Identifying prehistoric pottery

Hand-built, low-fired, and tempered with grit, shell, or grog.

Prehistoric pottery is hand-built (no wheel marks), fired low (soft, often crumbly), and tempered — the potter mixed in crushed stone, burnt flint, shell, or grog (crushed old pots) to stop cracking. Surfaces run from burnished black to rough corky textures where shell temper has leached out.

Decoration identifies traditions: cord impressions, fingernail and fingertip rustication, incised chevrons, comb stamping. Forms and styles vary by period and region — beakers, urns, carinated bowls — and a decorated rim sherd is worth far more diagnostically than a plain body sherd.

Handle gently: some sherds are soft enough to crumble in a pocket. Record temper visible in the break, wall thickness, surface treatment, and decoration; photograph inner and outer faces. Prehistoric sherds in plough soil often mark truncated pits below — the findspot is the real treasure.

From the guide library inside Collectors Catalogues, a free app for cataloguing antiques and finds with honest, museum-grade records.

More on pottery

Identifying pottery and ceramics — Fabric, surface, and how it was formed.

Identifying terracotta figurines — Mould lines and vent holes.

Identifying amphorae and transport pottery — Shape equals cargo.

Identifying tiles and brick — Fabric, stamp, and format.

Identifying Roman samian ware — Glossy red tableware with moulded scenes and potters' stamps.

Identifying Roman coarse wares — The kitchen pottery of the empire — greywares, mortaria, and flagons.

Home · Get the app · Guides · Museums · Privacy · Terms