Editing Pottery (section)

===Earthenware===
{{Main|Earthenware}}

[[File:Neolithic Majiayao Culture Pottery 03.jpg|thumb|Earthenware jar from the [[Neolithic]] [[Majiayao culture]] China, 3300 to 2000 BCE]]
The earliest forms of pottery were made from clays that were fired at low temperatures, initially in pit-fires or in open [[bonfire]]s. They were hand formed and undecorated. Earthenware can be fired as low as 600&nbsp;°C, and is normally fired below 1200&nbsp;°C.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?find=earthenware&logic=AND&note=&english=N&prev_page=1&subjectid=300140803|title=Art & Architecture Thesaurus Full Record Display (Getty Research)|website=Getty.edu|access-date=30 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222053343/http://www.getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?find=earthenware&logic=AND&note=&english=N&prev_page=1&subjectid=300140803|archive-date=22 December 2017}}</ref> 

Because unglazed earthenware is porous, it has limited utility for the storage of liquids or as tableware. However, earthenware has had a continuous history from the [[Neolithic]] period to today. It can be made from a wide variety of clays, some of which fire to a buff, brown or black colour, with iron in the constituent minerals resulting in a reddish-brown. Reddish coloured varieties are called [[terracotta]], especially when unglazed or used for sculpture. The development of [[ceramic glaze]] made impermeable pottery possible, improving the popularity and practicality of pottery vessels. Decoration has evolved and developed through history.