1. Pottery of the Ancient World
The Beginnings of Ceramics
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2. Resources
Hands in Clay: An Introduction to Ceramics, Charlotte F. Speight, 1983
Victor Bryant’s web site,

3. Fired Clay Figurines
Made of clay and bone ash, this is the tiny baked clay figurine is known as the "Venus" of Dolni Vestonice. It is thought to be about 29,000 years old and have been fired in a beehive shaped kiln in a Stone Age village.
This blackened figurine was found together with many other baked fragments. Mixtures of bone ash and clay molded had been modeled or molded into female figurines or animals and then baked in what appears to have been a simple beehive kiln in a stone age village. This particular small blackish figurine, about 4 1/2" high, has come to be known as the Dolni Vestonice "Venus" from the prehistoric village site in Moravia near Brno, in the south of the Czech Republic, where it was found. If the dating is correct, these objects are almost certainly the earliest ceramic figures that have come to light so far...
The ceramic "discovery" or "invention" happened independently in different parts of the world - Europe, Asia, east and west, Africa, the Americas and in the Pacific, so with advances in dating techniques, more widespread exploration and more detailed study of results there are certain to be more ceramic archaeological surprises in store. Hunting, Fertility and Survival
The general consensus amongst archaeologists is that all these images, both animals and female figurines, were a vital part of a system of mystic beliefs and ritual. A precarious lifestyle and a drive to survive were at the heart of this. By making these images and symbols these Stone Age hunters hoped somehow to influence the situation: prevent or lessen various disasters. The rites and images could in some mysterious way enable enough wild animals to be caught and killed for food and clothing and also cause the women to bear sufficient healthy children to continue a viable hunting tribe.
From Hunter to Farmer
The way of life for prehistoric Man in the Old Stone Age changed hardly at all over many thousands of years. But about 10,000 BC., some groups in different parts of the world had begun to settle down on permanent sites, build villages, breed animals and grow crops - become farmers and stock breeders. Archaeologists term this last part of prehistory the Neolithic Age or New Stone Age because the techniques of making flint cutting tools greatly improved as itinerant hunters and food gatherers became village farmers.

4. Ceramics in Prehistoric Western Asia
An Outline Map of Western Asia Today (also called the Middle East).
It is still accepted that this development began earliest in the region we call Western Asia or the Middle East - From the Anatolian highlands of Turkey in the north, the Persian Gulf in the south. And from Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean in the west to the Zagros mountains of Iran in the east.
By at least 6500 BC. the making of ceramic figurines and pottery were well established in many villages of Western Asia. We can now follow the early development of ceramics in this part of the world in considerable detail down through the next millennia.

5. Fired clay figurine about 2. 5 inches high. Made about 7000 BC
Fired clay figurine about 2.5 inches high. Made about 7000 BC. from Tepe Sarab a prehistoric village site in Western Iran.
This little baked clay figurine was found in the prehistoric village of Tepe Sarab in western Iran. It is dated about 6000 BC. By now the people of Western Asia had given up their nomadic life and were building villages in the hilly woodland. In western Asia this was in the foothills of the Taurus mountains in Turkey or of the Zagros mountains in Iran. Concern about fertility and its mystery was just as great as when Man was a wandering hunter living in caves. This object is a quite sophisticated piece of modelling. Notice how elements of the female body have been translated into a number of bold tapering conical forms producing a very striking almost geometric symbol of fecundity. It would not look out of place in a modern sculpture exhibition. What might appear as mere simplification is a symbol evocative of the entire female figure and all these tiny s sculptures were clearly intended to be images of motherhood.

6. This realistic ceramic image of a wild boar was also found in the neolithic village site Tepe Sarab, Iran. It was made soon after 6000 BC. It probably played some part in the hunting rituals that still continued. It is marked with scratches which could represent spears or arrows. By this time, instead of just hunting wild animals, Man was now learning to domesticate and breed the wild pigs, goats and sheep which roamed the hilly woodlands of Western Asia.
Lifestyles Change, Religious Beliefs Evolve, Image-making Becomes More Complex
At Çatal Hüyük in the Anatolian highland of western Turkey some remarkable discoveries were made a few years ago. This was a prehistoric settlement of farmers and cattle-breeders dating from about 6500 BC. Remains were found of mud brick houses with plaster and painted decoration showing animal and human figures. Some of the houses seem to be shrines or sanctuaries. There must have been a number of skilled craftsmen because of the variety of objects discovered, including a great variety of figurines.
This tiny fired clay image of a wild boar c.7000 BC. was also from Tepe Sarab in Iran

7. Enthroned goddess in baked clay. c. 5500 BC. Possibly giving birth
Enthroned goddess in baked clay. c.5500 BC. Possibly giving birth. Two leopard-like heads on either side. - Çatal Hüyük - Anatolia Turkey.
This enthroned female, an extraordinary example in baked clay, exemplifies the evolving rites and more complex beliefs of a people with a settled way of life. She is probably a Goddess, flanked by leopards and possibly giving birth. It dates from about 5500 BC. and was found in a grain bin in what is thought to be a "shrine".

