Vince Pitelka on fri 16 dec 05
My apologies to those who have heard this before. There are so many
hare-brained theories about the origins of firing. It seems fairly certain
that the nature of fired clay was discovered due to an "accidental firing,"
but there is only one theory that really makes sense. It is an inevitable
truth that the hunter-gatherers of the Neolithic period (Old Stone Age) knew
of the fired nature of clay. The reason is obvious and well documented.
When Paleolithic peoples traveled with the herds and the seasons, it is a
matter of common sense that they returned to good campsites again and again,
using the same bonfire hearths up against a rock wall or an earthen bank, in
order to reflect more heat. Archaeologists have identifed such Paleolithic
hearths that were used repeatedly in one location over a long period of
time. If such a hearth were against an earthen bank, the heat would fire
the clay beneath and behind the fire, and it is inevitable that the people
discovered that those areas of earth became far more impervious to the
effects of weathering, and thus they became aware of the nature of fired
clay. Since it is also documented that they created unfired forms shaped
with clay (examples have been found, but this is also a matter of common
sense - they could not help but discover clay - it is everywhere - and once
discovered, their natural creative curiosity would inspire them to form clay
into interesting shapes. Put two and two together. Once they discovered
that earthen fire hearths fire hard and permanent, it is inevitable that
they would try to fire some of their small formed clay objects.
As long as they were still hunter-gatherers, they didn't make clay pots,
because clay pots were completely impractical for the nomadic lifestyle.
But they did make baskets (which did travel well), and thus they were
exploring vessel shapes and decorative woven patterns long before the
Neolithic era (the New Stone Age). Thus, when the settled,
community-oriented peoples of the Neolithic began making clay vessels, they
often immitated the form and surface of baskets, which were the most obvious
vessel precedent. There are so many examples in the Neolithic pottery of
China, Japan, the Middle East, Egypt, and Europe - pots that immitate
baskets.
Because vessels immitating baskets are so common, some archaeologist or
anthropologist with a convoluted sense of logic extrapolated that the firing
process was discovered when a clay-coated basked (coated to make it hold
finely-ground grains) fell in the fire, or a damaged clay-coated basked was
tossed in the fire. Huh? And this happened multiple times independently at
dozens of locations around the earth? Give me a break. What an odd theory,
and how is it possible that it has stuck? Yes, they have found fragments of
clay-coated baskeds in fire hearths, but it's a mighty big leap to
extrapolate that circumstance into the discovery of fired clay.
When one considers all the possible scenarios, the discovery of fired clay
in earthen bonfire hearths is a no-brainer.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
marianne kuiper milks on sat 17 dec 05
Vince (hi!), thank you for writing that. I really couldn't figure out that (especially potters) there were people who didn't know this. The questions just made no sense to me, hence my two stupid little stories. I had fun, anyway. Marianne
Vince Pitelka wrote: My apologies to those who have heard this before. There are so many
hare-brained theories about the origins of firing. It seems fairly certain
that the nature of fired clay was discovered due to an "accidental firing,"
but there is only one theory that really makes sense. It is an inevitable
truth that the hunter-gatherers of the Neolithic period (Old Stone Age) knew
of the fired nature of clay. The reason is obvious and well documented.
When Paleolithic peoples traveled with the herds and the seasons, it is a
matter of common sense that they returned to good campsites again and again,
using the same bonfire hearths up against a rock wall or an earthen bank, in
order to reflect more heat. Archaeologists have identifed such Paleolithic
hearths that were used repeatedly in one location over a long period of
time. If such a hearth were against an earthen bank, the heat would fire
the clay beneath and behind the fire, and it is inevitable that the people
discovered that those areas of earth became far more impervious to the
effects of weathering, and thus they became aware of the nature of fired
clay. Since it is also documented that they created unfired forms shaped
with clay (examples have been found, but this is also a matter of common
sense - they could not help but discover clay - it is everywhere - and once
discovered, their natural creative curiosity would inspire them to form clay
into interesting shapes. Put two and two together. Once they discovered
that earthen fire hearths fire hard and permanent, it is inevitable that
they would try to fire some of their small formed clay objects.
As long as they were still hunter-gatherers, they didn't make clay pots,
because clay pots were completely impractical for the nomadic lifestyle.
But they did make baskets (which did travel well), and thus they were
exploring vessel shapes and decorative woven patterns long before the
Neolithic era (the New Stone Age). Thus, when the settled,
community-oriented peoples of the Neolithic began making clay vessels, they
often immitated the form and surface of baskets, which were the most obvious
vessel precedent. There are so many examples in the Neolithic pottery of
China, Japan, the Middle East, Egypt, and Europe - pots that immitate
baskets.
Because vessels immitating baskets are so common, some archaeologist or
anthropologist with a convoluted sense of logic extrapolated that the firing
process was discovered when a clay-coated basked (coated to make it hold
finely-ground grains) fell in the fire, or a damaged clay-coated basked was
tossed in the fire. Huh? And this happened multiple times independently at
dozens of locations around the earth? Give me a break. What an odd theory,
and how is it possible that it has stuck? Yes, they have found fragments of
clay-coated baskeds in fire hearths, but it's a mighty big leap to
extrapolate that circumstance into the discovery of fired clay.
When one considers all the possible scenarios, the discovery of fired clay
in earthen bonfire hearths is a no-brainer.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
______________________________________________________________________________
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
| |
|
