How To Make Prehistoric Pottery | Stone Age Technology

Discover more about Neolithic life: goo.gl/juNj89
In celebration of the history of human ingenuity we traveled back into the mists of prehistory.
Join Graham Taylor in the Neolithic houses at Stonehenge as he creates a replica piece of Grooved Ware pottery using the 'primitive' technology of our prehistoric ancestors.
Join in the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #Ingenious
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[@pepperweasel]

These Neolithic videos are so interesting! I love the Victorian cook, but it's great to see skills from other periods too

[@emmawhitworth1679]

These videos give me a huge feeling of calm! So interesting and well-made

[@EnglishHeritage]

Thanks for your feedback Emma! So glad you're enjoying them, and don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more updates

[@EnglishHeritage]

Great to hear! Thanks for sharing.

[@AgeofRScarves]

Great stuff. A really informative and well crafted video. Editing, lighting and shooting style really create an atmospheric story. Would love to see more of these!

[@EnglishHeritage]

That is very nice to hear Ali! Thank you. Make sure you subscribe to our channel for more videos like this.

[@meilinchan7314]

That firing technique he used is interesting, it probably explains how Amratian and Kerma pottery, found in Egypt and Sudan, got their characteristic scorched lips.

[@stefandoell9660]

This is so interesting. I love the beauty in the simple patterned clay pot. There is something very special about making this kind of prehistoric pottery. It provides a real connection to the past, a sense of the ingenuity of early humans, and a sense of satisfaction of making something useful and real.

[@johnspencer1887]

Brilliant video! It's good to see our ancestors pottery skills made alive. Interestingly in Tamil we use the same term for clay and throw. We are one family, folks! Much love. xxxx

[@meilinchan7314]

:o

[@Thark]

The music makes it kind of scary. Like its some dark forbidden witchcraft we're not suppose to know :D

[@inkajoo]

For me it felt like reaching far into the past, all the generations of suffering and survival and ingenuity and fear and mystery.

[@GOLDSMITHEXILE]

our ancestors were just as intelligent, sophisticated and ingenious as we are. Humanism hasnt made modern people any more advanced than our neolithic forefathers

[@meilinchan7314]

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." To our hunter-gatherer ancestors who were just learning how to settle down into a lifestyle that necessitated AND facilitated the making of such pots, making one of these would've seemed like witchcraft. The fact that potters and other craftsmen would jealously guard their production secrets as hard as any 21st century industrialist with bleeding edge techniques only added to the atmosphere of mystique and possibly fear. Stories of humanlike gods with magic powers must've been echoes of a past when disciplined warriors with metallic weapons could achieve feats that would've seemed superhuman to their simpler and more rustic Stone Age foes - the metal itself must've dazzled them as much as it dazzled, say, the Mexica and the Inca who encountered the conquistadores. Let anything whose business end keeps affecting people who don't understand them be called witchcraft by their victims!

[@frazlesc6937]

Does annyone know the name of the Music.

[@whiderboss]

And I love it, it's so ancient, it's just perfect I love this video.

[@da_roblox_fanatic5666]

This was actually very interesting!

[@ariellelionessofYah]

Wow! I wish this was longer! Make a more in depth version of this!! I’d love to know more about the clay making process and time frame for that and firing the pot. This is so beautiful!

[@RavenHues]

This is very interesting . That guy has done a great job both in explaining his methods and making the pot as close to the one that was made in the past . Thank you for this video :)

[@johntierney7244]

It really is worth visiting museums like Butser Ancient Farm, The Ancient Technology Centre, Jarrow Hall, West Stow Anglo Saxon Village etc etc

[@EnglishHeritage]

We completely agree! Thanks for sharing.

[@mikitta47]

Very cool demonstration. The grooved designs kind of reminds me of a forest. There is so much we don't know about people and culture from prehistory, but presentations like this bring that era to life!

[@ziggybaker3446]

This is amazing. It's so interesting to see how my ancestors did things thousands of years ago. Thank you for these videos!

[@mamgz5166]

... may be they were my ancestors... not yours... how do you know, cousin?

[@fife8332]

@@mamgz5166 Everyone's ancestors did this sort of thing, no need to nitpick. Most English people today are not related to the people who would have made these exact pots or stonehenge.

[@OneKindWord]

Andy Wards Primitive Pottery led me here. Thanks for another viewpoint of ancient pottery.