8. A New Container Comes Out Of The Bonfire
Shells, skulls, nuts and scooped out fruit skins all must have been used to hold water, milk or blood by our prehistoric ancestors. The discovery that small lumps of clay could be squeezed and pressed into cup or bowl shapes and then put in a bonfire to make hard was an important stage in the life of most prehistoric communities. Using the palm, thumb and fingers to squash, squeeze, press and poke, small bowls could have been made by pressing out from seed and nut husks or shells and also by pressing lumps of clay over large pebbles.

9. A Discovery
Shells, skulls, nuts and scooped out fruit skins all must have been used to hold water, milk or blood by our prehistoric ancestors. The discovery that small lumps of clay could be squeezed and pressed into cup or bowl shapes and then put in a bonfire to make hard was an important stage in the life of most prehistoric communities. Using the palm, thumb and fingers to squash, squeeze, press and poke, small bowls could have been made by pressing out from seed and nut husks or shells and also by pressing lumps of clay over large pebbles.

10. The Basket and the Pot
Weaving techniques and basket making are almost certainly older than pottery. Our wandering ancestors would have needed to carry things! When Man settled down in villages, these weaving and basket making techniques were adapted to make even more things from fencing to thatching and rope making etc. The influence of woven patterns on early pottery has also been considerable. In some communities basket making probably led to the technique of pottery making.
In some communities basket making probably led to the technique of pottery making.

11. Egyptian Basket
Baskets like this made from a variety of plants would be strong enough to carry quite heavy loads. If such a basket were lined with animal skins and fat, even water could be carried from the river to the village.
This is the remains of an ancient basket found in the mud of the river Nile, Egypt. It was made about 4000 BC. Bundles of plant stalks were tied together and coiled and woven to make a basket about three feet across. Baskets like this made from a variety of plants would be strong enough to carry quite heavy loads. If such a basket were lined with animal skins and fat, even water could be carried from the river to the village.
At some point, probably before 7000 B.C., someone discovered an easier, less wasteful, way to waterproof a basket - by smearing the inside with a layer of stiff mud or clay.

12. Clay-lined Baskets
At some point, probably before 7000 B.C., someone discovered an easier, less wasteful, way to waterproof a basket - by smearing the inside with a layer of stiff mud or clay.

13. A Better Basket
Serious fires must have destroyed huts, even villages on occasion. The discovery that clay lined baskets became hard rot proof pots after such a conflagration must have been one of the few benefits of such a calamity. It would nevertheless have been a very valuable discovery.
Unlike a basket, this sort of container was rot proof and rat proof - a new and potentially very valuable utensil had been discovered.

14. A New Technology
A typical tiny prehistoric pot pressed out of a small lump of clay with the thumb and shaped in the palm of one hand with the fingers of the other hand. Decorated with just a row of finger marks round the sides.
No one really knows when or who first started to use the new technology of ceramics, but most speculate that it was discovered by some prehistoric person; perhaps that person smeared a basket with clay and set it too near a fire. When the basket burned, the clay hardened.
In any case it seems to have happened quite independently in various parts of the world. Strong links with basket making are evident in the earliest pots of most cultures.
This tiny pot was found in a British prehistoric grave site. It illustrates the simple shapes made by an early pottery-making culture, thumb or finger pressed in for decoration.

15. Another tiny thumb pot but with a more sophisticated shape
Another tiny thumb pot but with a more sophisticated shape. Probably for ritual use, it has holes for hanging and four beak spouts. From a neolithic "shrine" in Liguria, NW Italy.
As they became more expert in coiling pots, more daring shapes were made. The rim of this small round bowl has been built up into a square collar then squeezed and pressed to make more beak-like lips at each corner. There are also lugs so that it could be hung up with a cord. It is a quite sophisticated form of jug probably for use in ceremonies or rituals. It was found in Sanguineto, a neolithic cave site in Liguria, NW Italy

16. Women Potters
Clay pots would have made carrying water and cooking a lot easier than using leather or woven containers.
The Basket and The Pot
Weaving techniques and basket making are almost certainly older than pottery. Our wandering ancestors would have needed to carry things! When Man settled down in villages, these weaving and basket making techniques were adapted to make even more things from fencing to thatching and rope making etc. The influence of woven patterns on early pottery has also been considerable. In some communities basket making probably led to the technique of pottery making.
The Great Influence of the Basket on Pottery
This little coiled bowl appears almost as if made in plaited straw! A series of simple marks spiral around the globular bowl shape from the base to the indented heavy rim. At a casual glance this could easily be mistaken for being a small simply woven basket.The press-patterned sides are so like a coiled rope basket pattern. It was found containing grain seeds - food for the dead person - in a prehistoric grave in Britain...
Basket-making and coiling clay bowls and pots were jobs carried out mostly by the womenfolk of the village in between rearing children and preparing food. Kneading and rolling out dough for bread are similar techniques to handling clay. Weaving canes to make the bottom of a basket and then sides is not unlike the way pots are coiled. Not surprisingly too, most of the earliest pots, if decorated, are ornamented with pressed patterns derived from baskets.

