What was clay first used for

They may have used these early clay pots to ferment fish, or maybe to make beer, or both. The Old Stone Age or Paleolithic period, to use the scientific term refers to a long period of time, from roughly 2. Discoveries across the world have proved that Old Stone Age people did create pottery.

Pottery fragments found in a south China cave have been confirmed to be 20, years old, making them the oldest known pottery in the world, archaeologists say.

Porcelain and kaolin clay are used for high-quality ware including laboratory equipment. Porcelain and kaolin clays are virtually identical and are considered the best clays available for making pottery. They are also the most expensive. They are a largely silicate clay and are resistant to high temperatures. When Was Clay First Used? What Is Firing?

Firing is the process of bringing clay and glazes up to a high temperature. Which city is famous for Khurja pottery? Khurja is a city and a municipal board in the Bulandshahr district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. People first began to fire clay in China and Japan about BC. Probably they started by lining baskets with clay so they would hold water better, and then they started leaving off the basket and just making clay containers. They may have used these early clay pots to ferment fish, or maybe to make beer, or both.

The purest clay is kaolin, or china clay. Called a primary clay because it is found very near its source, kaolin has few impurities and is the main ingredient used in making porcelain. What Is Firing? Firing is the process of bringing clay and glazes up to a high temperature. A high-firing fine-grained white clay body that fires to a durable, strong, vitreous ceramic. It is usually pure white because of its high kaolin content and lack of other ingredients like iron that can change the color and properties.

From writing and tomb paintings we know that this type of updraft kiln was being used in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Crete during the second and first millennium BC. Pottery was loose stacked on top of each other. Combustible materials were placed around and above the pottery and the fire was allowed to burn down. After cooling, the pots were cleaned of the ash and residue and were then used.

People first began to fire clay in China and Japan about BC. Probably they started by lining baskets with clay so they would hold water better, and then they started leaving off the basket and just making clay containers.

They may have used these early clay pots to ferment fish, or maybe to make beer, or both. A little later, people in Iraq and Brazil and Mississippi and Peru and other places also started to make pottery. People have invented pottery many times in many different places. Mudbrick walls and the Djenne mosque Mali. The most important thing that people in the ancient world did with clay was to build houses out of it by making bricks and drying them in the sun. They mixed straw with the clay to help it stick together better.

Sometimes builders fired the bricks, to make them harder and more waterproof. But potters also used fired clay to make dishes and plates and cups and cookpots.

They used clay for water pipes , and blowpipes for making glass , for potty seats and high chairs and baby rattles and tobacco pipes. Builders generally fired their roof tiles, which had to be more waterproof than the walls.

People used clay for statues too. The Etruscans and people from China and West Africa in particular made great clay statues. And finally, kids made marbles , and little dolls, and toy animals out of clay.