Unbaked clay was first used to make figurines and line hearths and baskets. The secret of baking it to make it more durable was discovered about 13,000 years ago; because clay was cheap and easy and easy to work. It was used to make bricks, lamps, troughs, and a range of practical and beautiful objects.
Baked clay is first used to make pots – strong durable containers for cooking food and for storage around 11,000 BC, in Japan, possibly by 9000BC in China around 7500 BC in the Middle East. These pots are generally built up in coils are formed or bound baskets.
Pottery making begins in many more regions; around 6000BC in South East Asia and by 5000BC in the borderlands of India and Iran. Chinese pottery making is well established before 5000BC. Finally made painted pottery in West Asia is fired in large domed kilns.
In South America, pottery is being made in Amazonia and Colombia. The potter’s wheel is developed in Mesopotamia around 3500 BC. The Chinese also develop the potter’s wheel, around 3000BC, and produce egg shell thin pottery. From around 2500BC, pottery becomes more widespread in the Americas, appearing in Mesoamerica and the south eastern USA and in the Andes by 2000BC.
From 1600BC, glass is used to glaze some pottery in the Middle East. Highly sophisticate polychrome pottery is made by successive Andean cultures, particularly the Nazca and Moche cultures. Often the vessels are molded into the shapes of people, animals, and scenes. Around 500BC, the Nok culture in Nigeria starts producing beautifully modeled terracotta heads.
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