[@Nyctophora]

It's interesting to see how the mat works like a simple turntable, something I wouldn't have guessed.

[@tipstricksss1453]

I'm a mudlarker and also I love digging old dumps and pottery is one of my favorite things. I've done pottery in the past and I wouldn't mind making this exact pot. Great video.

[@themightywhoosh5497]

This makes it look way easier than it probably is. I wish rather than skipping through entirely the process of making the amount of clay they ended up with, theyd sped it up, so we could see the whole process.

[@arjantjeee]

I have the feeling they quickly removed the bunch with store-bought clay. The grog and quarts was way too rough for ending with a pot that has such a smooth surface.

[@kadensmike8190]

@@arjantjeee I've dug up pottery shards from the late Neolithic and early Bronze ages in Britain and they are mostly as rough as you might imagine. Sometimes the inclusions look like someone's thrown a bag of muesli into the clay...

[@_Diana_S]

They still make pottery like this in Costa Rica, starting with manually pounding clay, mixing it 2:1 with a sand from some specific river. They mold it on a handmade turning wheel, though they said it supposed to be done completely by hand, slowly raising walls, like in t his video. It is amazing that different cultures have so similar techniques. I guess it was the most sensible (or available at the time) way, and people from different parts of the globe came to use it in dependently.

[@jackburrowssexy]

I love seeing times gone by come to life like this

[@EditoraVerissimo]

this channel should have so many more subscribers!

[@arierodjali7865]

ikr

[@bryandovbergman5654]

This gave me chills, I could just see Patrick Swayzee softy spooning him as he works! "And time can do soooooo much!!!!"

[@erynhofland4744]

For some reason, I rembered the music from these videos during my English AP test, and it kept me really calm.

[@jwbnscacpt]

Whoa, even older tech than I was looking for. Super cool! I may try this, I have tons of clay in my backyard. Thanks

[@pattimessenger6214]

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing the history and instructions on how to do this.

[@nenesundog]

That is awesome. They way it's fired is so simple.

[@yarixzamendoza6314]

you make it look so easy thanks for the video.

[@PottedHistory]

It's easy after the first couple of hundred!

[@nitecrawler26]

Makes it look so easy lol

[@vulcanswork]

Thank you.

[@mooseroochy]

The decoration reminds me of woven reed or willow peed, did they have woven baskets like that?

[@tombrown407]

Yes. The idea that grooved ware is a skeuomorph (made from one material to resemble another material) is quite a popular one. And humans do like making things look like they're made of something else. Some Early Bronze work deliberately copies stone forms, before the full potential of the new material mutated the ideas guiding the design.

[@littlekreeper8918]

mmmmaybe the lines were for grip? that way they wouldn't drop it while carrying it?

[@PottedHistory]

I think that may certainly have been a consideration.

[@Cate7451]

LittleKreeper maybe multiple reasons.

[@turtleextra4128]

LittleKreeper maybe it was just because it looked good

[@Milanko332]

Great video ... I was inspired and made the same pot

[@amac5455]

Beautiful.

[@Lawman212]

Thank you for a lovely, concise video. But I would love to know what the quartz was for. I understand using grog as temper, but the addition of quartz is puzzling. What was it's role?

[@wadepatton2433]

I've seen grogless "wild" clays fire up just fine. But also this is the first quartz grinding I've seen.

[@HokiHumby]

Is it just that the quartz adds silica? so maybe just to make sure there's enough silica in it to fire as such? very late comment here.

[@mockupguy3577]

As I am dabbling with this I would love to know. I’m usually using clay from the shoreline and it works good with no additives.

[@HokiHumby]

@@mockupguy3577 Wow! Lucky you! I feel it can be quite rare to *find* clay and have it hold up fine as is without anything added!

[@butterflygroundhog]

Late to the party, but here's an explanation: Quartz sand is often used in bodies as grog for texture and to increase thermal expansion. Powdered quartz is used in glazes and bodies also. Quartz of very fine particle size (-400 mesh) will typically enter the feldspathic melt or convert to christobalite during firing if fluxes are lacking, coarse powdered grades help to 'squeeze' glazes into fit. Intermediate sizes (200-300 mesh) seem to be best however, since their greater surface area exerts more compressive squeeze per unit.

