Uploaded February 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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Ancient Pottery for Beginners: Why Archaeologists Study Ceramics
OI Museum Collections Talk Series

Have you always wondered about what’s in collections storage at the OI Museum? Less than two percent of the over 350,000 ancient Middle Eastern artifacts in the OI Museum collections are on display. In this installation of our Collections Talk! James Osborne, Assistant Professor of Anatolian Archaeology, will discuss the three main reasons why archaeologists spend so much time working with ceramics. Learn why the potsherds found in fieldwork are actually the most important artifact class that archaeologists encounter.

Originally aired live in November 2021

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c. OI, 2022