The varying size, shape and form of pottery vessels, as well as their decorative styles, reflect the tastes of everyman and his family. For later periods they can sometimes be matched by art historians with records provided by contemporary illustrations. Visual quality gradually became more important than function alone. The symbolic properties of vessels are less easily interpreted, but are a vital component when studying past lifestyles. Dispersal patterns of sherds from the same vessel may reflect the routine activities of the household or the organisation of a settlement.
Pottery is common enough to be found in a continuous series of datable associations.
These may be established through stratigraphic sequences to a range of independent dating mechanisms, for instance documentary evidence, coin evidence and scientific dating techniques. On rare occasions the vessel itself may include a date, as illustrated here. This vessel was probably a special commission to celebrate an anniversary. The Ashmolean Museum retains the copyright of all materials used here and in its Museum Web pages.