Earthenware is a porous, unglazed vessel fired from clay, and is distinguished from porous, glazed pottery, stoneware, and porcelain. The firing temperature is less than 1,000 degrees Celsius, and the mineral composition of the clay is not vitrified in many cases. However, Japanese Sue ware is fired at temperatures higher than 1,000 degrees Celsius, and some of its surfaces are glazed, making it similar to pottery. In Chinese and English, earthenware and pottery are not distinguished, and both are called potteries.
At a late Paleolithic dwelling site in Czechoslovakia, clay figures of women and animals have been found in a kiln-like structure reminiscent of a pottery kiln, and Paleolithic earthenware has been found in Africa. Even if we accept the existence of such pioneering earthenware and pottery, it is undeniable that Southwest Asia, including Iran and Turkey, played a major role in the steady development of earthenware. However, there is a conflict between the one-way theory that pottery production spread from this region to the East and West, and the multiple-way theory that pottery could have appeared separately in various regions. The autochthonous theory is gaining strength with regard to pottery from the Americas. According to radiocarbon dating, Jomon pottery in Japan dates back 10,000 years, making it the oldest pottery in the world. Some people believe that clay coated baskets fell into a furnace and became earthenware. More recently, some interpretations have compared and related the emergence of earthenware production in Southwest Asia to the art of bread making by the similarity of the crafting process. Earthenware is fire-resistant and can be used for cooking over a fire. Earthenware is also water-resistant, so it can be used to hold liquids. It can also be used to store food and serve food. Thus, the main uses of earthenware are for cooking, storage, and serving food. In addition, some earthenware also has special uses, such as ritual vessels and burial coffins. Many of the earthenware vessels from around the world appear to have borrowed their forms from vessels made of other materials. Imitations include gourd vessels, baskets, leather bags, and stone, wood, and metal containers. Earthenware from societies based on hunting, fishing, and gathering often had a pointed or round-bottomed deep bowl shape, primarily for boiling and cooking. However, these potteries developed over time and gradually became more complex. Jomon earthenware in Japan is one such example, and its degree of development is rare even in the world. On the other hand, earthenware produced in agricultural societies is often made up of multiple or many types of vessels, mainly plain earthenware, with varying degrees of fineness in the material, technique, form, and decoration. Gathering and pastoral societies sometimes did not produce earthenware. According to folklore, in the majority of cases, women are the wheel-thrown potters and men are the wheel-wheeled potters, and this principle is often observed even when both techniques coexist. In Japan, it is confirmed in documents from the Heian period that earthenware was produced by women and Sue ware by men. The importance of earthenware in archaeology is not only because of its function as a vessel. Earthenware is an important factor in establishing chronological scales and geographical regions. First, pottery is the most abundant and ubiquitous type of artifact. This is an important requirement. In addition, because they are made of clay, they can be shaped and decorated in a multitude of ways. The fragility of the vessel is a blessing in disguise from an archaeological point of view. Earthenware can be quickly repaired if it is broken. In other words, because of their high metabolism, they are constantly being replaced, and their forms and decorations change accordingly. In addition, since clay is usually readily available in the vicinity, except in deserts and coral reefs, earthenware can be made anywhere, and this is the cause of the local coloring of the pottery. Thus, the study of earthenware provides a basis for the study of temporal and spatial changes in archaeological chronology. A group of vessels used in daily life over a period of approximately 10 to several decades is called a type in the study of Jomon pottery and a style in the study of Yayoi pottery. Earthenware types are named after the site where their existence was first recognized, and earthenware styles are referred to as I, II, III, ・・・・・・, and so on.
The names of pottery types include dish, bowl, jar, pot, jar, high cup, etc., to which are added expressions such as “with stand” or “with handle. The names of the parts of earthenware vessels are mainly based on the human body, and are divided into mouth rim, body, chest, abdomen, bottom, etc. In the case of earthenware vessels that are completely covered, the part is called neck, etc.
Drying of earthenware
Drying of earthenware] Drying of earthenware is divided into drying during the molding process and drying after molding. In the forming process, the bottom and body, the lower half and upper half of the vessel, and the top and bottom of the bent part are not made in succession, and work is often stopped once to allow the vessel to dry until it can bear the weight of the part on top. This interruption may be for a few hours or for two or three days. During the drying process, the top of the finished piece is sometimes wrapped in a wet cloth and kept moist to allow it to adhere to the next piece of material (American examples). There is also the practice of making ten or more large earthenware vessels in parallel at the same time, piling the bottom clay band on top of the bottom of the first vessel, then the bottom clay bands of the second, third, and fourth vessels, then returning to the first vessel to pile the second clay band ・・・・・・, thus avoiding wasting time waiting for the next clay band to be piled ( Greek earthenware example). Once the molding is complete, sufficient drying takes place. The drying time varies depending on the location and season, and generally requires one to several days. In tropical Africa, however, earthenware made in the morning is dried in the sunlight and fired in the evening. When the amount of admixtures is small, the vessels are generally dried indoors or outdoors in the shade to dry slowly. On the other hand, when a large amount of admixture is added, many examples are dried in sunlight in a short time. After drying in this way, the pieces are sometimes finished by fire before firing. In England, there are examples of the use of hearths for this purpose in the Middle Ages. The potter’s wheel is called “raw clay,” but this term is not popular in archaeology. For the sake of convenience, we will refer to them as pre-fired earthenware. Some earthenware examples are used as vessels only after drying but not fired. The term “earthenware” should not be used here.
