Studies on different types of pottery ware belonging to different periods having different layers have been carried out. Chemical analysis, specific surface area measurements and thermal studies on three types of layers containing blackware, redware, black and redware have been carried out. The relation of specific surface area to that of firing temperature and also with that of Fe2+ / Fe3+ ratio, of different samples belonging to different layers and periods, has been discussed. It has been observed that specific surface area is inversely proportional to the Fe2+ / Fe3+ ratio. The other interesting observation made was that chemical composition of the pottery materials can be used to classify the different layers. Analysis of pottery can aid subsequent conservation and conservation treatment may compromise later analysis.