Ceramic ecology in an Islamic capital: changes in the production and consumption of pottery in Palermo

Palermo became the new capital of Sicily after the Aghlabid conquest in 831. The transformation of the city into a capital took many forms, including the production and consumption of pottery. The perspective from ceramic evidence shows that Palermo underwent faster and deeper processes of Islamization than other urban and rural contexts across the island. Palermo fostered particular social, economic, and technological environments, so that at least until the eleventh century it was not only the main production centre and key place from which new pottery fashions spread to the rest of the island, but also the main hub from which pottery was exported, both throughout Sicily and to the central Mediterranean. Through analysis of both material culture from excavations and the technologies of production that gave the capital such a distinctive profile, this article demonstrates the centrality of the capital and its exceptional role in shaping what went on people’s tables.