Classical Studies 2700B

Note: on Thursday, 11^th February, we shall begin the class with a few words about the device found just over a century ago in a shipwreck off the south coast of mainland Greece—the so-called Antikythera computer (see this website, including the embedded video)—and then we shall turn to the next topic on our master-list of materials— Clay.

Note especially: our mid-term exam will happen on Thursday, 25^th February, during the class hour in Talbot College rooms 309 (surnames beginning A-L) and 205 (surnames beginning M-Z). Please be there sharpish, as I am hoping to get everything started at 9:25am (and carry on to 10:25am, if possible, to give everyone the maximum time for writing.) CLM

CLAY

CLAY: next to Stone, clay is an obvious material for humans to work with, though, as with stone, the results will survive only at a certain level of expertise—in this case, the firing of clay to render it almost indestructible; so, hearths, ovens, and eventually growing use of pots and containers > kilns; also figurines, bricks and decorative architectural features.

One of the most informative of Upper Paleolithic sites in Europe is in the southern part of the Czech Republic—at Dolní Vĕstonice (first investigated in 1951), a settlement of five huts, dated to c. 25,000 BC. One hut, apart from the others, contains a domed oven, used for baking clay—the earliest kiln so far discovered. Aim was to fire not pottery, but small figurines, including some sort of image of a fertility goddess (or perhaps simply the female principle in life). Similar things in stone were known long before from the same period (c. 25,000 –18,000 BC); ex. of “Willendorf Venus” from Austria; but from Dolní Vĕstonice earliest ceramic exx. (made of clay + something else, in this case powdered bone, to produce rock-hard material after firing). Importance of combination of two dissimilar substances to produce something different from either.

First actual pottery comes from c. 10,000 BC in cave in S. Japan. Importance of this development. Examples of earlier containers—skins, wood, stone bowls, gourds and baskets. Where did idea of making a container of clay come from? Air-dried clay containers not much use, but idea of hardening them by means of fire will have come from observing clay/mud packed between stones in hearths. Methods: two basic ways of making pots—coiling and moulding (this not quite what we might think). Examples of both techniques, illustrated by slides. Original pots were sun-dried, then bonfires (also not much use) and finally baking in kilns. Connection between pots and fixed settlements?