A pottery shard analyzer may determine one or more characteristics of an unidentified pottery shard. A vibration injector may cause the unidentified pottery shard to vibrate with a vibration signature that is dependent on the one or more characteristics of the unidentified pottery shard. A vibration detector may detect and extract a vibration signature from the vibration of the unidentified pottery shard caused by the vibration injector. A vibration signature comparator may: compare the detected vibration signature of the unidentified pottery shard with vibration signatures of multiple identified pottery shards having one or more known characteristics; and flag one or more of the identified pottery shards that have vibration signatures that are similar to the vibration signature of the unidentified pottery shard.