Diffusion or Impedance: Obstacles to Innovation in Medieval Ceramics

This paper puts forward general ideas about innovation and its diffusion, and the points of view of an industrial psychologist and a prehistorian are examined and set in context by reference to the economic historian Braudel. The general theory is demonstrated by its application to two case studies – tin-glazed ware and stoneware – and leads to a model for technological innovation in medieval and early post-medieval ceramics.