![]() ![]() of the people who made and used the pottery. This helps to understand characteristics, sophistication, habits, technology, tools, trade, etc. Fabric analysis (see section below), used to analyse the fabric of pottery, is important part of archaeology for understanding the archaeological culture of the excavated site by studying the fabric of artifacts, such as their usage, source material composition, decorative pattern, color of patterns, etc. The study of pottery can help to provide an insight into past cultures. Īrchaeologist cleaning an early mediaeval pottery sherd from Chodlik, Poland. It was not made effectively outside East Asia until the 18th century. Porcelain was also made in Korea and in Japan from the end of the 16th century, after suitable kaolin was located in those countries. The modern level of whiteness was not reached until much later, in the 14th century. A degree of translucency and whiteness was achieved by the Tang dynasty (AD 618–906), and considerable quantities were being exported. This confuses the issue of when it was first made. The toughness, strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainly from vitrification and the formation of the mineral mullite within the body at these high temperatures.Īlthough porcelain was first made in China, the Chinese traditionally do not recognise it as a distinct category, grouping it with stoneware as "high-fired" ware, opposed to "low-fired" earthenware. This is higher than used for the other types, and achieving these temperatures was a long struggle, as well as realizing what materials were needed. Porcelain is made by heating materials, generally including kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 ☌ (2,200 and 2,600 ☏). ![]() Historic pottery of all these types is often grouped as either "fine" wares, relatively expensive and well-made, and following the aesthetic taste of the culture concerned, or alternatively "coarse", "popular", "folk" or "village" wares, mostly undecorated, or simply so, and often less well-made.Ĭooking in pottery became less popular once metal pots became available, but is still used for dishes that benefit from the qualities of pottery cooking, typically slow cooking in an oven, such as biryani, cassoulet, daube, tagine, jollof rice, kedjenou, cazuela and types of baked beans. In many examples the group a piece belongs to is immediately visually apparent, but this is not always the case for example fritware uses no or little clay, so falls outside these groups. All may also be decorated by various techniques. Pottery is traditionally divided into three types: earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. An article can be decorated before or after firing. Much pottery is purely utilitarian, but some can also be regarded as ceramic art. ![]() Pottery is made by forming a clay body into objects of a desired shape and heating them to high temperatures (600–1600 ☌) in a bonfire, pit or kiln, which induces reactions that lead to permanent changes including increasing the strength and rigidity of the object. Early Neolithic and pre-Neolithic pottery artifacts have been found, in Jōmon Japan (10,500 BC), the Russian Far East (14,000 BC), Sub-Saharan Africa (9,400 BC), South America (9,000s–7,000s BC), and the Middle East (7,000s–6,000s BC). Pottery is one of the oldest human inventions, originating before the Neolithic period, with ceramic objects such as the Gravettian culture Venus of Dolní Věstonice figurine discovered in the Czech Republic dating back to 29,000–25,000 BC, and pottery vessels that were discovered in Jiangxi, China, which date back to 18,000 BC. In art history and archaeology, especially of ancient and prehistoric periods, pottery often means vessels only, and sculpted figurines of the same material are called terracottas. End applications include tableware, decorative ware, sanitaryware, and in technology and industry such as electrical insulators and laboratory ware. The definition of pottery, used by the ASTM International, is "all fired ceramic wares that contain clay when formed, except technical, structural, and refractory products". The place where such wares are made by a potter is also called a pottery (plural potteries). Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. ![]()
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