vince pitelka on wed 16 oct 02
Ric wrote"
> Burnt Basket theory? some say that basketweaving is older than
pottery...they smeared river bed clays in baskets to carry watter to the
early village site. Some blockhead (later a genius) placed the empty basket
too close to the campfire and viola! hey this mud gets hard when you heat it
in the campfire Fred ! Ceramics...firing earth is born !
Ric -
I have heard this theory many times, but there is another which makes far
more sense. Nomadic Paleolithic peoples often used the same camps in their
travels in search of game. When using the same camp, it only makes sense
that they would use a firepit or hearth prepared during previous stays. In
doing so, it is inevitable that they discovered the effect of fire on the
earth beneath, rendering it hard and impervious to water. What had been mud
became rock. In many cases they built their fires against an earthen bank,
being aware of the way it confined and reflected the heat. In that case,
the effect would have been that much more obvious. So although the basket
theory has a certain romance, and there is no doubt that baskweaving
preceded clayworking (abundant and beautiful basketweave patterns on Jomon
pots, predynastic Egyptian pots, Neolithic European pots, etc.), there can
be little doubt that the discovery of fired clay came from the simple
reality of a fired earthen hearth.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
Tim Wilcox on fri 18 oct 02
Working in the field of archaeology and being a Native American I often
can't believe some of the theories people come up with. It seems that
many, while based on scientific evidence, still end up romanticizing a very
simple idea. And how can we really know for sure what happened. We can
only put ourselves in that situation and think what would I have done, not
what they would have done. When you think of what "they" would have done
you end up with theories that don't give our ancestors very much credit.
They were just as smart as we are and they knew what they were doing. If
they didn't then they wouldn't survive.
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