditionally labelled 'rubbish'; new dating evidence for the North Sea fish trade; and French imported pottery in Scotland.