Kiln Floor in Production

You might be forgiven for thinking that it's National Boring Photograph Day but this pic does illustrate the fact that, while we are in the grips of winter here in Rothbury, work on the Roman kilns is going ahead.  These clay bars will form the floor of the firing chamber and will be laid, radiating out from a central support like the spokes of a wheel, allowing the flames to pass up from the firebox and combustion chamber, see Roman Sunken Kiln Under Construction below.

Kiln bars drying in the workshop

  I haven't been back to the Westhills kiln since my last blog on the subject and my work on the York kiln got rained off after three days.  In this time I did however get the sunken part of the kiln dug out and most of the raised chamber wall built and clay lined.  It's actually mixing the clay and soil that takes the time, if I was working on an actual Roman Pottery production site with a high clay content in the soil I would simply add water.  As it is the soil on site is mostly sand and builders rubble so needs careful sorting and clay adding to it.

York kiln - lining the chamber with clay

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Prehistoric Pottery Disposal Experiment

I have started an experiment to find out how a large piece of collared urn will stand up to the winter weather. The pot was made by me a couple of years ago and spalled in the firing, I broke it a few months ago and have kept the pieces for just such experiments.  I've put it on the snow in a plant tub outside the back of my workshop and it's already covered in snow.  I'll try to keep you updated with it's Taphonomy!

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Roman Pottery Kiln Progress

Installed the Ware chamber floor today and started applying the clay lining.  Unfortunately there won't be any further work on it until Monday at least.

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Roman Sunken Kiln Under Construction

I can't believe that it has been so long since I've recorded my work here, it's been a very busy summer so there's lots of catching up to do, but I'll get to that over the winter.

 

Over the past couple of days I've been building a sunken type Roman kiln for my own use not far from my workshop.  The site was kindly offered by retired potter (I'm not sure that such a thing exists) Alastair Hardie & his wife Kate at Westfield Farm, Thropton Northumberland.  It is situated at the rear of the farm on a raised sand bank about two meters above the flood plain of the Wreigh Burn.  The ground consisted of about 50cm of compacted soil and building rubble, the residue of the concrete floor of an agricultural building which once stood on the site, over natural compacted sand.  This has proved to be an ideal situation, the compacted surface gives strength to the structure while the sand is relatively easy to work and provides a very well drained base for the kiln.

Although I was working alone, the digging of the ware chamber, stoking pit and fire box and the lining of the latter with ceramic brick took less than eight hours.  For the sake of speed I have used some recycled fire brick in the lining of the firebox.  This is the area of the kiln that most archaeologists would refer to as a flue, this is an incorrect use of the term, as the function of a flue is only to carry gasses from one part of a kiln or furnace to another, as in 'exit flue' which as the name suggests carries waste gasses out of the kiln.  The firebox by contrast is where the fuel is burned.  

Today I'll be setting the floor, again for the sake of speed, using modern refractory but I may replace this later for experimental purposes.  I'll report back later today.

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Making Medieval

I'll be at Rievaulx Abbey Saturday and Sunday 10th and 11th July demonstrating Mediaeval potting methods so I'm making some additions to my handling collection in the form of a replica Aquamanille and a couple of Scarborough Ware Knight Jugs.  Great fun!

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Zeus figures now available

Working on ceramic figures of Zeus for Tyne & Wear Museums today

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The Team at Making the Bronze Age

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Making The Bronze Age; Bellwood Riverside Park, Perth, Scotland

Back in my own workshop, in Rothbury, Northumberland, after a weekend as part of a re-enactment event on the banks of the beautiful Tay.  What a great event this was and I am delighted to have been a part of is, organised by the Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust (PKHT).  ‘Making the Bronze Age’ brought together Archaeo-Craftspeople and Re-enactors from the UK and Germany to demonstrate some of the skills that created the wonderful artefacts that have been found in Scotland and beyond. 

