The glazed ceramics produced in the Islamic world are of tremendous importance to the fields of art-history, archaeology and the history of technology. Unfortunately their study has been beset by three major problems. Firstly, problems existed with the chronological and typological ordering of the various types, particularly in the relationship between different regions. Secondly, debilitating problems existed regarding the identification of centres of production for these wares. Although there is some documentary and archaeological evidence it has not been enough in the overwhelming majority of cases to link ceramic types to particular centres with any certainty. Thirdly, technical studies of these wares have previously focused on a few types, while most important technological questions have gone unanswered. Such questions include the origins of tin-opacified glazes, stonepaste bodies, underglaze painting, and other techniques.

This study is aimed at approaching these three problems, focusing on the period from the beginning of the Islamic period, up until circa 1250. Three chief methodologies have been used. Standard archaeological approaches to pottery classification are used to create a seriated ceramic typology, including study of forms and motif assemblages. The application of the scanning electron microscope with attached facilities is aimed at unraveling technological questions. Petrographic analysis is the chief means of characterization and identification of kiln-sites. For the petrographic study, new criteria for separating petrographic groups were developed for study of the stonepaste-bodied wares. The special strength of this work is its multi-disciplinary nature, as the three strands of the research correlate closely. For instance without an accurately dated ceramic typology it would have been impossible to put the provenance and particularly the technological findings into context.

The resulting picture is of an artistically and technically dynamic industry centralized in a very few specialized centres, with the rest of the ceramic industry forming a traditional and derivative backdrop.