Prologues and Epilogues in Islamic Ceramics: Clays, Repairs and Secondary Use

This article presents evidence concerning the attitudes towards clays, the repair of broken vessels, and the secondary use of pottery in the Islamic world. The collection and analysis of primary written sources and archaeological information aims to illustrate the diversity of responses to ceramic in its various states from raw material to broken sherd. It is argued that, in order to come to a deeper understanding of the social roles performed by ceramics in a given context, it is necessary to attempt to integrate the information from archaeological investigations and primary textual sources.