I spent the weekend, ably assisted by Sarah Winlow of (PKHT), teaching participants to make beakers and food vessels from natural clay and open firing Bronze Age replicas.  If you missed it and would like to see something like it take place next year contact me or the Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust and let us know. Among those involved were:

Neil Burridge: Ancient Bronze Specialists http://www.templeresearch.eclipse.co.uk/bronze/index.htm

who ran several bronze sword castings during the course of the weekend.  Watching molten bronze, stream into a clay mould and emerge as a beautiful bronze sword is nothing short of wizardry.  It’s no wonder that people of the past saw founders and smiths as beings from another dimension, controlling forces that weren’t quite of this earth.  I know from my own discipline that the control and use of fire is still considered to be something magical.

Damian Goodburn: Ancient Woodworking Specialist, who along with numerous assistants including Trevor Cowie of the National Museums of Scotland and David Strachan of PKHT, created a replica of the Ballachulish Goddess or Ballachulish Figure.  The original figure, dating from the Bronze Age, was found on the side of Loch Leven in 1880.  While photographs taken at the time show a remarkable state of preservation, the Victorian archaeologists had no knowledge of conservation techniques for wet timber and in the process of drying out the figure has shrivelled to be virtually unrecognisable.  It can still be seen in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh but working with replica bronze tools and guided by the original photographs, drawings and measurements, this replica attempted to present her as she would have looked when newly made.  

The Crannog Centre http://www.crannog.co.uk/ demonstrated the uses of some of the many plant species that have been excavated from Loch Tay, around the ancient crannog.  Nettle soup and hand dyed wool was the order of the day.

German re-enactment group Stamm Alauni www.stamm-alauni.at who, dressed in authentic replica costume and armour and using weapons, tools and utensils of the period, presented an insight into life in the Bronze Age across Europe.

Twist Fibre Craft Studio http://www.twistfibrecraft.co.uk/ demonstrated spinning and weaving and Archaeoloink http://www.archaeolink.co.uk/ showed how cord and rope was made from natural plant fibres and bark bast.

I spent the weekend teaching participants to make beakers and food vessels from natural clay and open firing Bronze Age replicas.  If you missed it and would like to see something like it take place next year contact me and I’ll pass on your comments to the Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust.  If you were there let me know what you thought of it.

 Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Bronze Age Pots for Perth

Working on some bronze age pots to accompany me on my workshop in Perth, Scotland, Saturday and Sunday 19th & 20th June 2010.  

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Slipware Wedding Plate

Successfully completed the wedding plate commission, in the tradition of Thomas Toft.

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Ancient Firing Technology

Most books one reads talk about 'bonfire firing'; fast open firings using large quantities of wood and accepting a quite high percentage of loss. But it's my belief that large open outdoor fires would have been used only for very large pots and even then the fire would have been very carefully controlled. People in subsistence economies do not waste fuel resources or their own labour. Most beakers would have been made in the house while sitting around the fire, they would then have been placed on the perimeter of the hearth and left there for several days, turning them occasionally, until they were absolutely dry. The pot would then be moved closer to the fire to begin preheating. Fine pots like beakers require a relatively slow firing and the best way to start is to invert the pot with its rim on three small stones over a small amount of hot charcoal, replenishing this until the pot reached about 400C; with most natural clays this will be indicated by a visible darkening of the body. At this stage hot charcoal can be built up around the pot and after a further few minutes small kindling added and the pot fired up to red heat, best seen in the darkness of a hut interior.

Come along to one of my workshops and help make the magic happen.


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National Towel Day

I'm not sure that I qualify as a 'Hoopy Frood' but I do always know where my towel is, it's beside my wheel covered in clay.  With respect to the late Douglas Adams.
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The Joy of Field Walking

Field walking with Coquetdale Community Archaeologytoday, in the Coquet Valley today over a field where the local farmer has been finding lots of flints.  Experts have agreed that the majority are Mesolithic so we decided to have a look and see if there were any hot spots and if, as the finds so far have suggested, this was a production site. The results of the day will have to wait until all the finds have been sorted and plotted on a map of the field, but for me the highlight of the day has to be holding in my hand tools, which you can be pretty certain, were last held by a hunter/gatherer over six thousand years ago.  That's pretty special.  Looking around you know that while the vegetation may have changed, woodland come and gone and the river meandered back and forth across it's flood plain, the curve of the hills and the shape of the landscape is very much as these Mesolithic hunters would have seen it.   