Fuel] There are many types of fuels used for pottery firing.
For example, in Africa, tree branches, trunks, leaves, straw, grass, herbivore dung, and charcoal are used. Medicinal herbs have high firepower but burn up quickly. On the other hand, herbivore dung has the advantage of retaining heat well.
Plain firing and concave firing: Various kilns are available for firing earthenware. However, firing without a kiln is also very common. The Jomon and Yayoi earthenware of Japan also do not use kilns. There are two types of kilnless pottery firing: firing on the flat ground and firing in a pit. In flat-ground firing, it is rare to place pottery directly on the ground, and it is common to place fuel underneath. Sometimes, fired earthenware is used as an underlay. A single firing may involve the firing of from a few to a dozen or more, sometimes two or three hundred pieces. Earthenware for firing may be placed with the mouth rim up and the bottom down, or vice versa, or stacked horizontally. Earthenware may be stacked directly on top of earthenware, or with earthenware shards or other materials placed between them, or alternately stacked with fuel and earthenware, and so on. In some archaeological materials, it is possible to determine how pottery was placed during firing by measuring thermal remanence. The firing of shallow earthenware and earthenware with wide mouth rims is not a problem, but deep earthenware with tight necks can break during firing due to the significant temperature difference between the inside and outside of the vessel. To counter this problem, there are some ways to prevent breakage during firing, such as filling the inside of the vessel with medicine or firing only the deep earthenware separately over low heat. The perforated holes in Yayoi earthenware vessels and haniwa clay figurines serve the purpose of equalizing the temperature between the inside and outside of the vessel. Holes drilled in Yayoi earthenware are sometimes closed after firing. In plain firing, the top of a pile of earthenware vessels is usually completely covered with fuel. The firing time varies from less than one hour to several dozen hours, depending on the amount of pottery to be fired and the firing method. Generally, when firing a large quantity of earthenware, it is difficult to distribute the heat of the fire evenly. Therefore, in order to prevent the fuel from burning out too quickly and to ensure that the heat is evenly distributed, the fuel is often piled up and covered with grass or soil. Another common method of firing is to dig a depression in the ground several tens of centimeters deep within a range of one to several meters in diameter, and pile the fuel and earthenware on top of each other. Some concave firing techniques have more advanced structures than flat firing techniques, such as surrounding the area with stones to prevent a sudden increase in the heat of the fire due to sudden winds, or having facilities for ventilation (see the example of African pottery). More advanced types are those with a ceilingless cylindrical wall enclosure and a fire pit. The kiln is fired by alternately stacking fuel and earthenware (African pottery example), but it is questionable whether this can be called a kiln.
Kiln] There are two types of kilns: vertical kilns, in which a fire burns from the bottom to fire the pottery arranged on top (Southwest Asia and Neolithic China), and horizontal kilns, in which a flame runs horizontally or diagonally from the fire mouth to the flue to fire the pottery arranged in the kiln. Sue ware kilns belong to the latter type. Until recently, archaeology has called Sue ware kilns “climbing kilns,” but the name “cave kilns” has now been changed to “climbing kilns. Raku [Firing and Earthenware Color Tone] The firing method often determines the color of earthenware. If the clay contains iron, the firing process produces ferric oxide, which gives the pottery its red color. Secondary clays also contain organic matter, which burns off to produce a bright color. If the firing is completed at a low temperature, the iron is not fully oxidized and the organic matter remains in a dark color. When fired with an oxidizing fire, i.e., with a sufficient supply of oxygen, the color is bright, but when fired with a high carbon monoxide fire, i.e., with a reducing fire, the iron content is converted to ferrous oxide, resulting in a dark color.
When earthenware pieces A and B are compared and A is red to the core and B is black to the core, it is often judged that A was fired better than B. However, when the same clay is mixed with grains of sand, the color of A is darker than B, and the color of B is red to the core, it is often judged that A was fired better than B. However, when the same clay mixed with sand grains, C, and without sand, D, are fired together, the more porous C turns red to the core faster than the more dense D. It is meaningless to compare good and bad firing without taking into account the difference in the quality of the clay. In addition, there are earthenware blacks in many parts of the world produced by the “smoking” method, in which carbon is adsorbed on the surface of the earthenware. In some cases, the earthenware is smoked in the kiln at the final stage of firing. In other cases, it is smoked by placing the hot earthenware on a board immediately after firing, or by burning it in a pile of rice husks, leaves, or other materials or by applying oil. These earthenware vessels are often polished thoroughly beforehand to enhance the effect. African Prehistoric-Paleo-Dynastic black-top earthenware is black only near the mouth rim and red below. Some still believe that this is due to the fact that the vessels were burned by placing them in ashes and exposing only the bottom side to the heat of the sun, but it is more likely to be due to smoldering immediately after firing.
Japanese black earthenware was smoked immediately after firing, while tile ware was smoked in the kiln during the final firing stage. The time required for firing is not uniform, ranging from 10 to 30 minutes (African Mende) to 48 hours (African Daloro).
The post-firing process is not uniform, but when many vessels are fired at once, they are often removed after they have cooled sufficiently to minimize damage, while a small number are often removed while they are still hot. In such cases, a stick is thrust into the vessel to remove it (as in the case of American earthenware). Yayoi earthenware has mottled black areas due to carbon adsorption on two opposite sides or on one of the sides. This is thought to be the result of removing the ware by placing it between two plates while it was still hot.
