ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with a cross-section of the published academic discourse about ceramics classification in order to set the stage for the discussions that follow, which deal with classification 'on the ground'. It shows that classification as an emergent process within conversations, within individual interactions, and against specific backdrops. Hermann Dragendorff created a system for typing Roman pottery based on color, decoration, and the stamps used by different pottery workshops. Dressel also included information about vessel function and date ranges for each type. Typology reflects a shift away from an artistic appraisal of whole pots to the use of potsherds as a means of dating other artifacts and assessing artifacts' spatial distribution. William Matthews Flinders Petrie offers some pottery types: black-topped, polished red, fancy forms, cross-lined, incised black and wavy-handled. A series of ethnographic studies, mostly from the 1980s, investigated ethnotaxonomy, the terms that the actual pottery makers and/or users have for their vessels.
