Preface npHE CERAMIC technologist who attempts to write a general book on ceramics-L finds himself in the position of a leopard who would like to hide his spots. The high degree of his specialization makes him acutely aware of the need for placing his own interests in proper perspective and establishing a ground of common understanding with the archaeologist. The archaeologist, for his part, also tends to become a specialist when he turns his attention to pottery because he deals primarily with potsherds and he uses them in the main to establish time-space frames of reference. As long as ceramic research is divided between archaeologist and ceramic technologist, it is highly desirable—I am tempted to say imperative—that both understand the fundamentals of ceramics, the principles and limitations of analytical methods, and the objectives of archaeological research. If it is important for the archaeologist to understand the nature of ceramic materials and techniques, it is no less important for the technologist to know the archaeological context of the pottery submitted to him and to understand the problems the archaeologist is trying to solve, the reconstructions he desires to make, in order to recognize how his data fit into the human picture. Archaeologist and technologist cannot remain within the shells of their respective specialties when they join efforts because they share problems and their means of investigation are complementary. If they are to work together efficiently, they must have a common pool of knowledge and understand each other's methods and sources of information. It is the aim of this book to contribute to this pool of common interest and understanding.

Since I entered the ceramic field by way of archaeology and have never forgotten the sense of hopelessness I experienced on opening a book on optical crystallography for the first time, I can understand the archaeologist's attitude toward the physics and chemistry of pottery. It is not surprising if he doubts that he can acquire, in the time available to him, the background of information and the experience that will enable him to grasp the significance of technological questions and recognize when analysis is needed and what it can contribute. He learns something by making pottery himself, particularly if he follows primitive methods and tries to reproduce prehistoric wares, and he can also learn much by