Pottery

The oldest ceramic in North America appeared in the end of the 4th millennium BC in the South-East. In the middle of the 1st millennium BC ceramic began to spread in western Alaska, probably under the influence of Siberian cultures. On the North-West coast and in California (except its extreme south-east), ceramic was never made. The inhabitants of the taiga zone also mostly did without clay vessels, although in Canada archaeologists have discovered ancient broken pieces of pottery.

North American Indians did not use potter’s wheel. Vessels where made in the technique of circular molding, when a long stripe of clay was attached in layers and seams were smoothened manually. Pots and bowls prevailed as they were easier to make. Only in the South-East closed forms were spread – spherical vessels and bottles. To improve clay’s molding properties and to avoid cracks while baking, grass or seaweed was added into it in the early period like almost everywhere in the world. Beginning from the 1st millennium BC people began to add sand, splintered stone and crushed ceramic fragments into clay.

Vessels of Pueblo Indians are especially famous. In the end of the 1st millennium BC ancestors of Pueblo people began to decorate ceramics with paintings. In the south of Arizona people, animals and mythological characters served as themes for paintings. Painting bowls were found in burials, and ach bowl is pierced in the middle with a sharp object. Ceramics must have been “killed” and sent into the other world together with dead people. In their artistic perfection paintings on Arizona vessels are not inferior to artistic masterpieces of Mesoamerica and ancient Peru. A lot of mysteries are connected with these vessels. For example, all depicted fishes are sea fishes, although the valley where they were produced is located 500 km away from the sea. This art influenced later styles of Pueblo Indians, although “realistic” images were in the 11th century replaced with geometrical paintings rich in complex symbols. From the end of the 19th century masters (among Pueblo Indians painting ceramics was a women’s occupation) began to copy images from vessels found during excavations. Since that time masterpieces of pottery-making of the Pueblo Indians enrich museums, private collections and art galleries.

Ceramic vessel.  USA, Arizona.The Pueblo. Mid-to-late 19th cent.		Ceramic vessel. USA. Пуэбло.  Mid-to-late 19th cent.		Ceramic vessel. USA. Пуэбло.  Mid-to-late 19th cent.
Ceramic vessel. USA. Пуэбло.  Mid-to-late 19th cent.		Ceramic vessel. USA. Пуэбло.  Mid-to-late 19th cent.		Ceramic vessel. USA. Пуэбло.  Mid-to-late 19th cent.