Informations

Pottery plays an important role in studying culture and reconstructing the past. Historically with distinct culture, the style of pottery changed. It reflects the social, economic and environmental conditions a culture thrived in, which helps the archaeologists and historians in understanding our past.

Raw clay consists primarily of true clay particles and undecomposed feldspar mixed with other components of the igneous rocks from which it was derived, usually appreciable quantities of quartz and small quantities of mica, iron oxides, and other substances. The composition and thus the behaviour and plasticity of clays from different sources are therefore slightly different. Except for coarse earthenwares, which can be made from clay as it is found in the earth, pottery is made from special clays plus other materials mixed to achieve the desired results. The mixture is called the clay body, or batch.