INTRODUCTIONIn the 9th century England witnessed major social upheaval; Viking armies moved through the north and east, towns flourished for the first time since Roman rule, land ownership was fundamentally transformed and new forms of material culture were produced. T displays a revolution in ceramic production; in a departure from earlier practices, pottery was wheel-thrown, kiln-fired and made on a near industrial scale. This sophisticated production emerged in a country that had not witnessed such techniques for over 500 years and, most surprisingly, it prospered in eastern England the Danelaw an area controlled by Scandinavian elites hailing from aceramic regions.