Ceramics Quiz Flashcards
Pottery
Objects made of baked (poorly fired) clay
- people began making pottery at least 20,000 years ago
- the technology was invented several times throughout human history
Ceramics
- well-fired clay
- the earliest ceramics come from the Jomom culture in Japan between 12-10,000 years ago
Ceramic analysis
- ceramic use was widespread in old work by about 8000 years ago
- developed independently in New world 4000 years ago in ecuado and Colombia
- associated with the intro of agriculture and settled communities
- ceramics are one of the most abundant types of artifacts found in arky examples
What we can learn through ceramics:
- trade
- diet
- ideology/ religion
- social organization
Ceramic forms:
- plate
- dish
- bowl
- jar
- case
Plate
Height less than 1/5 diameter
Dish
Height between 1/3 and 1/5 of the diameter
Bowl
Height no more than equal diameter, but no less that 1/3 diameter
Vase
- height greater than diameter and no restricted opening
Jar
- height greater than diameter and restricted opening
Ceramic manufacture:
- Procurement of raw material
- Preparation of raw material
- Forming the vessel
- Pre-firing treatments
- Drying
- Firing
Procurement of raw material
- clay is a fine grained earthy material develops plasticity when mixed with water
- ideal flexible when wet, yet hard and sturdy after firing
Preparation of raw material
Levigating
Kneading or wedging
Tempering
Levigating
In order remove impurities, clay is kixed with a lot of water, stirred, and left to settle
Kneading or wedging
Eliminates large clumps of material and makes it more homogenous
Tempering
In order to reduce uneven shrinking and cracking when drying, a temper is added to he clay
Temper
- inclusions in n clay is hat give it strength and workability and counteract shrinkage and cracking during firing
- ex crushed shell, rock, pottery; sand, grass or straw
- same may be aesthetic
- the finer the temper the stronger the pottery; usually about 10-50% of padre
Forming the vessel:
- hand
- paddle and anvil
- coiling
- slab
- moulding
- wheel throwing
Paddle and anvil
Using a paddle on the outside and anvil on the inside to shape a vessel
Slab
- creating think slabs eh ch are shaped together into a vessel
Moulding
- pressing the clay into a fork which produces the vessel
Pre- firing treatments
- smoothing and scraping
- burnishing
Burnishing
When the piece is leather hard, a tool, often very smooth stone or cloth, is used to smooth and shine the surface
Two types decoration
Plastic and non-plastic
Plastic decoration
Alters the surface of the clay when wet
Non plastic surface decoration
Adds a material such as paint or glaze to the surface of the vessel
Plastic
Decoration
Appliqué
Impression
Incision
Excision
Appliqué
The addition of 3D ornamentation, such as anthropomorphic heads, to the surface of the pot
Impression
- stamping or pressing something onto the surface if a pot
Incision
Using a sharp object such as a stick to cut out a Lin pattern into the surface of a vessel
Excision
- cutting out a portion of the surface clay creating a type of relief background for a pattern
Surface decoration types
Slip
Paint
Glaze
Slip
A slurry of very thin clay applied before firing
Firing
- domestic fires
- bonfires
- put fires
- Lila
Domestic fires
- placed in camp fire and rotated around until baked
Bonfires
Ceramics arranged in tiers and duel is placed on top
Oxidizing environments
Result when the fir has sufficient oxygen to burn cleanly and with high heat, resulting in colours such as yellows, reds and irganhes
Reducing
- environments result in I sugficine tocugen supply to the fuel so that it does not bring cleanly - more spot - black and grey
Diagnostic sherds
Can inform us about the shape and decoration of the original vessel
