Tana ware refers to a type of prehistoric pottery prominent around the Tana lake near northwest Ethiopia, and kaya settlements of the coastal hinterland of Kenya.
The name Tana ware was given because the early discoveries of these types of pottery were along Kenya's Tana River. The book Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE asks: "Did a new ethno-linguistic community introduce Tana ware to the region, or did extant EIA Kwale ware makers innovate a new style through a series of transitions that resulted in Tana ware?" The book also comments that "Taking into consideration the marked typological distinctions in Tana ware motifs, even when shared aesthetic influences may be noted, it is more probable that recently arrived NECB speakers manufactured the Tana ware.".
In the fifth and sixth centuries, Tana ware began to replace Kwale ware in the Usambara region.