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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They made a lot of pottery. Most of that pottery was destroyed but since they made so much the small portion that survived seems like a lot. Also pottery/ceramics don’t really oxidize like metals or rot like wood so they last a very long time in good condition.
Keep in mind, greece, rome and northern africa used pottery to store and trade things like olive oil, wine, etc. on industrial scales. In fact, the Roman republic and empire (which included greece) produced hundreds of millions of amphora (clay pots) for trade and they are probably the most common finds at any archeological site. It would be like future humans digging up our plastic bottles in 1000 years and wondering why they don’t find as many iphones.
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