The design of an artifact, such as a pot, can often reflect aspects of the cultural identity of the person who made it. As a result, pots can be studied as a form of "material culture."

Most of us are familiar with regional differences in cultural style, particularly for handmade objects; such variation in material culture endures even during an era when our televisionand other media transcend geographical boundaries and multinational corporations help cultural styles spread, mingle and blend around the world (e.g. blue jeans are now worn around the globe). We are also familiar with fashion trends in our own culture, an example of how stylistic traditions can change through time.

Ancient pots were made by hand, generally with local materials.. Variation in the technology and design of individual pots offers clues to archaeologists interested in understanding the methods and motives of prehistoric potters. The archaeological record is full of prehistoric examples of regional traditions of pottery manufacturing Prehistoric sites also preserve abundant evidence of how ceramic traditions changed through time, both locally and regionally. The challenge for archaeologists is to discover and explain such patterns of cultural variation in time and space.

The Predynastic cemetery HK 43 at Hierakonpolis (Upper Egypt), which dates to 3600 BC, has the earliest recorded examples of hair extensions and hair die in the entire world.