[@MonkeyM98]

Super interesting! how long do you let it sit in the fire?

[@PottedHistory]

It actually has to pre-heat next to the fire for several hours before committing it to the flames, then about one hour in the fire. Would've made a boring video though.

[@angelagonzalez2372]

I love this channel

[@lamnad]

One theory I've heard is that the lines and patterns were not simply decoration. It was to aid grip and that, if you were going to add them, might as well make a pattern that looks nice

[@ArtGardens]

Just what i need while in isolation !

[@sigutjo]

Very nice and informative. Makes me want to try it myself. Also finally it isn't so short.

[@EnglishHeritage]

Thank you! Have you seen our flint axe video too? kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKqwe2aZZsx7q9k Let us know what you think.

[@sigutjo]

Yes i have. It is very nice too. A bit on the short side again but in this case it's o.k. I'm always glad to see a video (f.e. about cooking) that inables me to try it myself. Therefore the pottery video is a bit better because it is more detailed.

[@tombrown407]

All you need is some clay to start practicing.

[@lionheart9692]

Hello there,I've found a couple of small pottery pieces in good condition in an old stream and I was wondering if you could tell me anything about them if you was to see a picture

[@catalinananu2448]

You Are A Pro P O T T E R 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉

[@tntsunplannedbunker8542]

So I want to use this as a homeschooling lesson for my 3rd grade and Kindergarten students (since we are at home this time of year). We have been learning the different periods of the Stone Age and I think this would be a great conclusion for our Mesolithic segment. What materials would you use to make the clay from what we might have around the house?? This is a super fun idea!!!

[@turtleface25]

You can just dig up garden dirt and extract the clay quite easily

[@published1789]

Hello English Heritage -- a couple of us have asked, "Why the quartz? What does that do?" Just a nudge in case you have more information on that. Thank you.

[@butterflygroundhog]

Late to the party, but here's an explanation: Quartz sand is often used in bodies as grog for texture and to increase thermal expansion. Powdered quartz is used in glazes and bodies also. Quartz of very fine particle size (-400 mesh) will typically enter the feldspathic melt or convert to christobalite during firing if fluxes are lacking, coarse powdered grades help to 'squeeze' glazes into fit. Intermediate sizes (200-300 mesh) seem to be best however, since their greater surface area exerts more compressive squeeze per unit.

[@dslchr9191]

I want to try and make something like this sometime. It looks interesting and fun.

[@katrussell6819]

I love it.

[@smoath]

Excellent

[@debbieboring3422]

This is wonderful I so enjoy as well as receive education form your videos. If you can please tell how long did it take in the fire to finish the pot to its final state?

[@jt659]

Groovy!

[@incorectulpolitic]

Hi, I need a non toxic clay container with a non-toxic seal in which I can store raw milk. How did the ancient seal the inside of a clay container in order to prevent the milk sipping through the clay? Thank you

[@ZiggyWhiskerz]

pinch into coil method....fascinating! but @ 3:25....maybe they were just designs. sometimes the simplest explanation is the correct one.

[@EnglishHeritage]

You could be right Ericat.

[@barabi51]

Yes, and being humans, they liked designs as a way to add a little interest to a functional object...this simple combination of patterns was one almost anyone could have done with a sharp stick. You had to have a lot of leisure time (and probably slaves), like Ancient Greece, to be able to explore extremely realistic depictions of anything in art. But we’re humans and we like to add a little interest, to whatever extent our skill level goes.

[@sjean2166]

The final look at the pot's etchings looks like trees in a forest

[@sushiuk]

lovely looking pot very interesting

[@Yamifira]

the lines look like a grassy grain pattern, likely used to store grain, gruel, flatbread or farming tools

[@kevinschembri277]

May I use such footage pls?

[@WritingFighter]

I thought the grooves in such pottery came from using a basket weave as sort of a means of holding the shape like a crude mould, and the fire would burn the basket weave away but the imprints of it remained on the pot after baking.

[@kwillow12]

What I was expecting you to do was flatten the clay on the round mat, and then fold the mat up to make a bowl or pot. Leave the mat on the bowl while it dries, maybe even bake it with the pot. Still, very interesting.

[@diggidydong866]

Where would they got the raw clay from?

[@Citizen589]

Good!!