Pottery making method (earthenware making method)
The first step in making earthenware is to collect suitable clay. In archaeology in Japan, many people still do not distinguish between the raw material clay and the clay that has been modified to produce earthenware, i.e., the clay material and the raw clay. The clay material of fired earthenware is called clay clay. There are two types of clay: primary clay, which is produced by in-situ weathering of the parent rock, i.e., a rock containing a large amount of feldspar, and secondary clay, which is carried by wind and water and deposited elsewhere. According to the world’s pottery customs, the latter is overwhelmingly used as the raw material for earthenware, and there are few examples of the use of primary clay. In addition, there are some tribes in Africa that use clay from anthills as a special case.
There are two ways to process collected clay: first, it is dried, crushed, and sifted to remove foreign substances, and then water is added, or it is mixed with water from the beginning. In the simplest case, the clay to which water is added is thoroughly beaten to expel air bubbles and make it homogeneous, thus completing the base. However, in order to obtain a fine texture, water-sieving is often used. For example, the supernatant of clay stirred with water is transferred to another vessel and allowed to settle to form fine clay.
Admixture】Often, other materials are mixed with clay in the clay making process. Inorganic admixtures include granite, quartzite, mica, quartz, feldspar, hornblende, and other mineral fragments, as well as grains of sand. These are often crushed by, for example, heating them over a fire and then rapidly placing them in cold water. Other minerals include iron ore, brass ore (African pottery), graphite (Early Jomon Gifu, European Iron Age La Tène culture), asbestos (North European Neolithic comb pottery), talc (Pre- and Middle Jomon Kyushu, Korean Neolithic), and volcanic ash (American pottery). Powders made from crushed pottery shards (West Asian Neolithic, African and American pottery) have also been used. Organic admixture materials include plant fibers (Jomon Early East, West Asian Neolithic, Central European Neolithic, American and African examples), rice husks (West Asian Neolithic, American and African examples), twine (Early Jomon Hokkaido), herbivore dung (African and American examples), wood shavings ( African-American pottery), fruit seeds (American pottery), charcoal (American and European prehistory), feathers (American pottery), sponge needle bone (European prehistory, American pottery), shell powder (Middle Jomon Kanto and Kyushu, Egyptian Neolithic-ancient, Ukrainian Bronze Age Tripolier culture), and shell powder (Middle Jomon, Kanto and Kyushu, Egyptian Neolithic-ancient, Ukrainian Bronze Age Tripolier culture). Bronze Age Tripolier culture in Ukraine), sap (African folklore), and blood (Pre-Scythesian culture in Hungary). The addition of large amounts of admixture increases the porosity of the earthenware clay. This can be clearly seen in an experiment in which, when the same clay was used and fired simultaneously with and without admixture, the former was burned red to the core, while the core of the latter remained black. Many admixtures weaken the viscosity of clay in the base making process, but they also serve the purpose of preventing cracks caused by drying and firing, and increasing refractoriness. Therefore, admixtures are often used only for limited types of vessels. For example, admixtures are not used for small earthenware, but only for the base of large earthenware, and are not used for decorative earthenware, but for unadorned earthenware to be fired. If a jar of water filled with a large amount of admixture is buried in the ground and left open to the surface, the water inside the jar will always be cold due to the heat of vaporization (Pakistani earthenware). In addition, strong clay and weak clay are sometimes mixed to make a clay base (German Neolithic period, local examples). Some of the minerals and admixture materials that are inherently contained in clay are found only in certain regions. The migration of pottery can often be confirmed by mineral microscopy of pottery flakes and other petrographic methods. In the German Neolithic and American Prehistoric periods, pottery transport has been demonstrated to be 500 km and 50 km, respectively. In the British Neolithic period, the use of a special clay base containing fossilized shells has been used to demonstrate the pottery trade at several sites over a wide area of 300 kilometers.
The three types of earthenware molding methods: The pottery making process prior to the use of the potter’s wheel is collectively referred to as “handmade” in English, although this is not an appropriate term. In Japan, a better term has not yet been coined. The three methods can be broadly classified into three categories: hand-kneading, clay piling, and mold making. Archaeologists tend to interpret these methods as independent from each other, but in the case of pottery examples, they are not always clearly distinguishable, and the two methods are often used in combination. First, the hand-kneading method, as seen in Raku ware in Japan, involves making a depression in the center of a lump of clay, which is gradually expanded to form thinner walls. When this method is used alone, it is limited to small, simple earthenware. However, larger, more complex earthenware vessels are often made by combining hand kneading and the clay belt stacking method. In this method, only the bottom of the vessel, the lower half of the vessel including the bottom, or most of the vessel is made by hand kneading, and only the upper half of the vessel or the mouth rim is often formed with clay strips. Conversely, there are also examples where the upper half of an earthenware vessel including the mouth rim is made by hand kneading and the lower half is formed with a clay belt. There are also examples in which the parts are made separately by hand kneading and then combined. There are three methods of piling clay bands: (1) piling long clay strings in a spiral shape, (2) piling clay strings cut into rounds, and (3) piling complete rings made of clay. (4) The method of stopping the piling of clay bands at bends in the lower half of the body, upper half of the neck, and mouth rim of earthenware vessels, making a loop with a few bands, waiting for it to dry, and then piling the next part of the vessel. In Japanese archaeology, the term “hoisting” is used only for (1), while others use (2). The term “wheel-loading” is often used to refer to (3), but there is some confusion in terminology, as some people refer to (4). There is also a misunderstanding that (4) was made separately for each part and then combined and formed. As a special example of the method of piling up clay strips, there is a method of repeating the process of continuously arranging small lumps of clay next to each other in a circular shape and then finishing them into a circle (African clay example). There are two methods of clay belt piling method: one is to form the clay belt from the bottom to the mouth rim, and the other is to form the body of the vessel with the clay belt and fill the clay plate to make the bottom, or to pile up the clay belt on the bottom disc. Earthenware made by the clay belt piling method often breaks at the joints. In this case, the fracture surface of the upper end of the clay band is convex, and the corresponding fracture surface of the lower end of the clay band is often shaped. Based on this observation, it has long been demonstrated that European prehistoric pottery began at the bottom and extended to the mouth rim.
