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A general term referring to ornamentation on ceramic vessels made by pressing objects or materials into the vessel walls while the clay is still soft. Common forms of impression include the serrated edges of sea shells, the ends of bones or sticks, fingernails, thumbnails, pieces of stick, notched combs, twisted cord, knotted cord, or string (also known as whipped cord), etc. Stamped decoration is a special form of impressed decoration, more common from the 1st millennium bc onwards than in earlier times.
