Why is there still so much Ancient Greek pottery in pretty good condition when most other objects from that era didn’t survive?
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Ever been to a thrift store? Or an antique store? Despite being fragile, pottery is one of the most resilient types of articles humans make. Most metals oxidize, but also historically don’t comprise all that much of what people possessed or used besides weapons and tools (or jewelry). Metal has also historically been reused in future implements. Textiles degrade relatively quickly. Wood rots or gets eaten by bugs. Pottery, if not dropped or mishandled, sticks around. People use a lot of pottery, to store food, drink, makeup, fuel, etc., etc. And ancient civilizations? A lot of them lasted for hundreds if not thousands of years. Modern western civilization (post industrialization) has only been around for about 260 years, and look at all the “pottery” that’s taking up space in curio cabinets, thrift shops, and antique stores.
In summary, it’s partially because as long as it’s not struck and broken, pottery basically lasts forever, and partially because there’s just been so much of it made that even if what’s left is only a small percentage of what was ever made, that’s still kind of a lot.
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