17. Reflections What is the definition of “technology”?
What do you think of when you think of new technologies? Why?

18. More Reflections
What are some reasons why people have come up with new technologies?
What “old” technologies might pottery have replaced (been a better solution for)?
Why do you think a technology continues to be learned and used by people?

19. Ancient Bowls: Various Decorative Techniques
Impressing
Stamping
Scratching
A more elaborately decorated food bowl from bronze-age Britain. This shows a more complex impressed pattern but it's clearly imitating a plaiting technique. This one has a more daring shape and is stick-decorated with a much more complex series of marks and scratches which results in a very beautiful pattern with an intricate woven band which alternates with marked rings of imitation sewn ribbing.

20. Egyptian Bowl
This small prehistoric Egyptian coiled bowl is about six inches across. It comes from a grave dated about 4000 BC. Bands have been scratched into the red clay, allowed to stiffen a bit, and then white slip brushed or smeared over and then allowed to dry somewhat more. It could then be gently scraped until the incised pattern appeared white, looking rather like stitches. This decoration may have been done in stages.
Bands have been scratched into the red clay, allowed to stiffen a bit, and then white slip brushed or smeared over and then allowed to dry somewhat more. It could then be gently scraped until the incised pattern appeared white, looking rather like stitches. This decoration may have been done in stages.

21. Detail of Egyptian Pot
In this detail we can see that the rim was stamped with a triangular ended tool, whilst still soft,and thick white slip applied here too. When leather-hard, and after scraping, the rim would have appeared to imitate an elaborate band of stitched binding. Finally, before drying and baking in a bonfire, the finished pot was probably burnished with a piece of bone or polished stone. Often the more refractory white clay slip doesn't stick so well to the red clay and in time and with wear powders away - this is evident here.

22. Pottery Techniques
The technique of pressing and coiling clay vessels and firing them in simple bonfires had probably spread throughout most of villages of Western Asia before 6500 BC. The pressed and scratched decoration was soon followed by brush painting with different clay slips, usually cream, brown, red, black or white. But human beings are generally slow to accept change; most of us like to keep the things we are used to.

23. Brushed Decoration
This little food bowl from Hacilar in Anatolian Turkey was made about 5000 BC. It is painted to look like a basket using red and white slip applied with a brush. Consider how often today's new man-made coverings imitate the colour and texture of traditional materials. This new-fangled material "pottery" could even hold water, but our ancestors still preferred it to look as much like a patterned basket as possible.
A bold basket decoration brushed on using red and white slip. A small food bowl from Hacilar in western Turkey c.5000 BC.

24. Examples of Brushed Decorations
By 5000 BC. a wide range of imaginative brush and incised patterns was spreading throughout Western Asia. Look at the collection of pot fragments from the region. Most of the designs still have that unmistakable geometric structure confirming the powerful influence of basket-making and woven ornament.
Part of a collection of shards from this early period in Western Asia showing the brush strokes and incised marks imitating basket patterns.

25. Brushed Dish Halfa type dish found at Arpachiyah North Iraq c.5000 BC.
An elaborately decorated dish from Arpachiyah N.Iraq c BC. Red, black and white slip are all used to decorate this dish made from a pale buff coloured clay. It reminds me of geometric patterned basket-work platters made from dyed reeds and grasses which are still made in the Middle-East and elsewhere. Often referred to as Halaf ware (from Tell Halaf in Syria),this type of richly patterned pottery of the late sixth to mid fifth millennium BC. has been found over a wide area from northern Syria and Iraq northwards into Turkey.
Halfa type dish found at Arpachiyah North Iraq c.5000 BC.

26. Reconstructed Designs
Colour drawing reconstruction of the dish found at Arpachiyah in North Iraq. This shows more clearly the crisp geometric brushwork patterns all derived from basketwork designs. Notice the hatching lines around the edging. Almost certainly this imitates the basket makers edge binding.
Compare the previous illustration with this colour reconstruction. It may help you appreciate how striking that worn original dish could have looked when it was first made: rich colours and crispness of pattern. The petals of the flower-like decoration in the centre have been painted in red slip but a thin line of the body colour had been left as a subtle outline. The background of black emphasises the centre design and further out bands of red and black chequer pattern contrast with the pale fine lines of the exposed body. A thick black band marks the point where the rim and the bowl meet and added sparkle has been given to the chequer pattern by quartering the black squares with a cross in white slip. As a final refinement the edge of the rim has been painted with a fine black zigzag line - like a stitched binding.
Color drawing reconstruction of the dish found at Arpachiyah in North Iraq.

27. Reflections
What techniques of construction were first used in creating pots?
What types and styles of decorations were first used?
Can you find pots being done today using these same methods of construction and decoration?