The emergence and subsequent development of a stylistic tradition is conditioned by and can be very much dependent on the underlying ceramic technology. This interaction is highlighted by the contrasts between two pottery sequences (from the Baq'ah Valley of Jordan and Ban Chiang in Thailand), which were studied by complementary analytical techniques. Whereas the Jordanian assemblage evidenced considerable technological and stylistic change in the transition period from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age (ca. 1550-1050 B.C.), the Thai corpus was unusual in the persistence of ceramic traditions at every stage in the production process over more than three millennia (ca. 3600 B.C.-A.D. 200).