Book Review
Ceramic Petrography: The Interpretation of
Archaeological Pottery and Related Artefacts
in Thin Section. Patrick Sean Quinn. 2013. Ar-
chaeopress, Oxford, 260 pp., color, ISBN 978-1-
905-73959-2, £35 (paperback)
The study of archaeological ceramics in thin section has
a long history yet surprisingly few books have been dedi-
cated to the topic. Patrick Quinn’s Ceramic Petrography dis-
cusses the procedures and goals of ceramic petrography,
and argues for increased standardization in petrographic
description and analysis.
The book is divided into seven chapters and an ap-
pendix. Chapter 1 is a general introduction to ceramic
petrography. It includes sections on the history of re-
search and where to find published and unpublished
resources, both of which will be useful for students who
want to locate seminal works and key case studies. Many
of these published works are listed in the further reading
sections that are included at the end of each chapter.
Chapter 2 outlines how ceramic thin sections are typ-
ically prepared and mentions the equipment and re-
sources (e.g., geological maps) that are used to study
them. Quinn mentions some of the problems that can oc-
cur when preparing thin sections, which will be useful for
students trying to analyze and interpret poorly prepared
samples. Quinn does not provide any substantial back-
ground in Ceramic Petrography on the general principles
of optical mineralogy or the specific properties that can
be used to identify types of rocks and minerals in thin
section. For these the reader will have to look to other
resources.
In Chapter 3 Quinn provides a straightforward discus-
sion of the three major components that make up most
archaeological ceramics, namely the clay matrix, inclu-
sions and voids. Here, as elsewhere in the book, he fo-
cuses on relatively coarse and low-fired ceramics, includ-
ing earthenwares and terracottas. These make up the
largest part of many archaeological assemblages and are
typically better suited to petrographic analysis than finer,
high-fired wares.
Chapters 4–6 are the most substantial chapters in the
book. Chapter 4 discusses how samples are described and
grouped into fabric groups. Quinn advocates a standard-
ized system of description that is based on Whitbread’s
(1989) soil micromorphology-influenced approach but
organized in terms of the three main components dis-
cussed in Chapter 3. Quinn takes the reader through
the various steps of his system starting with inclusions,
496 Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 29 (2014) 496–497 Copyright 
then moving on to the clay matrix and voids. The sys-
tem is comprehensive and logical, and easy for the reader
to follow, although other analysts may want to adapt it
to their own research questions and methodological ap-
proaches. Examples of fabric descriptions are found in the
appendix. Chapter 4 also discusses issues related to quan-
tification, including different methods of counting inclu-
sions, textural analysis for quantifying inclusion size, and
modal analysis for characterizing the relative abundance
of different types of inclusions. Statistical methods for de-
vising groups and the use of image analysis software are
both mentioned, but the reader will have to look else-
where for specific details if they actually want to conduct
these kinds of analyses.
Petrographic analysis is most often carried out to de-
termine artifact provenance and this is the focus of chap-
ter 5. The chapter discusses a range of topics, including
the principles and objectives of provenance studies, sam-
pling strategy, and raw material prospecting. A section
on resolution and accuracy is useful for those designing
a ceramic petrography study, as it points out situations
where provenance studies may be more problematic. The
final section in the chapter is dedicated to interpreting
the results of provenance-focused analyses and the past
cultural and economic processes that lead to the patterns
observed under the microscope.
Quinn sees the examination of manufacturing tech-
nology as another chief objective of ceramic petrography
studies. Chapter 6 outlines the major stages in the
production sequence of pottery and the specific traces of
these that can be observed in thin section. Ceramic pet-
rography is perhaps best suited to making observations
on raw material selection and processing and, to a certain
extent firing, and these are the most extensive sections in
the chapter. Other analytical methods (e. g. radiography,
gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) are generally
better suited to analyzing forming techniques, surface
treatments, and vessel use. Some of these other methods
are mentioned in passing but more extensive comments
on how ceramic petrography can be used in conjunction
with other methods would have been useful to the
reader, although largely beyond the general scope of the
book.
Most of Ceramic Petrography is dedicated to the study
of coarse and low-fired pottery. The final chapter looks
at other materials, such as architectural and refrac-
tory ceramics, cement and plaster, quartz-based stone
pastes, and high-fired ceramics such as porcelain. For the
most part, the goals of studying these materials in thin
C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

section are the same as those for studying coarse, low-
fired pots, and discussions from the preceding chapters
are relevant here. Quinn also mentions the application
of petrographic methods to study archaeobotanical re-
mains preserved in mudbrick and other unfired materi-
als in order to reconstruct paleoenvironments. These are
normally burned out during firing but can be preserved
in sun-baked clay architecture and objects. Unfortunately
he does not expand on this or include any images to il-
lustrate this use of petrography.
Nevertheless, the large number of high-quality color
images of ceramic thin sections found throughout the
book is one of its most valuable features. Clay and in-
clusions can be highly modified by paste processing and
firing, so using images of geological samples for compara-
tive purposes can be problematic for the ceramic petrog-
rapher. Images are taken from a diverse range of periods
and regions of the world, and illustrate all of the books
major points. In a few cases it would have been useful to
have more extensive figure captions or labels indicating
specific features in an image, but for the most part the
images are well explained.
Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 29 (2014) 496–497
BOOK REVIEW
Ceramic Petrography is a welcome contribution to the
study of archaeological ceramics in thin section. It will
be particularly useful for students learning how to design
and carry out petrographic analyses, although they will
also need to consult texts on optical mineralogy and the
description of minerals and rocks in thin section.
REFERENCE
Whitbread, I. K. (1989). A proposal for the systematic
description of thin sections towards the study of ancient
ceramic technology. In Y. Maniatis (Ed.), Archaeometry:
Proceedings of the 25th International Symposium (pp.
127–138). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Kevin T. Gibbs
Archaeological Research Facility
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
USA
Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).
doi 10.1002/gea.21493
Copyright 
C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 497