Bronze Age pottery and settlements in southern England

Abstract

Pottery is often treated as a poor relation in Bronze Age studies. However ceramics have much to offer. During the last forty years a fairly esoteric subject, dominated mainly by detailed analyses of decorative motifs and the construction of elaborate chronological schemes, has been transformed into a powerful source of knowledge which can inform topics as diverse as culinary habits and feasting, the symbolic power of rock inclusions contained in pottery fabrics, and ritual deposition. A summary of recent research directions will pinpoint areas ripe for future study, and the huge potential of settlement studies will also be highlighted.