And my favourite find of the day has to be this little scraper blade.

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Huge Canopic Jars Completed

Set of painted canopis jars ready to go off to the Yorkshire Museum.  These are the largest that I have made, the largest standing over 50cm tall.

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Charlie Brooker, Museums, Pots and Boredom

Self styled Ranter Charlie Brooker, with whose words of wisdom, I have to confess, I usually concur, was heard on the Jeremy Vine show, on Friday 14th May 2010, saying:

“Say you find yourself staring at an old pot, your brain being an incredibly sophisticated computer immediately asses that it’s an old pot and that old pots are boring. It’s not going to dance, or sing heart breaking songs of yesteryear, it won’t even rock gently in the breeze, it’s just going to sit there being a pot. Probably a broken one at that, if it was on television they’d at least have the decency to back it with some upbeat techno while zooming in and out, and even then you’d immediately switch over. That said, because you’ve got the misfortune of actually being there in front of it, surrounded by other people, you have to stand and look at the poxy thing for a minimum of about thirty seconds before moving on to gawp at the next bit of old rubbish, otherwise everyone’s going to think you’re a philistine. Museums are full of secretly bored people pulling falsely contemplative faces; it’s a weird mass public mime. “

Needless to say I'm not in agreement on this one! Old pots do dance, with the remembered movements of the potter’s hands, the spin of the wheel, the kick of the foot, the flash of fire. They do sing songs of yesteryear; of the potters who made them, digging the clay from the earth, forming it with their hands, firing it incandescent yellow and red in kilns burning only wood. They sing of the rare commodities they carried, wine, olive oil, garum, honey, incense; of the exotic ancient lands where they originated and through which they travelled; of the sailors who navigated their fragile ships through raging seas to bring them to our shores. They tell the tales of the people who used them; of ancient ways of cooking, eating and drinking; of strange ritual, religious and magical practices. I’m really rather surprised to find that Mr Brooker doesn’t have the imagination to see that, or is it simply polemic?

I have always said that “ancient pots in museum cases sometimes appear quite boring, I know that they're not!” and I have always thought that it is my job to bring them to life. Never mind the “upbeat techno”, I offer the archaeological equivalent of live theatre. Once people see the dead potsherd reborn on the wheel, witness lump of clay spiralling up into a pot: Once they have held a replica of that pot in their hands: Once they have heard the story of its creation and use many thousands of years ago: Then their “boredom” turns to fascination. I have had groups that were simply passing through the museum stay and talk with me for over an hour.

Children are the harshest critics, capable of delivering killer blows far more cutting than anything Charlie Brooker can dish out.  I often work with groups of “disengaged youth” they usually don’t want to leave at the end of the session. With children I often use a few sherds of North African olive oil amphorae that I have. I get them to hold onto the dull boring bit of pot, I even tell them that that’s what it is, then I tell them the story: of the potter on the north coast of Africa, how he dug and prepared his clay, formed the pot on the wheel, fired it in his kiln; of the olive grower who bought the pot along with many thousands of others, how he picked and pressed the olives to extract the oil and then packed it into the pot sealing it with beeswax or pitch: of the merchant who bought the now full amphora and the altar he set up to ensure the safe completion of his trading venture to Britannia: of the dock workers and loaded and secured the very heavy pot in its place in the bottom of the hold ensuring that it couldn’t move and capsize the boat: of the sailors who sailed the ship through the busy shipping lanes and trade routes of the Mediterranean, out through the pillars of Hercules into the wild storm tossed Atlantic: of their fear of the open ocean and their offerings to the Gods of the deep to keep them safe on their Journey: Of the ship safely delivered to Arbeia at the mouth of the Tyne where the Amphora was transferred to a flat bottomed barge and carefully steered up river by the Praefectus numeri barcariorum Tigrisiensium, Arbeia "The Company of Bargemen from the Tigris at Arbeia" : of the merchant who received the consignment of olive oil and sold it from his taberna in the town of Coria (Corbridge): Of the citizens who burned the oil in their lamps, cooked their food with it, offered it to their household gods in the Lararium, mixed it with white lead and applied it as makeup, rubbed it on old battle wounds to heal them, massaged themselves with it in the bath house and when the amphora was finally empty of the rubbish dump where it was deposited in the field next to the town: of the children who broke it into small pieces while practicing with their slingshots and used the broken pieces while playing board games leaving only a few remaining sherds for me to pick up over 1600 years later.

