The effect of slip dispersion on the consequent densification and microstructure evolution of alumina was studied for isothermal sintering. As expected, cast alumina bodies produced with flocculated slip required longer sintering time to reach high density. Quantitative microstructure analysis was used to study the relationships between the slip dispersion condition, the densification behavior, and microstructure evolution of cast alumina during sintering at 1350 degrees C. A microstructural description based on pore boundary tessellation revealed a correlation between the degree of flocculation, tessellation cell properties, and densification rate. A conceptual understanding of the sintering of agglomerated powders was used to explain the observations.