Abstract
Summary. In this article, we draw upon a wide range of archaeological, technical and iconographical evidence in order to examine the organisation and social role of fine pottery production in two contrasting Archaic and Classical poleis, Athens and Corinth. We examine developments in the relationship between the organisation of production, changes in decorative style and the degree of complexity of the social and political organisation of the two producer societies during a period of state formation. We also consider variation in the behavioural patterns surrounding ceramic use, and the role of production within the overall economy (and especially its relationship to subsistence activity). Such a study of comparative ceramic ecology not only offers a distinctive source of information about the internal ordering of producer societies, but also addresses the issue of the generation of variability in the ceramic record, an issue which has hitherto received little attention from Classical archaeologists, but which is central to a full understanding of ceramic trade and exchange.
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