And the response I usually get? ........................ Now can you tell me about this one. Maybe the children have a more active and accommodating imagination than Charlie Brooker. Or maybe it’s just that their “incredibly sophisticated computer” brains are in better working order.

POTS ARE NOT BORING and if you'd like me to prove that Charlie Brooker you can come on one of my workshops FREE OF CHARGE.



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TRIAL BY FIRE

With any ceramic piece the firing is always the most risky part of the making process but this is particularly the case with prehistoric, open fired pots.  This weekend has seen me firing a Neolithic bowl, beakers, food vessels, canopic jars and a 17th Century slipware wedding plate although this last item I have to confess is in the electric kiln.  It's needed for a wedding in a week's time and there's no margin for error

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THE JOY OF TOOLS

There is something very special and satisfying about using replicas of ancient tools to make a replica of an ancient tool.  Making tools to make tools isn't that one of the activities that makes us human?

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WORK IN PROGRESS

What I love most about my work is the diversity, my workshop is always full of pieces from a whole range of time periods. Requests from museums always open up new avenues of enquiry and research. Even though I have made the things that are on my workshop shelves they are not my forms, they're the things that have always fascinated me in museums, so not only do I have my own ever changing museum, but I get to investigate them in a way that would not be possible in any other circumstance. The photo above is the stuff I'm busy with today, canopic jars, Neolithic bowl and some Bronze Age pots from Perth & Kinross. These last pieces are being made in preparation for my demonstrations and workshops at the 'Making the Bronze Age' event at; Bellwood Riverside Park on the 19th & 20th June 2010, during the Perthshire Archaeology Month. At this event I'll be making and firing, beakers, food vessels, collared urns and much more, as well as giving members of the public the chance to have a go. Neil Burridge will be making Bronze Age swords, Damian Goodburn and David Strachan will be making a BA wood carving, Twist Fibre Craft Studio will be making textiles, etc, etc, etc. Try to come along and join in the fun.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

SAMIAN WARE WORKSHOP

The next workshop in my new series at Elsdon is on the subject of Roman Samian Ware. In this one you will learn to make and decorate high status Samian Ware pots, just as Roman potters did two thousans years ago. All of the techniques and equipment you will use are based on excavated examples or experimental research. This workshop is suitable for anyone with an interest in ancient potting techniques but will be of particular interest to archaeologists both professional and amateur as well as museum curators and those involved with Roman archaeological sites.

Using replicas and original potsherds we will look at making methods, clay bodies, tools used, firing methods, potential uses, methods of deposition, preservation vs. decomposition, etc

Punches and Moulds: Based on replica examples, images of originals and potsherds, you will make your own set of Samian potters decorative stamps. You can even make your own Samian makers mark. These will then be used to create your own mould for a Form Dr37 (these pots have such romantic names!) bowl using a pre prepared mould blank.

With lots of information, hints, tips, help where needed and encouragement, all participants will have the opportunity to make at least two pots, possibly many more. Using a reconstruction of a Roman potters’ wheel you will begin the process of making pots in moulds and free throwing pots which can be decorated using Barbotine, Sprigging, rouletting, chattering and stamping methods. Pre prepared plain pots to decorate will also be provided.

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The Roman Pottery Workshop

The Gods of the Lararium were smiling upon us over the weekend. The workshop went really well with everyone producing several Roman Pots, lamps and goddess figures.

A great time was had by all and the food was fantastic.

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Workshop Nearly Ready

The workshop is ready to go and there are many workshops planned for the future. I don't suppose that a collection lof different types of ancient potters whee like this, , can be seen anywhere else in the country.

ROMAN POTTERY WORKSHOP

In this workshop you will learn to make and decorate pots, just as the Romans did, on both stick and kick wheels. In addition you will have the opportunity to create your own Roman Head pot using a pre prepared pot and you will make your own Roman oil lamp and Goddess figure.

