The 37th annual Clay Minerals Society Meeting in Chicago in 2000 brought together a range of different approaches to the analysis and interpretation of clays and ceramics from archaeological contexts. Addressing topics such as mineral identification and characterisation, material sourcing and regional surveys of the availability of clay sources, a wide range of case studies are presented from prehistoric Greece and Anatolia, Italian ceramics and clays from the Neolithic and Etruscan periods, Gaulo-Roman France and South America pottery production and clays.