Pottery
Earthenware is an instrument made of clay or terra cotta, created by kneading and then firing. Pottery has a long history; simple and rough pottery was first seen in the Neolithic Age.
In ancient times, pottery was a kind of daily necessity, and in the present, it is generally used as a handicraft collection.
Earthenware was burned to strengthen it, otherwise, it would break and seep through.
The invention of pottery was the beginning of human's first use of chemical changes to change the nature of the beginning of human society from the Paleolithic age to the Neolithic Age.
It is believed that the earliest pottery was made by hand and fired on bonfires. The firing time is short, but the maximum temperature of the fire can be very high, around 900℃, and it can be reached quickly.
Clay mixed with sand, gravel, broken shells, or broken pottery was used to make bonfire pottery, as these provide an open billet that allows water and other volatile components to leave easily.
The coarser particles in the clay also act to limit the internal shrinkage of the pottery body during cooling, which occurs at a slow rate and reduces the likelihood of thermal stress and breakage.
Early campfire pottery was mainly round-bottomed to avoid sharp corners that made cracking easier. The first purposeful kilns were cave or trench kilns, in which a hole was dug in the ground and filled with fuel. Holes in the ground provide optimal insulation, allowing for greater control of the firing process.
Pottery is the most important invention in the history of human evolution. For a long time, pottery firing, agriculture, stone grinding, and housing construction were listed as the four symbols of the transition from the Paleolithic Age to the Neolithic Age. Almost all the cultures of the Neolithic Age around the world were unearthed with pottery. Although they had great differences in times and techniques, this pottery played an irreplaceable role in the history of human development.
In recent years, with the discovery of pottery over ten thousand years around the world, people realize that the invention of pottery can be traced back to the late Paleolithic Age, its emergence and the Neolithic Age is not necessarily related, some areas in the early Neolithic Age without pottery, some areas have invented pottery but still in the Paleolithic Age. So, where did the earliest pottery come from in human history?
Worldwide, the archaeology of pottery began early and achieved breakthrough results. In 1924 and 1925, Czech archaeologist Karel Absolon discovered the 29,000-25,000-year-old Gravite culture in Lower Vestnietzsche, south of Moravia in the Czech Republic.
A staggering 2,000 pottery shards were unearthed. Mainly animal images, mostly pottery sculpture. One of the most representatives is a small statue, which represents the form of a woman. Quite like Venus of love. This is the earliest known pottery in the world.
The middle reaches of the Indus and Ganges rivers in South Asia are also the main birthplaces of human civilization. Pottery was invented earlier here.
For example, a site for making and using tools was found in Language, Gujarat, India, which is a typical site of the Mesolithic Age in India. Some rough pottery was also found, which is about 10,000 years old, making it the earliest pottery ever found in South Asia.