The majority of African American pottery examples also began at the base. In Melanesia, there are many cases of pottery made from the mouth rim. In Japan, there is a theory that Jomon pottery was made from the mouth rim and then extended to the bottom. However, empirical observations have shown that Jomon pottery, including pioneer and early pointed earthenware, was also made from the bottom. The only clear exception is a late Early Iwate pottery, which was made with the mouth rim down, as evidenced by the palm prints on the inner surface. The Kitashirakawa Lower II type from the early Kinki region and the mid-Hokuriku earthenware are examples of pottery that was formed by piling clay strips from the bottom side and then adding a bottom later. The clay-belt piling method is often associated with the pounding method. This is a method of forming earthenware by placing a plate on the inner surface of the vessel and then beating it from the outer surface with a beating board, and is often seen in the creation of large earthenware vessels. The beaten wooden plate is often marked with engraved lines parallel (Yayoi earthenware) or orthogonal (Sue ware) to the grain of the wood, or wrapped with a rope. Some of these engraved lines are made into complex patterns (Chinese Neolithic and later Inmun Pottery, Late Kinai Yayoi Earthenware). When a concave mold is used, the outer surface of the finished product is determined by the mold; when a convex mold is used, the inner surface of the finished product is determined by the mold. The concave mold can be made of clay (including earthenware) or stone or wood, and in most cases, a lump of clay is pressed into the hemispherical concave mold. Some concave molds are lined with textiles to improve mold release (North European Neolithic-Iron Age woven pattern pottery). In some cases, clay bands are piled up in the concave mold. The most primitive method of concave mold making is to spread something on the ground and press a lump of clay on it. In the convex molding method, a semi-spherical mold made of earthenware, clay, stone, wood, etc. is placed on the ground, and molding is done on it. There are also two methods: one is to combine two hemispherical molds made by this method to form a spherical shape, and to cut open the mouth of one of them to add a neck, and the other is to use a hemispherical shape made by a convex mold as the lower half of the vessel and form the upper half by clay bands (Kofun period earthenware, African American pottery examples). The method of making a bowl by placing a clay block on the kneecap (African pottery example) or a dish by pressing a clay block against the elbow (Kyoto Harie pottery example) can be considered as a special case of the convex-faceted making method or the hand kneading method. In addition, a combination of convex and concave forms may also be used (see Kofun period earthenware with baskets on the inside and outside). This method is also recognized in the production of earthenware with human and animal figures (Greek and Peruvian) and pottery with protruding patterns (Greek, Roman, and Han). These are so-called molds, made of wood, clay, metal, or other materials, and using two or more sets of split molds. The method of pouring muddy clay into a mold, rather than pressing clay into a mold, is recognized from the Iron Age in Palestine.
The clay is not pressed into a mold, but is poured into a mold in a muddy state. In some cases, pottery production was done directly on the ground, but in many cases, flat underlays (clay, animal skin, stone slabs, cloth, screen, leaves) or concave underlays (holes dug in the ground, gourds, earthenware, wooden bowls, and colanders) were used. They may also be made on large earthenware vessels or wooden platforms in an elevated position. In addition, two whale vertebrae were stacked on top of each other and used as a stand, and earthenware was made on the upper bone and rotated as needed (Kitakyushu Jomon Middle Ataka style).
A more advanced structure is the turntable. The rotating stand has a short, shaft-shaped protrusion in the center of the underside of the disk, which is placed on bearings fixed to the ground, making rotation easy. However, the stand is light and cannot provide inertia in rotation. The friction surface of the shaft is large, so rotation is slow and the wheel stops immediately.
Potter’s wheel: A potter’s wheel has a pointed shaft and a small friction surface on the bearing. The heavy disk allows for inertia and rapid and continuous rotation of more than a hundred revolutions per minute. Paintings from Egypt, the Near East, Greece, and elsewhere depict scenes of pottery making. However, in these paintings, the potter’s wheel and the turntable are indistinguishable. The decisive difference between the wheel and the potter’s wheel in terms of pottery production is that pottery production on a turntable is limited to the piling up of clay strips and the use of rapid rotation in the adjustment and pattern drawing stages, while pottery on the wheel can be ground from a lump of clay set in the center of a disc by the centrifugal force of the rotational motion. This is the point of the wheel. Therefore, in the case of forming by piling up clay bands on the potter’s wheel, as in the production of large earthenware vessels of Sue ware: the potter’s wheel should be used as a rotating platform, and the wheel should be considered to be performing its genuine wheel function only in adjusting the forming around the mouth rim area. As an exception to the combination of wheel-thrown molding and beating, wheel-thrown pottery can be further stretched by beating to produce a large-sized product (Indian pottery example). The potter’s wheel was apparently invented in Mesopotamia. The oldest known examples of wheel-thrown pottery date back to the 5th-4th millennium BC (Warakaulk period). The wheel was eventually found in Palestine, Asia Minor, and Crete. In Crete, a number of clay and stone disks have been found to increase the weight of the stand. In Central Europe, the potter’s wheel first appeared in the Latene period of the early Iron Age, but it was not until the late imperial Roman period that it developed and spread in Central and Northern Europe. In the Netherlands and northern Germany, however, the potter’s wheel was used during the Roman period, but it disappeared again after the fall of Rome and only became widespread in the 11th and 2nd centuries. In Pakistan, the potter’s wheel appeared in the Bronze Age Harappan civilization (3rd millennium B.C.), and in China in the late Neolithic period (Longshan Culture). In Japan, the use of the turntable was introduced at the end of the late Early Yayoi period in the Kinki region and other areas. The use of the horizontal axis potter’s wheel for wooden vessels (Early Yayoi Period) and stoneware (Early Kofun Period) was delayed by the appearance of the potter’s wheel for earthenware with Sue ware. There are two types of potter’s wheels: the hand wheel and the foot wheel. The latter was probably developed in China, while it seems to have finally appeared in Europe in the Middle Ages. In Russia, a kicking potter’s wheel from the 11th~12th century has been excavated. The potter’s wheel did not finally appear in American prehistory.
