Greek Pottery and its Archaeological Importance

The classical archaeologist relies to a great extent on pottery as important evidence for reconstructing Greek life. In the study of all ceramic&endash;making cultures, pottery is used as a chronological indicator because pottery shapes and decoration change over time. The association of these changes with other cultural phenomena or, in the case of the ancient Greeks, with specific datable events allows the archaeologist to build a chronological framework of a culture. Greek pottery also provides important documentation for many aspects of ancient Greek life through painted scenes, especially on Attic Black and Red Figure vessels. A large number of these scenes illustrate the myths and legends of the ancient Greeks. Through these we find an ancient interpretation of the stories and a picture of how the ancient Greeks viewed their deities. (Univ. Penn.)