A review of experimental results and theoretical models for thermal conductivities of ceramic materials with porosity less than 30% is given. It is shown that the abnormal non‐monotonic pressure and temperature dependences of thermal conductivity arise from the effects of microcracks and porous grain boundaries, characterizing many industrial refractories, and from the competitive influences of classical and novel mechanisms of heat transfer in composite multiphase materials. The latter mechanisms include segregation and surface diffusion of impurities and defects in crystal structure, and the mechanism arising from chemical conversion and gas emission, occurring within pores of ceramic materials. A fractal model of porous materials' structure is proposed and used for analysis, explanation, and classification of thermophysical properties of ceramic materials measured in various thermodynamic condition