Pottery: History, Preparation and Uses opens with a discussion of silicates, the most abundant minerals on the Earths crust. Clays (which are silicates) were used by ancient people for making pottery, bricks, and tablets for writing. The authors propose that by using a methodology borrowed from educational psychology, both the motor skills and cognitive development of various individuals may be evaluated through the analysis of brush strokes, decorative syntax, vessel symmetry, and finger marks. In this way, it is possible to determine to what extent children were involved in producing...