⚱️ The Beginnings of Ceramics
The history of ceramics follows the history of humanity itself. Long before writing, metallurgy, or agriculture, the first human groups were already molding clay to create vessels, symbolic figures, and utilitarian objects.
On this page, we explore the origins, evolution, and the most important milestones of ceramics throughout history. This content is part of the Ceramics Cluster: History, Clays, Techniques, and Knowledge, gathering educational and rigorous information for students, potters, enthusiasts, and those passionate about this millenary material.
κεραμας
The word ceramics derives from the original Greek term “Keramus/Keramas”, which means “burnt earth”. The oldest ceramics we know of are almost 30,000 years old and date from the Paleolithic period. They were found in Moravia, in the present-day Czech Republic.
In Japan ( Jomon culture), clay vessels (pottery) over 16,000 years old have been found. In Jiangxi, a province in China, what are probably the oldest wheel-made objects were found, dating back about 18,000 years.
It is during the Neolithic period (10,000 to 6,000 BC) that the manufacturing of clay objects becomes a common practice: humans became sedentary with the birth of agriculture and herding, and the need arose for the storage of water and food.
Initially, vessels were made using the coiling technique and it is thought they were produced mainly by women (men were dedicated to hunting and fishing). It was only later that the potter's wheel appeared.
Lapita pottery, originating from the Bismarck Archipelago, allowed archaeologists to identify that these people were the colonizers of the Pacific around 2000 BC.
