Innovative Approaches and Explorations in Ceramic Studies celebrates thirty years of Ceramic Ecology, an international symposium initiated at the 1986 American Anthropological Association meeting at the suggestion of Frederick R. Matson. For almost twenty-five years, Dr. Charles Kolb organized the symposium to discuss multiple theoretical and methodological approaches to ceramic studies around the world. By fostering interdisciplinary interactions, the symposium has pushed the boundaries of what can be understood about the human experience through the creative and systematic study of ceramics. Contributions in this volume explore the application of instrumental techniques and experimental studies to analyze ceramics and follow innovative approaches to evaluate our methods and theories in our quest to learn about the societies we dedicate our studies to.