Long-term excavations in Novgorod and other towns in its region have yielded vast amounts of medieval pottery, mostly locally-made wares of the 10th to 15th centuries, but including imports from the Baltic area, north-west Europe, south Russia, the Black Sea area and the Islamic East. There has been a revival of interest in recent years, and a wide range of questions is being asked. Some long-term projects are coming to fruition, and comparative studies are being made on a regional basis. This book seeks to bring together these studies in a way that will reinforce and inform each other. Comparing and contrasting western and Russian approaches to ceramic studies, this book demonstrates the potential of medieval pottery studies beyond its perceived value as dating evidence, and provides a sound foundation for a further generation of studies.

Table of Contents:
* Introduction * The study of medieval ceramics from north-west Russia: A View from the West MA Brisbane, Bournemouth University, and CR Orton, University College London * Chronology and Technology * Hand-made pottery from Ryurik Gorodishche and Novgorod AV Plokhov, Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences * Early wheel-turned pottery from Ryurik Gorodishche (10th century) and certain questions connected with its synchronisation with the pottery of Novgorod and Staraya Ladoga VM Goryunova * Typology and chronology of Novgorod pottery of the 10th to 15th centuries (based on material from the Troitsky XI excvatio) PD Malygin, Tver State University, PG Gaidukov, Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences, and AM Stepanov, Novgorod Archaeological Centre * Pskov pottery in the 12th to 16th centuries VI Kildyushevskii, Institue for the History of Material Culture, St. Petersburg * Methodology * Handling large urban assemblages and their statistics CR Orton, University College London * An attempt to classify the decoration of Novgorod medieval pottery using material from Troitsky excavation XI (Spits 22-10) OA Rud, Novgorod State Museum * International Contacts * Pottery imported from the West: Reception and resistance DRM Gaimster, Society of Antiquaries of London * Amphorae from Novgorod the Great and comments on the wine trade between Byzantium and medieval Russia IV Volkov, Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage, Russian Academy of Sciences * Eastern pottery from the excavations at Novgorod VY Koval, Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences * Pottery from the settlements in the northern part of the Ilmen region (8th-10th centuries) and from medieval Novgorod (10th-15th centuries) PG Gaidukov, Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences