| Pottery is very important, it is also type of | | | | vitrified is called stoneware. Fine |
| ceramic material, which the American Society | | | | earthenware with a white tin glaze is known |
| for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has defined | | | | as faience. Porcelain is a very refined, |
| as "(a)ll fired ceramic wares that contain | | | | smooth, white body that, when fired to |
| clay when formed, except technical, | | | | vitrification, can have translucent qualities |
| structural, and refractory products." The | | | | |
| term pottery is also used for a technique | | | | The development of pottery was a milestone in |
| involving ceramic, where clay is mixed with | | | | human history. These durable and watertight |
| other minerals and is formed into objects, | | | | containers enabled people to boil and steam |
| including vessels generally designed for | | | | food which allowed them to exploit new |
| utilitarian purposes. | | | | sources of food such as shellfish, acorns, |
| | | | and leafy vegetables. Soft boiled foods could |
| A Pottery is a facility of any size, from a | | | | be eaten by toothless children and the |
| modest studio to an industrialized factory, | | | | elderly, which permitted caregivers to spend |
| where pottery is made. Where resources are | | | | more time producing food. In Japan, for |
| available - raw materials, workers, | | | | instance, the introduction of pottery was |
| transportation - groups of potteries may | | | | followed by a population explosion. In the |
| exist. Due to the large number of pottery | | | | archaeology of the Eastern Woodlands of North |
| factories, or colloquially 'Pot Banks', the | | | | America the introduction of pottery is |
| City of Stoke-on-Trent in England became | | | | referred to as the container revolution. |
| known as The Potteries; one of the first | | | | |
| industrial cities of the modern era where as | | | | Since pottery is a durable, man-made artifact |
| early as 1785 200 pottery manufacturers | | | | which was utilized by various cultures around |
| employed 20,000 workers. The Potters is the | | | | the world, it has proven to be a boon for |
| nickname of the local football club, Stoke | | | | archaeologists. Broken pottery in |
| City F.C.. The same name is used for sports | | | | archaeological sites, called sherds or |
| teams in the one-time "Pottery Capital of the | | | | shards, help identify the resident culture |
| World," East Liverpool, Ohio. | | | | and date the stratum by the formation, style |
| | | | and decoration. The relative chronologies |
| Pottery production is a process by which a | | | | based on pottery are essential for dating the |
| clay body, clay mixed with other minerals, is | | | | remains of non-literate cultures and help in |
| shaped and allowed to dry. The shaped clay | | | | the dating of some historic cultures as well. |
| body, or piece, ware or article, may be | | | | Trace element analysis, mostly by neutron |
| "bisque or biscuit fired" in a kiln to induce | | | | activation, allows the sources of clay to be |
| permanent changes that result in increased | | | | accurately identified. |
| mechanical strength, and then fired a second | | | | |
| time after adding a glaze or a piece may be | | | | While ceramics had been developed in Europe |
| once fired by applying appropriate glaze to | | | | also, pottery was first developed by the |
| the dry unfired body and firing in one cycle. | | | | Jomon in Japan around 10,500 BCE. It appears |
| | | | that pottery was then independently developed |
| With mass production techniques having | | | | in North Africa during the 10th millennium |
| replaced the traditional role studio potters | | | | b.p. and in South America during the 7th |
| have focused more on the aesthetic than the | | | | millennium b.p. |
| utilitarian | | | | |
| | | | The invention of the potter's wheel in |
| Traditionally, different regions of the world | | | | Mesopotamia sometime between 6,000 and 2,400 |
| have used produced different types of clay, | | | | BCE revolutionized pottery production. |
| sometimes mixed with other minerals, to | | | | Specialized potters were then able to meet |
| produce regionally distinctive pottery. It is | | | | the burgeoning needs of the world's first |
| common for different clays and minerals to be | | | | cities. |
| mixed to produce clay bodies suited to | | | | |
| specific purposes. Pottery that is fired at | | | | While artistic value of Classical Greek and |
| temperatures in the 800 to 1200 | | | | Roman pottery largely consisted of the |
| °C range, which does not | | | | surface decoration, the pottery itself was an |
| vitrify in the kiln but remains slightly | | | | important art form in China, where efficient |
| porous is often called earthenware or terra | | | | kilns allowed high temperature ware to be |
| cotta. Clay bodies formulated to be fired at | | | | fired with wood, long before the use of coal. |
| higher temperatures, which is partially | | | | |