[@cazek445]

If you are wondering how they made a sort of glaze on it, you have to use a rock/spoon/anything smooth. STEP 1: Make a pot. Preferably thick, you will see why later. STEP 2: Make the pot as smooth as possible with your smooth hard thing. STEP 3: Wait until it is hard, but still a bit moist. STEP 4: Make it as smooth as possible with you smooth thing, it will begin to look shiny and hard if you have done it right. STEP 5: Fire it up. STEP 6: There you go! You now have a pot that looks a lot like a glazed pot. But it is not glazed at all. It looks alot like those ancient pots you see in museums now.

[@PottedHistory]

Burnishing! Although there isn't much evidence for burnishing on Grooved Ware. It is quite common on earlier Neolithic ceramics and again on later Bronze Age pots.

[@cazek445]

@@PottedHistory Actually it has been used untill the roman times. Those sand pots, AKA non flat bottom pots used burnishing.

[@PottedHistory]

@@cazek445 Burnishing is a technique that's still used today, particularly in Africa and South America. Romano British potters used it on cooking pots like Black Burnished Wares but if by sand pots, you mean amphorae, these were generally sealed by the use of pitch, beeswax or resins.

[@merryhunt9153]

What about the fire? What kind of wood? Hot fire, or not? New fire, or been going for a while? Do embers come into it? Will you clean the black off?

[@rustyfoxable]

how long was it firing tho? 20 mins?

[@EnglishHeritage]

Hello Rusty Fox, thanks for your question. This pot took several hours to fire but each one is different.

[@rustyfoxable]

thankyou for your reply, i did wonder as video appears to show the pot fired ater the fire died down, i got excited thinking ok i can fire in my garden... just keep it going for hours. thanks again. i really enjoyed this video, i have air drying clay but it does not really stay together after drying, cheers

[@PottedHistory]

In actual fact the pot needs to warm over several hours slowly raising the temperature before finally committing to the flames. Not so interesting for a video though.

[@LittlePetieWheat]

Thanks for the clarification. Was it fired in that small fire? Great video!

[@PottedHistory]

Yea, the final firing was about 20 to 40 mins although the pot was heated beside the fire for several hours before being committed to the flames.

[@sammyangel98]

They didn't use to score? (line the rolls of clay so it sticks better to the base)

[@wildboystv3013]

What exactly does the quartz do?

[@published1789]

I'm curious about that, too. Will ask it separately in case that helps.

[@psammiad]

That's fascinating, looks relatively easy to make at home, i might even try it!

[@PottedHistory]

Go for it!

[@Agaettis]

All that rough stuff at the beginning, hunks of quartz and suddenly gorgeous clay. I wonder how long that took

[@PottedHistory]

Longer than on the video and I would have done a little more crushing, given the time. But I can get from dry clay to a workable paste in about half an hour.

[@PottedHistory]

A lot longer than there was time for on the video :-)

[@gregwiens9146]

That was a more important discovery than gold metal work.

[@amberheilig524]

I want to do this, but would that black stuff come off of the pottery?

[@liamturner5306]

Amber Martin no, the carbon is absorbed into the pot and is just a result of natural firing. Some surface soot will come off though. I quite like the carbon marks, if you sant to see a contemporary ceramicist who embraces this look, look at Magdalene Odundo. If you dont want carbon marks id suggest firing in an electric kiln to bisque temperatures, see if there are any local ceramic groups that could fire it for you and offer advice.

[@tombrown407]

@@liamturner5306 It's not carbon marks it's reduction of the iron in the clay. Carbon Monoxide from the fire binds to the Oxygen in Iron Oxides in the clay and turns the clay black.

[@DanSolSko]

Apparently my ceramics class is outdated by 5000 years lol. Same tools but made in plastic, gotta make a pot this way because for some reason my teacher gets mad whenever someone asks to use the wheel.

[@PottedHistory]

Maybe your teacher can't use the wheel!

[@Actinuon]

Personally, I think the invention of ceramics has the most to do with boiling water. It has to be good in fire. First property. It has to hold water that hot, et cetera. I think the first property really drove the experiment. Then ability to store liquids away from water gave a second thought on where you can live.

[@excellentcat3878]

Yes, water that is safe to drink is crucial. And cooking food increases nutritional value.

[@watchcub]

How long does the pot need to stay in the fire before it is ready?

[@tombrown407]

Depends on the temperatures your kiln or clamp is getting.

