Toolkit download
A full PDF version of the Toolkit for Finds: Pottery can be downloaded below:
The pottery studies groups
These groups have websites with pages that provide links to further, period-specific resources, including online access to out-of-print key texts, recording methodologies, research frameworks and online type series.
- Prehistoric Ceramics Research Group (PCRG)
- Study Group for Roman Pottery (SGRP)
- Medieval and Later Pottery Research Group (MLPRG)
Online type series
Regional
- Gloucester pottery type series
- Kent: The Christopher St John Breen Roman & Medieval Pottery Archive
- Suffolk Medieval Pottery Series - fabric samples
- Worcestershire ceramics online database
Supra-regional
- Atlas of Roman Pottery
- Kay Hartley Mortarium Archive
- Medieval Pottery Research Group, 1998 A Guide to the Classification of Medieval Ceramic Forms, MPRG Occasional Paper 1
- National Roman Pottery Reference Collection
- Samian research – names on terra sigillata
Physical type series
For a list of physical type series see: https://medievalpottery.org.uk/ceramic-reference-collection-lists-from-mprg-standards/
Recording aids
Pottery record template
This Excel spreadsheet linked below provides example recording sheets for each of the levels of recording outlined in the Recording section – Spot date (Appraisal/Assessment); Basic record; Detailed record.
- Download Pottery Record Template spreadsheet (Excel .XLSX file; 27KB)
Each record can be edited to suit the needs of the pottery specialist, the project and the assemblage, and should not be considered a minimum or a maximum of fields to include. In all cases it is highly recommended that period-specific guidance be sought when deciding what elements of a pottery assemblage to record.
Other recording aids
Rim chart/ radius chart (PDF)
This recording aid is needed to measure both the vessel radius and the proportion of the rim represented by a sherd when collecting vessel equivalent statistics (from Potsherd.net)
Both the PCRG guidelines (PCRG 1997) and Pottery in Archaeology (Orton and Hughes 2013) include multiple appendices that will likely be of use to pottery specialists working in all periods, including identification and recording methodologies of inclusions, firing conditions, fabric descriptions etc.
- PCRG 1997, The Study of Prehistoric Pottery: General policies and guidelines for analysis and publication (PDF). Occasional Papers Nos 1 and 2.
- Orton, C and Hughes, M, 2013 Pottery in archaeology, second edition, Cambridge University Press (available online via institutional access)
