This chapter and the two that follow consider the evidence for the behavioral practice of reuse. Reuse played an important role in governing the formation of the Roman pottery record, and for this reason it is subject to comprehensive and detailed treatment in these three chapters.

As defined in Chapter 1, reuse entails the use of a vessel or a vessel part after the conclusion of its employment for its prime-use application. Although reuse ideally follows directly on from prime use, this is not the case in every instance. In some cases a vessel or a part of a vessel damaged in the course of manufacture or distribution is employed for some application different from the vessel's intended prime-use application, and instances of this practice are here regarded as reuse. At the termination of its employment for a particular reuse application, a vessel or a vessel part may be employed yet again for some new reuse application. Whatever the case, the reuse of the vessel or vessel, part has the effect of prolonging its retention in the systemic context. A vessel or a vessel part may also be reclaimed either from discard deposition or from an archaeological deposit in order to be utilized for some reuse application. In the latter instance it reenters the systemic context from the archaeological context. At the conclusion of reuse a vessel or a vessel part may be disposed of by means of either discard or recycling.