Decoration on earthenware
Earthenware decoration is applied when the surface of the vessel is still flexible, when the vessel is in the “fresh-dry” stage, and when the vessel is well dried. Decoration is classified in terms of technique, and often includes underglaze motifs, relief motifs, painted motifs, painting, and pigment fillings, which are used in combination. The majority of prehistoric and modern pottery of natural peoples is decorated with sunken and floating patterns prior to firing.
Chinkage: Chinkage added in the fresh-drying stage often results in small ridges outside the lines and dots of the design due to movement of the clay during the application of the decoration. In addition, the force applied during the chinking process can also cause protrusions, however small or large, on the interior surface of the vessel. An extreme example of this is called a thrust, in which a protrusion is made on one side of the vessel by thrusting from the other side (Hokkaido Sequential Jomon Pottery). If chinking is added at an advanced stage of drying, this type of clay movement does not occur (Lower Tado type of early Jomon pottery from the southern Kanto region). Post-firing additions are rare (Ita Neolithic, African pottery). The post-firing decoration is effective in that it contrasts with the color of the other surfaces of the vessel. To further enhance this effect, it is often associated with pigment fillings, described below. Chink marks that lower the surface of the vessel to some degree include engraving, scraping, gouging, piercing, and rotating and pressing on the surface of the vessel. There are many types of engraving patterns. The simplest type is the linear pattern, which includes straight lines, wavy spiral patterns, saw-tooth patterns, thunder patterns (angular spiral patterns), twin cedar patterns, and various other types of geometric patterns. When drawing these patterns, if the tips of stems, branches, and bones of plants and trees are used, the lines of the patterns consist of a single line. To increase the number of lines, the lines must be repeated over and over again, and examples in which a dozen or more lines are layered in this manner are not uncommon (Yayoi earthenware from the latter half of the early period in western Japan).
Next, a hollow tube, such as a reed stem or bird tube bone, was used as the base (Hanzo bamboo tube design), and when the inside of the tube was applied to the surface of the pottery, the pattern always consisted of two parallel sunken lines. If the original body with many branched tips is used, the design is composed of many parallel lines (comb-painting pattern). In the case of bamboo tube or comb-drawing patterns, a single turn around one end of the alms tool produces a circular pattern (shilla ware). A quarter-turn of the comb-shaped tool produces a fan-shaped design (Kinki-mid Yayoi pottery). When half-turns are made alternately in opposite directions, a kind of wavy pattern is produced (early Kinki-middle and late Yayoi pottery). This type of wavy pattern is also found on bamboo pipe patterns (early Kanto Jomon pottery). The next method of cutting and gouging is a sculptural technique that is a further development of the engraving technique, and is simple: one side is lowered by cutting through a line to form a step, or both sides are lowered by cutting through a certain width to form a butt-zone (early Yayoi earthenware). Complex patterns are expressed in a relief style, and sometimes holes are drilled (purified Kameoka-style earthenware from the Tohoku region). The patterns of piercing and pressing are also varied, and when examined from the point of view of the composition of the patterns, there are two types: those in which piercing and pressing are applied to a single surface, and those in which piercing and pressing are applied in a linear pattern. In terms of the types of tools used, vertical pressing of a bamboo tube as it is results in a circular bamboo tube pattern. When a half-cut bamboo tube is used vertically or with the inside of the tube touching the earthenware surface, a C-shaped nail pattern is produced, and when the outside of the tube touches the earthenware surface, a D-shaped nail pattern is produced. The usual method of applying the nail-shaped design is to draw a line while adding these C- and D-shaped units. Stabbing and pressing patterns on comb-shaped tools, also called comb-patterned rows and dots, are the most common type of comb-patterned pottery of the Neolithic period in northern Eurasia. Many of the prick and push patterns are made of shells. The early Neolithic pottery from the Mediterranean region has conspicuous pressure patterns on the edges of the tri-lobes, and the name of the shell has been adopted as the name of the culture. In our country, bivalves with radial grooves on their backs and mollusks are used. When the edges of bivalves with grooves on their dorsal surfaces are pressed, small wavy or serrated patterns are produced. These lines themselves are solitary, but if adjusted while pressing, straight lines can also be drawn (Early Yayoi earthenware from Eastern Kyushu and Western China). If the back of the shell is pressed as it is, a groove is formed that opens into a fan shape (Jomon pottery from the early Kanto and early Kinki periods). The patterns on the scrolled shells include those in which the top of the shell is pressed (Late Kinki Jomon style earthenware) and those in which the side shape is pressed (Late Kinki Jomon style earthenware). The former appears at first glance to be a round concave, but closer inspection reveals that the concave is spiral-shaped. Speaking of nail-shaped patterns, there are some cases in which human nail indentations are actually left on the earthenware surface. Most of them are finger pressure marks left by the fingertips