From the archive record
Hand-shaping was the earliest method used to form vessels. This included the combination of pinching and coiling. The earliest method for firing pottery wares was the use of bonfires Pit fired pottery. Firing times were short but the peak-temperatures achieved in the fire could be high, perhaps in the region of 900 °C (1,650 °F), and were reached very quickly. Early potters used whatever clay was available to them in their geographic vicinity. However, the lowest quality common red clay was adequate for low-temperature fires used for the earliest pots. Clays tempered with sand, grit, crushed shell or crushed pottery were often used to make bonfire-fired ceramics because they provided an open-body texture that allowed water. The coarser particles in the clay also acted to restrain shrinkage