Publisher's Synopsis
As one of the oldest human inventions, pottery has been around since before the Neolithic period, with objects dating as far back to 29,000 BC. While in the past, the pottery industry has served marginal niches, today's pottery companies are thriving thanks in part to a resurgence in consumer demand for unique, handmade goods over mass-produced items. With such a bright outlook for the future, pottery is perhaps more popular than it has ever been. However, how pottery reached this point is a story filled with rich history.
Pottery is the process and the products of Forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which can be fired at high temperatures to give them a tough, durable form. Important forms include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made by a potter can also be called a pottery (plural "potteries"). The definition of pottery used from the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), is "all fired ceramic wares that contain clay when formed, except technical, structural, and refractory products." In archaeology, especially of ancient and prehistoric periods, "pottery" often means vessels just, and amounts of the same substance are periods, "pottery." Clay as a part of the substances used is demanded by a few definitions of pottery, but that is doubtful.