Day 1:

Looking at the Pots: Using replicas and original potsherds we will look at making methods, clay bodies, tools used, firing methods, potential uses, methods of deposition, preservation vs. decomposition, etc

Raw Materials: How to find and prepare your materials. We will look at the types and sources of raw materials and their storage. All participants will prepare their own clay with appropriate inclusions.

Demonstration of the various types of potters' wheel and mould making techniques

Wheel practice working in pairs and with lots of assistance

Day 2:

Making & Decorating: With lots of information, hints, tips, help where needed and encouragement, all participants will have the opportunity to make at least two pots, possibly many more. You can choose from a variety of techniques.

All materials and equipment will be provided. All pots and tools that you make during the workshop are yours to keep. As it is not possible to dry the pots sufficiently to be able to open fire them during the two day course, firing is offered as a separate one day event. This will be an optional third day of the workshop at a later date, at no extra charge, if you can't attend, your pots will be fired for you and can be shipped to you by DHL at cost. Photographs of the firing will be taken. The cost of the workshop includes lunch at the Coach House, delicious home made soup and a roll with a choice of deserts, coffee and home made cakes at break time. If you have any special dietary requirements please inform us in advance.

Accommodation and travel are not included, but a list of local accommodation providers is available on request.

Phone 01669 622890
email ap2010@pottedhistory.co.uk
Visit my website at http://www.pottedhistory.co.uk/

Volcanic Sunset in Northumberland

From Inner Golden Pot at the top of the Coquet Valley looking out, over the Cheviot Hills, into the Scottish Borders, what a way to relax after a hard day of workshop building!

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The First Pot on a New Wheel

What a joy, to create a new wheel in the image of a very old wheel and then make the first pot on it. I'm delighted to say that it performed beautifully. Counting down to the first Roman pottery workshop in my new studio. Shelves are up, the number of wheels is growing by the day and I'm getting quite excited.

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Six Wheels on my Workshop.....so far

And I'm aiming for ten. Today I built two stick wheels, one floor mounted and one a seated wheel, and cast the flywheels for two momentum kick wheels. I'm trying to cover a wide variety of wheel types and from the Stibbington, wheel alone it's obvious that the Romans used both stick and kick. I want participants in my workshops to have the opportunity of experiencing both types. As you will see from the photographs, today I've made wheels which utilise old cart wheels as the flywheel. This type of wheel was certainly used during the mediaeval period as shown in various mauscripts, it's still used in India and I can't believe that Roman potters would have missed the opportunity to utilise an old cart wheel.

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Bronze-Age Jewellery

I'm hoping to recreate some sets of Bronze-Age grave goods so I'm setting myself the challenge of making a jet necklace from Kyloe in Northumberland. I suspect that this reconstruction from the 1928 edition of Archaeologia Aeliana isn't quite correct but .............

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Magic Sites in Northumberland

Simonside & the Coquet Valley from Castle Hill

Today was our day off, a luxury that we allow ourselves now and again. Today we decided to wander round a few of the more remote archaeological sites in North Northumberland. Few visitors to Northumberland ever leave the main tourist route of Coast and Castles and they really miss a treat, in this county you really can get far from the madding crowd. Our first stop was the Iron Age hill fort on Castle Hill above Alnham. It's hard to find, you're not alerted to its presence by its silhouette on the horizon, as you are with many of the other hill forts. The approach is via a single track, unfenced road, which passes Alnham church (a gem in itself but that's for another day) and snakes its way up the hillside, through a farm yard and over a ridge heading into the heart of the Cheviots. It's at this point that you have to find somewhere to leave the car. No brown boards, interpretation signs or National Trust car park to welcome you. An unpromising narrow sheep track leads up the hill, through a couple of gates onto the top. Suddenly you are presented with a breathtaking view, over deeply dug ancient bank and ditch ramparts, to my beloved Coquet Valley and the Simonside Hills in the South and the snow covered Cheviots to the North and West. When I was last here, about four or five years ago, rabbits were rapidly digging away the banks, this now seems to have abated, possibly because they have realised that the thin topsoil masks ramparts composed almost entirely of sharp Cheviot redstone lavas.

