Ceramics reveal much about a society. Some artifacts here were never meant as regular tableware, like the Hoplite Vase which actually tells a short story. Some ceramics, like floor tiles, might be fine enough to eat from, but also were not tableware.
These sorts of ceramics illustrate aesthetic values as well as how people of the day looked, dressed and acted. For example, most of the medieval pots were used on a regular basis by "everyday-people" and give us a glimpse into those kitchens, dinners, and home. The artifacts were chosen to illustrate historical periods covered by HIST 212. Most are representative examples of the times, but, since there are exceptions to every rule, (including this one too?)....
It might be interesting, even enlightening, to compare these artifacts to our own sorts of containers, tins and 'Tupperware.' One might wonder which society is more efficient or more highly aesthetic -- the one which invested in, and re-used, solidly made ceramics with a bit of decoration, or the one which stores milk in plastic throw-aways, drinks in thin aluminum, and grains in paper.
This comparison suggests differences in values, health concerns, technology, transportation modes, markets, aesthetics, economics and ways of producing containers -- Modern labor is more often machine-related rather than slave-related as ancient societies were: As usual in history, no single, simple answer solves the question.
A few of the examples here are not even ceramic, like the Roman cups, but seemed interesting enough to justify straying from the stated title from time to time. Overall, the selection in this Ceramics Survey is meant to exemplify the cultures under study in World History to 1500 as well as the changes that occurred over time. Anyone interested in a thorough study of the History of Ceramics would be best served by books like Emmanuel Cooper's A History of World Pottery, or better, Ceramics of the World by L. Camusso and S. Bortone.
Rather than bog down in one large file, there are a series of short files here grouped under:
|
|
|
|
|
|
image, or to the 
