The primary aims of this study are to identify and classify the types of
pottery decoration from the Pottery Neolithic Period to the end of the
Early Bronze Age III, to outline the decoration pattern trends in each
period, and to determine whether there are any common features between
these patterns in the different ages. The study mainly concentrates on
the excavated sites in Jordan, covering different geographical regions
within this area. The study indicates the utensils used in daily life as
well as artistic objects of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period A, B and C
and demonstrates their role in the invention of pottery at the end of
the late sixth millennium. This study shows that pottery manufacture was
not introduced by newcomers as suggested by several scholars but it
comes as the result of long experimentation with clay, white ware and
other daily utensils used in the previous period. The general features
and especially the artistic characteristics of each period of study are
discussed and explained. This serves as a preamble to the study of
pottery decoration and shows how much pottery manufacture was developed
compared to other aspects of the fine arts.