Now I’ve called today’s blog 'Magic Sites in Northumberland' which may be a little romantic but as we sat on the ramparts looking out at the view the sun broke thorough the clouds and the silence was broken by the song of rising skylarks all around us. It really was pretty magical but an even more magical site awaited us.

From Alnham we headed for Milfield and a great lunch at the Milfield Country Café, after which I bought a useful little book by Archaeologist Clive Waddington; ‘Maelmin a pocket guide to archaeological walks'. Walks centered around the Maelmin Heritage trail. One in particular caught my eye, a place that I have meant to visit for years, Roughtin Lynn.

The waterfall, Roughtin Lynn (or Linn), is hidden in an overgrown gorge with, dare I say it, a quite magical atmosphere. It's not a big waterfall, it's certainly doesn't carry a large volume of water, but it is a very beautiful waterfall. Most importantly as far as I'm concerned it lies at the heart of an ancient landscape containing England's single largest rock art site, which did not disappoint, right next to a deeply ditched and banked enclosure, which may be a strangely placed hill fort but is possibly much older. This site certainly warrants a second visit and it will get one.

Anyway, back to the workshop I've got to make potters wheels for my forthcoming Roman Pottery workshop and canopic jars for a couple of museums.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Great 'History of Pottery' website

I just found the most amazing historical pottery website by fellow potter Steve Earp http://thisdayinpotteryhistory.wordpress.com/ Check it out.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Ancient Pottery Workshops

The first workshop went really well, on the Monday we even managed to fire everything we had made, in the hearth of an Iron-Age Rondhouse, at Brigantium. So on to the next workshops and they are as follows:

Ancient pottery workshops by GRAHAM TAYLOR at the Coach House, Elsdon.

ROMAN SAMIAN WARE
May 15th & 16th.
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ROMAN WHEEL MADE POTTERY –One day workshop
June 22nd.
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PREHISTORIC POTTERY
July 24th & 25th.

MANY OTHER DATES WILL BE AVAILABLE.

GROUPS CAN BOOK ADDITIONAL DATES AND WORKSHOPS CAN BE DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR YOUR REQUIREMENTS, PLEASE CONTACT ME

NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IS REQUIRED FOR ANY OF THESE WORKSHOPS.

The cost of all workshops includes: Rita’s great home made Coach House Lunches, coffee/tea breaks, all materials, and firing of the pots.

These workshops are intended for adults, although some young Advanced Learners may benefit from them, but must be accompanied by a paying adult. Please ask about suitability before booking for a young person. Payment for the workshop can be made by cheque, debit/credit card to secure a booking.

All materials and equipment will be provided. All pots and tools that you make during the workshop are yours to keep. Information sheets will be provided to help you continue potting once you return home.

Accommodation and travel are not included but list of local accommodation providers is available on request. Elsdon is situated in the Northumberland National Park and you will need your own transport as it is virtually impossible to reach it by public transport.

ROMAN WHEEL MADE POTTERY: Learn the ancient skills of the potters’ wheel using an authentic reconstruction of a Roman wheel.

ROMAN SAMIAN WARE: The most prestigious pottery of the Roman era Samian Ware was produced on the wheel and in moulds. This workshop will teach you the techniques of mould making and pot making.

BRONZE-AGE POTTERY WORKSHOP: This workshop will equip participants to; prospect for natural clay and prepare it for pot making; make their own prehistoric tool kit; make and decorate replicas of prehistoric pots and fire them in an authentic manner.

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Amphorae under pressure

Despite the mad dash to get my new studio ready for this comming weekend workshop, I have been making a few replicas. The amphorae for the Royal Institution of Cornwall and a head pot for Malton museum have been among the pieces that got finished.

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Prehistoric & Roman Pottery Workshops

OK ........ I have committed myself, my new pottery teaching studio, at the Coach House in Elsdon , Northumberland, will be ready for the end of the month and I'm launching my first workshop there on March 6th & 7th. This will be a two day workshop on Prehistoric Pottery.

This workshop will equip participants to; prospect for natural clay and prepare it for pot making; make their own prehistoric tool kit; make and decorate replicas of prehistoric pots and fire them in an authentic manner. As it is not possible to dry the pots sufficiently to be able to open fire them during the two day course, firing is offered as a separate one day event. In some cases it will be possible for participants to attend a firing workshop on the following day although this will not allow them to fire their own pots made during the workshop.