[@aerozopher]

great videos but your microphone sounds really dull

[@jaih12]

There is no way that pot was fired too pottery temp with that tiny fire...

[@rontropics26]

That's what I was just thinking. Seems they kinda half assed it just for the video. Same with the mixing of the clay. It would take a lot of pounding and working to get the clay to that consistency.

[@yerasmus1762]

This was very insightful on how God makes us into His pots. He is the Potter and we are the clay.

[@robertarnsworth2464]

In another documentary the potter says that after its fired you should dip it in milk to make it where you can cook with it over a fire.

[@tomellis4750]

Seems using the mat was not far off the potter's wheel.

[@joannamortreux1]

This video makes it look like firing clay to ceramic takes the same amount of time to cook an average meal instead of the 4 to 5 hours in hot coals, hilarious :)))

[@jonfox1919]

Clay has to be fired red hot to form a ceramic. No way that tiny fire sufficiently fired that pot, it would start dissolving back to clay first time it got wet.

[@potterymom1]

See answer below on how long it really took to fire this pot.

[@NoName-uh3lp]

Why do the groves have to mean anything? Maybe the potter just liked the design just as people do today!

[@PottedHistory]

This is true, but the same patterns turn up from very widely distributed sites around Britain, from Wales and Cornwall to Orkney. This suggests that they have at least some cultural significance.

[@kinantiprestiasani1754]

He sounds a little bit like Nigel Thornberry :")

[@PottedHistory]

Do I?

[@dario2rnr]

Don't believe that little fire could vitrify the pot.

[@jamestown8398]

Aw, he's not in character. Anyway, this is interesting.

[@MandiSmash]

Did they seal this kind of pottery with fats or milk or anything?

[@themagicalpotato8479]

He reminds me of Hagrid

[@PottedHistory]

Thank You! I think??

[@jabanan]

I dont think that firing a pot is that simple, that pot cant be fired using just that little fire you had there. Especially when it is pot and pot need to be fired atleas at somewhat high temperature.

[@Pentapus1024]

I watch these types of things so that such knowledge might be useful in an apocalyptic situation. My short term memory is dreadful but if something makes an impression for whatever unknown reason, it will occur to me years down the road. I know all sorts of plants that are edible in the mojave and have some Neolithic tech knowledge. So if I make it after the collapse without being sold into sex slavery and/or cannibalized, I'll have a leg up 🤘

[@JulieHiltbrunner]

Don’t try this with limestone... turns into popcorn a few days after firing!

[@StLaparole]

He´s bashing the clay between his knees.

[@Sheepdog1314]

the firing process is much more involved

[@hermitoldguy6312]

Ah, English Heritage. That means I was forced - on pain of imprisonment and confiscation of property - to pay for the production of this video. I'll bet that was the most expensive pot ever made!

[@PottedHistory]

If it was, I didn't get much of it! I take it you don't approve of English Heritage supporting research and heritage skills?

[@preppydaisies9663]

who here is here for school-

[@novusordoatheos.atheistleo9871]

lol @ 2:15...fap alert...

[@BEAMNGSurvival]

like

[@700ode]

It looks too easy.. my work ended up to be a lump of clay

[@PottedHistory]

Lots and lots of practice

[@losinyen3011]

Bone dry. Lovely way of making pottery from scratch.

[@gunterlang4101]

What you See here ist fake

[@kevinjamiesonbelou]

Wow. I call bullshit. Theres no way that pile of rocks and garbage turned into that premade potters clay. Lol.

[@claudiablackhre]

god I hate the music! It makes me feel bleak and isolated.

[@chuckguerin8141]

Crap. Skip steps and important info. Why bother?

[@kinantiprestiasani1754]

He sounds a little bit like Nigel Thornberry :")

[@arielgeorge9587]

Kinanti Prestiasani rdwhwrgrwhbx cAgg3gg .oj 8hb8vy ufg kf mf fyf 6rx6 6r yf yf ug yf y fy fy f7 7f 7f ufqwerfaZxç1n0kp0aZxçģ36mdjdknp ovychg ovychg xugvkvigviu . M hkvyh ug th uf fy ug gu hjb ih hi gu ug gh oj hi ihvh j hiv8h 8yvy8vu9 ivi0vi0v9vy8 y8v7tv8y.bbh it is the