Philip Poburka on thu 17 oct 02
My imaginings in this...
As Cooking and the like shall not give such heats as may
'fire' very well at all, if at all...calcineing at
most..making 'dirt' red colored, or
orange-yellow...or...(that in itself...maybe 'useful'...for
some things...'pigments'...or...)
Agrarian Peoples had a different sort of 'time', and had as
well, more of a steady place in which to indulge varied
things...to build up...play 'with'...goof around some with
what they built up...had 'steady' of...
Mud 'Ovens' as may be readily made...as elongate little
'Igloos' of a shape...some of the most 'primitive'
circumstances had allowed of the making of simple Iron, as,
where ancient People had 'played'...throw different 'dusts'
and 'dirts' into the draft of it's draw, or through a little
hole in it's top...see it get suched in...the sounds of the
draft!...what fun!...as when situated rightly with a
prevailing wind...when all is cooled...a little puddle of
'Iron'...they could not do much with it...show it to
eachother...'play'..play and Life...seek to be one...
Similarly Copper...only that could be of
'done-something-with'...
Similarly...do I imagine some 'discovery' of truely 'fired'
Clay...however oft and widely repeated...lost or
'discovered' or by conjectural of 'whom'...
Observations of 'what' a little Oven may do...in a wind...if
shaped 'long'...if fed 'right'...if regulated some little
bit, dampened on the ends, experiment and play...getting
that 'sound' as in itself may be the reward even of the
intention, of the 'experiment' and the play...and...can get
plenty 'hot' from getting that 'sound' of the draw, or the
draw IN a wind...hot and Luminous...
Like that...
That is my imagining on this...
It is likely what I would have maybe done...ended up
doing...would do...me, or anyone...who notices things...or
who likes to 'Play'.
Peoples, as Agrarian or migrant of...likely would have made
sooner or later, such 'Oven' forms...any number of them may
have thence noticed and done things...or not...as they
may...as they do...
What surprises me....is that such was not seemingly done
more...so far as the Archeological 'records' seem to show...
Phil
Las Vegas
----- Original Message -----
From: "vince pitelka"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2002 12:18 PM
Subject: Re: the burnt basket theory - origin of firing
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/
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