The scientific evidence has been provided, hand building ceramics cannot be left to women, that’s a real man’s job! At least that was the case 4,700 years ago in present-day Israel, according to a recent study at the University of Winnipeg.
Science is fantastic, ideas are constantly changing; progressive insight. A few years ago it turned out that hand stencils in caves from about 64,000 years ago were not made by men, but mainly by women. Now it seems that hand-forming clay pots wasn’t something women did when men were running after a mammoth.
So you modern men, it’s time to get from behind your potter’s wheel and grab clay directly with your bare hands. Hand building ceramics is the new hunting.
Fingerprints in clay
The image that women made hand-formed ceramics and men took over the process after technological innovations (use of molds and the wheel) must be nuanced. Of course there are still many places on earth where women made the lion’s share of hand build ceramics, but not everywhere and not always.
I find it fascinating that these new insights were made from the fingerprints left in clay. Age and gender can be determined based on the thickness and density of the lines on the inside of the hand. Knowledge from modern forensic research used for archaeological research. Science fusion, just like making ceramics; an amalgamation of art, craft and science.
Hand building ceramics is a human job
And just as potters from almost 5,000 years ago hand formed clay into pots, it’s still done in same way. Hands in direct contact with clay. In the 21st century, fingerprints are still immortalized. A tradition to be cherished.
Today hand building clay is not a man’s job nor a women’s job. It is job for humans. Hand-formed ceramics creates a bond. A bond with the past and a bond between people. It is a bond that goes far beyond the historical development of city-states, religion, nationalities and any other division.
Ceramics without a potter’s wheel
I usually make my ceramics behind the wheel. Coincidentally, I started recently hand building with clay again. Hand forming gives enormous freedom and there are shapes that you can make better the “old fashioned” way.
But I love tools, so I started making press molds. Yes, those are the half spheres in the photo above. And because I am such a modern man completely “in tune” with the current zeitgeist; made by hand building.
I finished them smooth, so that they “release” easy during use. But to give the archaeologists some guidance in a few thousand years, there are some fingerprints on the inside. Always happy to help now and in the future 🙂
Learned something from this blog? Give me a cup of coffee so I can write the next with new energy!
About Post Author
