Prehistory

It is believed that the beginnings of pottery started somewhere around 30,000 years ago in the Old Stone Age also known as the Paleolithic Age. Recently scientific testing on small clay objects from The Czech Republic dating to the Paleolithic Period date the fire baked objects from around 27,000 BC. This may be the first “fired pottery” to date made by our nomadic ancestors. Early figure were of animal and figures, mainly female fertility figures.

The Dolni Vestonice “Venus” figures was found near Brno in the prehistoric village of Moravia in the Czech Republic. It seems to be one of the first clay figures (found so far). Made with a mixture of bone ash and clay and fired black in a beehive type kiln. Archeologist believe these figures to be of some mystical or magical religious type purpose. (Personally as a clay maker myself, I believe it could just have been that discovering the properties of clay brought out the creativity of individuals who enjoyed themselves with this new substance.)

Mankind settled into civilization around 10,000 BC.

In Southwestern Japan at the Kamino site shards have been found seeming to be the earliest pottery vessels in the world. This is called PreJomon pottery. These small undecorated shards have been dating by thermoluminescence to be 13,000BP to 12,000 BP. In civilizations around the Middle East the development of ceramics begins to be developed at about 6500 BC. Mostly at this time were figurines made. How the first pots were made in speculated by archeologists that clay was used to line baskets (an older art than pottery) to carry water, etc. and that sooner or later fire happened to the basket and fired pots were discovered after the fire burn out.

Personally, I think about the fact that unfired clay would muddy water and contaminate and mix with whatever was carried in the lined clay basket and so I wonder at this theory. I could see from my own experience that a person would try all sorts of experiments with clay as I do, like as a child when you give them some clay to play with: putting it in this and that, pushing it into objects for texture, etc. etc., I could see ancient people doing the same thing with this malleable earth. Maybe covering a river rock and coming up with a vessel form.

In the Tea Ceremony bowls of Japan, the elbow is sometimes used to form the cups. Maybe they put some food in them and tried to heat it or cook it and discovered it hardened. Even drying clay on a cast iron stove or in the oven hardens the clay beyond just drying.