It is a new trend, but certainly not a new technique. After all, humans have been making ceramics for thousands of years. And we can learn a lot from those handmade pots.
Making connections
A first chunk of information we can get from a historic piece of ceramics is the age of the pot or shard. There are many technologies, such as carbon dating, that allow us to find out when a piece of clay was fired. We can also analyze the particles in the clay to determine where it came from.
Once we know the age and origin, we can discover interesting connections. For example, if we find many pots made with clay from southern France in a Flemish village, we know that there was busy trade between these two locations around the time these pots were fired.
Such connections can provide valuable insights, especially when it comes to locations much further apart. For example, some researchers believe that groups of people from Asia made it to the Americas even before Columbus. And this is because there are striking similarities between the ceramics of these groups and those found at some South American sites. It’s not proven, but who knows what we might discover in the future?
Understanding culture
The form and decoration of ceramics can also teach us a great deal about the society in which the ceramist lived. For example, we know that in Roman times large amphorae were used to transport a variety of products such as wine or olive oil over long distances. The decorations on these amphorae often contain scenes that give us a glimpse of daily life at the time.
Another example is the rise of wabi-sabi in Japan around the 15th century. Before this trend emerged, people used very luxuriously decorated tea bowls with many fine details. But with the advent of wabi-sabi, people increasingly emphasized elegance through simplicity. And this is clearly reflected in the ceramics of the time. The busily decorated tea bowls gradually gave way to very simple ones. Thus, ceramics offer a glimpse into what was going on during this period.
And in the future?
The techniques, tools and trends have changed over and over through the centuries, but the basics of pottery remain the same. That connection between humans and clay will always be there. And who knows what people will think of our pieces in the future?