when adjusting the surface of the vessel, which is particularly noticeable on Jomon pottery from the late early Kinki region, but there are rare examples of pottery from the same period that are decorated with nail imprints. In contrast, fingertip pressure patterns are widely recognized on prehistoric earthenware and pottery examples (Yayoi earthenware from the middle Yayoi period in western Japan). The pressed design on twine is also one of the most common patterns in the East and West (see the section on “Writings”). Since the design can be created by simply pressing the right object against it, the original forms of the decoration vary widely, and many of them are unidentified. A few of the more unusual examples that are known include a German Iron Age vessel with a woman’s ring pressed into it, which has been cited as evidence that women’s hands were used to make earthenware. Another German example is a twisted copper bracelet pressed into a rope shape, imitating the twisting and pressing of a twisted cord. Fish bones were also pressed into the surface (Sakhalin prehistoric pottery), and animal claw imprints (German Neolithic) have also been found. Stamping with engraved patterns is also found in many parts of the world. In many cases, textiles and fabrics are pressed onto the surface of the pottery. This is related to the mold making method of pottery molding, in which a pattern may have been created as a result of something laid in the mold to facilitate removal from the mold, or it may be a conscious design, but the distinction between the two is not always clearly understood (Neolithic woven pottery of the Northern European Neolithic period). Late Jomon-style pottery from Kyushu includes various types of woven indentation pottery. Yayoi pottery from eastern Japan has extremely rare weave imprints that produce an effect similar to that of pressed-over Jomon pottery. The fabric pattern on the bottom of the vessel (Eastern Yayoi pottery) is not a pattern, but rather a rug mark from the molding of the vessel. Compared to this, the indentation pattern on a cloth wrapped around a stick is clear (late Early Kinki Yayoi earthenware, late Kanto Yayoi earthenware, and Southern Kyushu earthenware, Satsuma type). (4) The pattern on the surface of the vessel, which was created by rotating and pressing the vessel onto the surface, is characterized by the repeated appearance of the same areas at equal intervals, and this observation can be used to reconstruct the original design. Typical examples of this type of design are those using twisted or braided cords. In addition, there are rotary patterns using carved round rods. The engraving of serrations, lattices, ellipses, etc., on the round bars results in a protruding pattern (Early Jomon pottery). In Europe, it is found in the String Age, from the Roman period, in India in the Gupta Dynasty, and in ancient China, where a complex arabesque pattern is seen in the Northern Wei Dynasty. In Africa, Jomon rotary imprints are now widely seen, and there are examples of rotary imprints on unhulled grain ears, metal bracelets with designs on them, and disks with serrated edges. While the above examples can be considered clear examples of chinkmon, there is a special type in which the pattern is drawn with the tip of the spatula using the same technique as that used for polish, and this is called dark design, borrowing a term from Chinese archaeology. This type of work is called “dark pattern,” borrowing a term from Chinese archaeology. The luster of the dark pattern in comparison to the ground gives it a beautiful effect despite its sober appearance. In Japan, it is found on Yayoi earthenware, earthenware vessels, and tile ware.
Floating pattern: Floating patterns protrude from the surface of earthenware, and the majority of these patterns are created by adding clay to the body of the vessel. The shapes of clay added include clay strings, discs, and lumps. Decorations that form long bands using clay cords are often referred to as raised line patterns or convex band patterns. Shorter ones are called bar-shaped floating patterns. There are two types of butt strips: those that adhere only slightly to the surface of the vessel, and those that are carefully applied with the fingertips. A special method of decorating with a band is to blow it out of a tube, similar to the method used to decorate whipped cream on cakes (Hokkaido Okhotsk earthenware). The most common motif of the band is a horizontal band that circles the vessel. Other motifs include a vertical band and a curved line or other pattern on the band. Some have added engraved designs to the band (engraved pattern on the band).
Some of the finger-head pressure patterns (finger-head pressure imprint pattern on the band) were applied by pressing a clay cord with the fingertips (Yayoi earthenware from the middle Yayoi period in western Japan). After pasting clay strings, nodules or C-shaped claw patterns were often applied on them inside the Hanzang bamboo tube. Those with small clay disks pasted on them are called “circular float pattern”. They are often used around the mouth rim or in sets of several (Yayoi earthenware). Circular bamboo tube and piercing patterns are often added to the surface.
When lumps of clay are added, various protrusions are produced. Sometimes, rings were made to form decorative handles. When more clay is added in a three-dimensional form, the aggregation of clay gives a sense of volume. Middle Jomon pottery of the Chubu and Kanto regions, of which pyroclastic earthenware is a typical example, stands out among Neolithic pottery of the world in the development of this type of floating pattern. Some of these floats are rarely produced by extrusion from the inner surface of the vessel (South African Prehistory, German Bronze Age Lausitz Culture).
A type of inlaying: A type of inlaying in which other materials are inlaid into the surface of the vessel is also rarely seen as a related type of inlaying to the floating and sunken patterns. Inlay: Inlay of shells pressed directly into pre-fired pottery (Miyagi Prefecture, Early Jomon Period, Oki 3), inlay of white lapis lazuli and jade on post-fired clay figures (Late Jomon Period, Tohoku Region), inlay of shells in resin on post-fired pottery (North German Neolithic), inlay of small pieces of horn (German Neolithic band pottery), inlay of white birch bark on black pottery in the form of triangles and serrations (German Neolithic), inlay of white birch on black pottery (German Neolithic), inlay of white birch on black pottery (German Neolithic), inlay of white birch on black pottery (German Neolithic). The black earthenware is decorated with triangular or serrated pieces of birch bark, which are then pasted with tar extracted from the birch (Swiss Neolithic), or with graphite-blackened earthenware decorated with a sunken line pattern applied before firing and then with a string or fiber bundle (possibly colored) and fixed with a wooden pin (Swiss Bronze Age cremation tomb culture). In Switzerland, Italy, and France, tin, lead, bronze, and other materials were inlaid in the form of bands and directly fixed with resin. In the most elaborate example, tin foil was cut into the shape of the pattern and placed on the graphite-blackened pottery, and then attached by heat during the firing process, so that the sunken lines underneath the tin foil could be seen (Swiss Neolithic).
The coloring of the entire surface or part of the pottery with pigments other than the base color of the pottery is called “nurisai,” and the pigments are used to paint the patterns on the pottery.
The technique of painting with pigments is called nurisai, and the technique of painting patterns with pigments is called saibun. Technically speaking, there are two types of paints: those in which pigments are applied to earthenware after firing, and those in which pigments are applied before firing and then colored by the firing process. For example, red pigment (mainly iron oxide) has been used since Early Jomon pottery, red-colored patterns have been seen since Middle Jomon pottery, and red-colored patterns have been seen on Early Yayoi pottery, but all of these were applied after firing. On the other hand, red-colored painted designs applied before firing are rare on Jomon earthenware, but common on Middle and Late Yayoi earthenware and earthenware.
Some overseas earthenware with painted designs were painted before firing (Neolithic-Bronze Age in China, Southwest Asia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe), while others were painted after firing (Neolithic in Eastern Europe, Iron Age in Central Europe). In some cases, pigments were applied directly to the original surface of the pottery, while in other cases, pigments were applied after the surface had been painted in advance. For example, Neolithic (Yangshao Culture) red-fired earthenware of high quality in China has simple curved patterns in red and black on the surface of older pieces, while newer pieces have complex curved patterns in red, purple, black, brown, etc. on a white ground. When Jomon earthenware is buried in low-moisture areas, the surface of the red portion of the ware becomes coated with a film, giving it a lacquer-like appearance. However, when the same pottery is excavated from ordinary sites, the red surface is in powder form and can be easily washed off. This is thought to be the result of the use of pigments mixed with resin and other materials to create the lacquer.
The coloring of prehistoric earthenware sometimes varies depending on the conditions of preservation in the soil. However, it is generally accepted worldwide that the paints can be determined whether they were applied before or after firing based on whether they can be easily removed by washing with water. Pigment materials can be broadly classified into organic and inorganic. The former method can be found in African folklore and other examples. Liquid is extracted from tree bark or berries and is often applied to earthenware before or immediately after firing. In some cases, clay mixed with sap was applied after firing. In some cases, the clay was applied after the pottery had cooled, and in other cases, the application and firing processes were repeated several times. The purpose of these paints is to produce a red, black, or sometimes white finish in many cases, but they also often serve to enhance the waterproofing properties of the vessels. A typical example of organic application on prehistoric pottery is the lacquering of Jomon earthenware. The use of red and black lacquer is reported on Late Kamegaoka-style earthenware from the Tohoku region. Some of them have red colored patterns on a black background. In addition to the usual lacquering and painting, there is the application of black material (Early Kinki Yayoi earthenware) and, as a special case, the full or partial application of graphite and painted designs. There are two types of application: before and after firing, and both before and after firing are found on prehistoric earthenware (Early Iron Age Latene Culture, Germany) and on pottery from Africa.
Pigment Filling: White and red pigments were often added to black earthenware after firing in order to make the sunken lines stand out (Neolithic and Iron Age in Eastern and Central Europe, Egyptian Neolithic and Paleodynastic period, Anatolian Bronze Age).
Pottery Adjustment Method
Adjustment is the process of finishing earthenware that has been almost completely formed by molding. The term “shaping” is also used, but it is inconvenient to distinguish between “molding” and “ear”.
Adjustment involves (1) finalizing the details of the form, (2) thinning the vessel walls, and (3) shaping the surface. (2) Thinning the walls of the vessel. (3) Smoothing the surface of the vessel. (4) To close the pores to reduce the permeation of liquid, and so on. (iv) often serves the ornamental purpose of beautifying the surface of the vessel. The specific methods include stroking, scraping, scratching, polishing, and painting.
When the mouth rim of an earthenware vessel is stroked horizontally with a fingertip, cloth, leather, leaf, etc., an adjustment mark consisting of many fine horizontal lines is produced. This adjustment causes the grains of sand near the surface of the vessel to sink and the surface to become smooth. The surface of the vessel is also subject to minor undulations depending on how the cloth or skin is applied and how much force is applied, so the edges of the mouth rim are rounded or concave, which determines the detailed form. In some cases, the potter does not use rotation at all in the production of large earthenware, but adjusts the sides of the vessel by moving the potter’s wheel around the vessel. Small earthenware vessels can also be adjusted by turning them in the hand. However, it is also often done by using the rotating motion of the potter’s wheel on a turntable. The distinction between these two types of adjustment is not always clear, especially on pottery shards. This is the reason why wheel-thrown adjustments on Yayoi earthenware were once confused with wheel-thrown adjustments, and the use of the potter’s wheel was assumed in the production of Yayoi earthenware.
The following are some of the methods used to thin the walls of Yayoi earthenware: (1) eliminating irregularities on the surface of the vessel to make it smooth, and (2) making the walls of the lower half of the vessel thicker than the completed vessel so that it can bear the weight of the upper half, and then cutting it down to the desired thickness when the vessel is dry (the outer surface on Chūyūshiki Yayoi earthenware from the Kinai region and the inner surface on the Chugoku and Shikoku earthenware from the same period). (In the case of the Middle Yayoi earthenware from the Kinai region, the outer surface was cut away, while the same period earthenware from the Chugoku and Shikoku regions had the inner surface cut away. (2) The walls of the entire vessel are made thicker than when the vessel was completed, and the walls are scraped off after drying (the inner surface of Kofun period earthenware), (3) the vessel is formed on the potter’s wheel and then cut away with a spatula, and the vessel is placed on the wheel and the traces of the cut away are scraped off (Sue ware), (5) the vessel is prepared by forming clear ridges between the surfaces (Sue ware), and (6) the vessel is then placed on the potter’s wheel and the traces of the cut away are scraped off (Sue ware). (v) chamfering to form a clear ridge line between the faces (polygonal columnar part of a high cup foot on Nara and Heian period earthenware). Adjustments are made after the vessel has dried out. This causes the grains of sand near the surface of the vessel to move and tail off, and some of them fall off. The scraping surface of Yayoi earthenware is often composed of small, long, narrow surfaces, so the use of spatula-shaped tools is considered and called spatula scraping. In many cases, traces of grinding adjustments are erased by polishing or other later adjustments. In some cases, the bottom of earthenware used for boiling is intentionally left in a scraped and adjusted state to aid heating.
In addition to the grinding adjustment, there are other adjustments such as scratching the surface of the vessel with other tools for the purpose of smoothing it out. Examples of this are the striations on Jomon earthenware and the brush marks on Yayoi earthenware and earthenware vessels. Some of them were made by pulling on the surface of the vessel by placing the mouth of a bivalve shell with striations on its back, such as akagai and sarubowo (early in various regions and late in western Japan), while others were made by pulling horizontally by placing the side of a mollusk such as henatari (late in western Japan, early in the 1st Late Stage). Both produce parallel grooves, but the latter has additional fine lines running into the grooves. It is important to note that what Japanese archaeology calls hakeme is quite different from what potters call hakeme. These are adjustment marks consisting of many parallel fine lines, and recent research has revealed that the tool was a wooden plank. The fine lines are the traces of the grain on the split surface of the board, and it is also possible to distinguish whether hardwood or softwood was used. In addition, what is called kakime in Sue ware vessel surface adjustment is the adjustment made by applying the same piece of this board to the vessel while rotating it. The Jomon style earthenware is also interpreted as being adjusted by applying the same plate to the vessel surface, but without sufficiently smoothing the surface of the vessel, it is not possible to apply a well-rounded Jomon pattern.
The process of polishing is the process of refining the surface of the vessel by polishing. This is done when the vessel is in the advanced stage of drying, and often produces a glossy finish. This adjustment closes the pores and causes the sand grains near the surface of the vessel to sink. If the polishing is done carefully, a dense thin layer is produced on the surface of the vessel, and it is often difficult to distinguish it from slip, which is described later. Polishing is done with smooth and shiny materials such as round stones, bamboo, and bone. In Yayoi earthenware and earthenware vessels, the polishing surface consists of small, long, narrow surfaces, and this is called heramigaki (polishing with a spatula). Another special method of polishing is to use a large number of beads strung together like a necklace (a common example from African pottery). When carbon is absorbed during or after the firing process, the polished surface becomes more shiny than the rest of the surface. In some cases, the main purpose of polishing is to make the object more beautiful. For example, some metal vessels are imitated and polished with particular care in order to faithfully reproduce the luster of the metal vessel.
Slip] The technique of covering the surface of a vessel with muddy clay is called slip or engobe. In Japan, it is called “make-up” (also called “clay”). In China, it is called “pottery robe. Slip is made by diluting the clay used for the body of the vessel with water, or sometimes by mixing it with pigments. In this case, it is often not called a slip. When slip is applied, the surface of the vessel is covered with a dense layer of clay, and the sand grains are not noticeable. However, as mentioned above, it is often difficult to distinguish between slip and careful polishing. Some scholars have recognized the difficulty in distinguishing between the two and refer to grinding as mechanicalslip. In general, the term slip appears frequently in Western descriptions of prehistoric pottery.
In the Middle East, the use of slip is noted in the earliest refined pottery. In China, slip is also recognized on pottery of the Yanshao culture. In Japanese archaeology, however, many scholars have refrained from using the term “slip” for Jomon, Yayoi, and earthenware.
However, some Middle Yayoi pottery from Kitakyushu (Siku style) can be assumed to have used slip. Although this is a slight departure from adjustment, the method of filling the pores of earthenware by smothering it with carbon at the end of firing or after firing to densify the surface is recognized in many parts of the world. Other known methods include the application of graphite or bitumen to the surface of vessels before or after firing (both techniques were practiced in the European Iron Age Hallstatt culture).