All materials and equipment will be provided. All pots and tools that you make during the workshop are yours to keep. Information sheets will be provided to help you continue potting once you return home.

People attending this workshop may also find the following of interest:
Roman Wheel Made Pottery
Roman Mould Made Pottery
Making Roman Samian Ware
Building Roman Kilns
Build Your Own Roman Potter’s Wheel

Accommodation and travel are not included but list of local accommodation providers is available on request.

Elsdon is situated in the Northumberland National Park and you will need your own transport as it is virtually impossible to reach it by public transport.

Day 1:

10-00: Looking at the Pots: Using replicas and original potsherds we will look at making methods, clay bodies, tools used, firing methods, potential uses, methods of deposition, preservation vs. decomposition, etc

11-00: Raw Materials: How to find and prepare you materials. We will look at the types and sources of raw materials and their storage. All participants will prepare their own clay with appropriate inclusions.

12-00: Lunch and informal discussion

13-00: Tools of the Trade: All participants will make their own Bronze-Age Pottery Toolkit including; combs, scrapers, cord, modelling tools etc.. Using materials such as: Birch bark, Bone, Antler, Slate, Shell, Wood, Flint etc. The tools will be based on marks found on the pots.

14-30: Basic Making Methods: including; thumb pot, coil etc

16-00 Finish

Day 2:

10-00: Making & Decorating; beakers, food vessels, collared urns, etc. With lots information, hints, tips, help where needed and encouragement, all participants will have the opportunity to make at least two pots.

12-00: Lunch with Traditional African Firing video presentation of a firing method which is closely related to Bronze-Age techniques.

13-00: Making & Decorating; continued

16-00 Finish

Additional Day: (Preferably after a break of at least one week during which time the pots will be stored in a warm place to dry them thoroughly). If you have travelled far, you may wish to leave your pots to be fired (there will be a handling and shipping charge for this service) or to take them home and fire them yourself.

10-00: Open Firing: The pots will be fired in an open or “bonfire” firing, this is a slow process and will involve quite a lot of sitting around the fire. Firing is a slow process which cannot be rushed, so there will be the opportunity to make more pots, discuss the work that we have done during the workshop and stare distantly into the hot coals of the fire. I would suggest a “bring and cook” barbeque lunch may well add to the “Hunter-Gatherer” atmosphere and could help with a theory of mine that most Bronze-Age pots would have been made around the domestic hearth.

15-30 Finish

For prices and more details contact me at info@pottedhistory.co.uk

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Coiled and Filmed: Hand Building Pottery

I've been trying my hand at some rather poor film making (OK those of you who have read my mini rant about experimental archaeology (below) would have every right to say don't make a film without asking someone who knows what they're doing, and you'd probably be right). That said my intention has been to record some of my methods rather than make an Oscar winner.

Here is one that I put together which shows me making the large Anglo Saxon pot for the Yeavering Exhibition, it's more of a slide show than a video but it gives an idea of how I work.

The technique of hand forming pots differs from one part of the world, indeed in Lesotho I found that it differed from one village to another and even from potter to potter. The one thing that I am pretty certain about is that it probably never uses the technique which is so often taught in schools where coil after coil of clay is places on top of its predecessor in the rough shape of the finished pot and then finally smoothed together. This is why I tend to avoid the term 'coiling' because this is the image that it conjures in the mind.

But as you will see from the video, my technique which is much more akin to the techniques I have seen used in Africa, forms the wall of the pot as each new coil of clay is added. It also results in the sort of diagonal joints that have been reported in much prehistoric pottery.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Young Potters

At a recent Children's Archaeology Day event, organised by Coquetdale Community Archaeology, in Harbottle, Northumberland, I took along my Roman potter's wheel and manged to get a group of young people to produce some quite accomplished pots on it. I know that most people find their first attempt on the wheel pretty difficult, so I was absolutely delighted with the results that these children produced. Look out for many more demonstrations and workshops for chidren and adults in the coming year.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk