Editing Pottery (section)

==History==
{{main|Ceramic art#History}}
A great part of the history of pottery is [[prehistoric]], part of past pre-literate cultures. Therefore, much of this history can only be found among the [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]] of [[archaeology]]. Because pottery is so durable, pottery and [[Sherd|shards]] of pottery survive for millennia at [[archaeological site]]s, and are typically the most common and important type of artifact to survive.  Many prehistoric cultures are named after the pottery that is the easiest way to identify their sites, and archaeologists develop the ability to recognise different types from the chemistry of small shards.

Before pottery becomes part of a culture, several conditions must generally be met.
* First, there must be usable clay available. Archaeological sites where the earliest pottery was found were near deposits of readily available clay that could be properly shaped and fired. China has large deposits of a variety of clay, which gave them an advantage in early development of fine pottery. Many countries have large deposits of a variety of clay.
* Second, it must be possible to heat the pottery to temperatures that will achieve the transformation from raw clay to ceramic. Methods to reliably create fires hot enough to [[Pottery firing|fire pottery]] did not develop until late in the development of cultures.
* Third, the potter must have time available to prepare, shape and fire the clay into pottery. Even after control of fire was achieved, humans did not seem to develop pottery until a [[sedentism|sedentary life]] was achieved. It has been hypothesized that pottery was developed only after humans established agriculture, which led to permanent settlements. However, the [[Venus of Dolní Věstonice|oldest known pottery]] is from the Czech Republic and dates to 28,000 BC, at the height of the most recent ice age, long before the beginnings of agriculture.
* Fourth, there must be a sufficient need for pottery in order to justify the resources required for its production.<ref>William K. Barnett and John W. Hoopes, ''The Emergence of Pottery: Technology and Innovation in Ancient Society'', Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995, p. 19</ref>

<!-- [[File:CupisniquePottery.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Cupisnique]] pottery. [[Stirrup spout vessel|Stirrup spout bottle]] with a feline-human representation. [[Larco Museum]] Collection. Lima-Peru]] -->===Early pottery===
[[File:JomonPottery.JPG|thumb|upright|An Incipient [[Jōmon]] pottery vessel reconstructed from fragments (10,000–8,000 BC), [[Tokyo National Museum]], Japan]]
* Methods of forming: Hand-shaping was the earliest method used to form vessels. This included the combination of [[Pinch pot|pinching]]  and [[Coiling (pottery)|coiling]].
* Firing: The earliest method for firing pottery wares was the use of bonfires [[pit fired pottery]]. Firing times might be short but the peak-temperatures achieved in the [[Pottery firing|fire]] could be high, perhaps in the region of {{convert|900|°C|°F}}, and were reached very quickly.<ref>Metropolitan Museum of Art {{cite web |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jomo/hd_jomo.htm |title=Jomon Culture (Ca. 10,500-ca. 300 B.C.) {{pipe}} Thematic Essay {{pipe}} Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History {{pipe}} the Metropolitan Museum of Art |date=October 2002 |access-date=2011-09-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906082446/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jomo/hd_jomo.htm |archive-date=2011-09-06 }}</ref>
* Clay: 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. Clay [[Temper (pottery)|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 and volatile components of the clay to escape freely. The coarser particles in the clay also acted to restrain shrinkage during drying, and hence reduce the risk of cracking.
* Form: In the main, early bonfire-fired wares were made with rounded bottoms to avoid sharp angles that might be susceptible to cracking.
* Glazing: the earliest pots were not glazed.
* The [[potter's wheel]] was invented in [[Europe]] in the 5th millennium BC, and revolutionised pottery production. Earliest potter's wheel dated to the middle of the 5th millennium BC from the [[Cucuteni–Trypillia culture]] in western Ukraine.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=Haarmann |first=Harald |author-link=Harald Haarmann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FkL_DwAAQBAJ&dq=danube+river+civilization+potter%27s+wheel&pg=PA40 |title=Advancement in Ancient Civilizations: Life, Culture, Science and Thought |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-4766-4075-4 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |pages=40 |language=en}}</ref>
* Moulds were used to a limited extent as early as the 5th and 6th century BC by the [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]]<ref>Glenn C. Nelson, Ceramics: A Potter's Handbook,1966, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., p. 251</ref> and more extensively by the Romans.<ref name=autogenerated4>Cooper (2010)</ref>
* [[Slipcasting]], a popular method for shaping irregular shaped articles. It was first practised, to a limited extent, in China as early as the [[Tang dynasty]].<ref>Nelson (1966), p. 251</ref>
* Transition to kilns: The earliest intentionally constructed were [[Pit fired pottery|pit-kilns]] or trench-kilns, holes dug in the ground and covered with fuel. Holes in the ground provided insulation and resulted in better control over firing.<ref name=autogenerated5>Cooper (2010), p. 16</ref>
* [[Kiln#Ceramic kilns|Kilns]]: Pit fire methods were adequate for simple earthenware, but other pottery types needed more sophisticated kilns.

===History by region===
====Beginnings of pottery====
[[File:Xianrendong Cave Pottery - 2.jpg|thumb|[[Xianren Cave]] pottery fragments, radiocarbon dated to circa 18,000 BC, China<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bar-Yosef |first1=Ofer |last2=Arpin |first2=Trina |last3=Pan |first3=Yan |last4=Cohen |first4=David |last5=Goldberg |first5=Paul |last6=Zhang |first6=Chi |last7=Wu |first7=Xiaohong |title=Early Pottery at 20,000 Years Ago in Xianrendong Cave, China |journal=Science |date=29 June 2012 |volume=336 |issue=6089 |pages=1696–1700 |doi=10.1126/science.1218643 |pmid=22745428 |language=en |issn=0036-8075|bibcode=2012Sci...336.1696W |s2cid=37666548 }}</ref><!--
  --><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marshall |first1=Michael |title=Oldest pottery hints at cooking's ice-age origins |journal=New Scientist |volume=215 |issue=2872 |pages=14 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21985-oldest-pottery-hints-at-cookings-ice-age-origins/ |bibcode=2012NewSc.215Q..14M |year=2012 |doi=10.1016/S0262-4079(12)61728-X |access-date=2019-05-10 |archive-date=2019-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020113934/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21985-oldest-pottery-hints-at-cookings-ice-age-origins/ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[File:Pottery bowl, 7100-5800 BCE, from Jarmo, Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraqi Kurdistan.jpg|thumb|Pottery bowl from [[Jarmo]], [[Mesopotamia]], 7100–5800 BC.]]

Pottery may well have been discovered independently in various places, probably by accidentally creating it at the bottom of fires on a clay soil. The earliest-known ceramic objects are [[Gravettian]] figurines such as those discovered at Dolní Věstonice in the modern-day Czech Republic. The [[Venus of Dolní Věstonice]] is a Venus figurine, a statuette of a nude female figure dated to 29,000–25,000 BC (Gravettian industry).<ref name="Venus">{{cite web|url=http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi359.htm|title=No. 359: The Dolni Vestonice Ceramics|date=November 24, 1989|publisher=University of Houston|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109213627/http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi359.htm|website=The Engines of Our Ingenuity|last1=Lienhard|first1=John H.|archive-date=January 9, 2010|access-date=September 4, 2010}}</ref> But there is no evidence of pottery vessels from this period. Weights [[loom weight|for looms]] or fishing-nets are a very common use for the earliest pottery. [[Sherd]]s have been found in China and Japan from a period between 12,000 and perhaps as long as 18,000 years ago.<ref name=fareastrussia/><ref name=cl/> As of 2012, the earliest pottery vessels found anywhere in the world,<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/03/science/oldest-known-pottery-found-in-china.html "Remnants of an Ancient Kitchen Are Found in China"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315202344/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/03/science/oldest-known-pottery-found-in-china.html|date=2017-03-15}}</ref> dating to 20,000 to 19,000 years before the present, was found at [[Xianren Cave]] in the Jiangxi province of China.<ref name=Xianren>{{cite journal|title=Early Pottery at 20,000 Years Ago in Xianren Cave, China|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|date=June 29, 2012|volume=336|issue=6089|pages=1696–700|doi=10.1126/science.1218643|pmid=22745428|last1=Wu|first1=X.|last2=Zhang|first2=C.|last3=Goldberg|first3=P.|last4=Cohen|first4=D.|last5=Pan|first5=Y.|last6=Arpin|first6=T.|last7=Bar-Yosef|first7=O.|bibcode=2012Sci...336.1696W|s2cid=37666548}}</ref><ref>[https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/science/2012/06/28/harvard-and-boston-university-researchers-find-evidence-year-old-pottery/eTrcMITspR9gPoxAcxQUZL/story.html "Harvard, BU researchers find evidence of 20,000-year-old pottery"]. ''[[The Boston Globe]]''. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728174501/https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/science/2012/06/28/harvard-and-boston-university-researchers-find-evidence-year-old-pottery/eTrcMITspR9gPoxAcxQUZL/story.html|date=2017-07-28}}</ref>

Other early pottery vessels include those excavated from the [[Yuchanyan Cave]] in southern China, dated from 16,000 BC,<ref name=cl>[http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2009/06/chinese_pottery_may_be_earlies.html "Chinese pottery may be earliest discovered."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006170740/http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2009/06/chinese_pottery_may_be_earlies.html |date=2012-10-06 }} [[Associated Press]]. 2009-06-01.</ref> and those found in the Amur River basin in the Russian Far East, dated from 14,000 BC.<ref name=fareastrussia>'AMS 14C Age Of The Earliest Pottery From The Russian Far East; 1996–2002.' Derevianko A.P., Kuzmin Y.V., Burr G.S., Jull A.J.T., Kim J.C. Nuclear Instruments And Methods In Physics Research. B223–224 (2004) 735–39.</ref><ref>'Radiocarbon Dating Of Charcoal And Bone Collagen Associated With Early Pottery At Yuchanyan Cave, Hunan Province, China.' Boaretto E., Wu X., Yuan J., Bar-Yosef O., Chu V., Pan Y., Liu K., Cohen D., Jiao T., Li S., Gu H., Goldberg P., Weiner S. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. June 2009. 16;106(24): 9595–600.</ref>

The [[Odai Yamamoto I site]], belonging to the [[Jōmon period]], currently has the oldest pottery in Japan. Excavations in 1998 uncovered [[earthenware]] fragments which have been dated as early as 14,500 BC.<ref>{{cite news
 |first=Simon
 |last=Kainer
 |url=http://www.archaeology.co.uk/cwa/issues/cwa1/CWA_issue_1.pdf
 |title=The Oldest Pottery in the World
 |work=Current World Archaeology
 |publisher=Robert Selkirk
 |pages=44–49
 |date=September 2003
 |access-date=2016-09-27
 |url-status=bot: unknown
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060423001511/http://www.archaeology.co.uk/cwa/issues/cwa1/CWA_issue_1.pdf
 |archive-date=2006-04-23
}}</ref>
The term "Jōmon" means "cord-marked" in Japanese. This refers to the markings made on the vessels and figures using sticks with cords during their production. Recent research has elucidated how [[Jōmon pottery]] was used by its creators.<ref name="Earliest">{{cite journal |title=Earliest evidence for the use of pottery |author=O.E. Craig, H. Saul, A. Lucquin, Y. Nishida, K. Taché, L. Clarke, A. Thompson, D.T. Altoft, J. Uchiyama, M. Ajimoto, K. Gibbs, S. Isaksson, C.P. Heron P. Jordan |journal=Nature |volume=496 |date=18 April 2013 |issue=7445 |doi=10.1038/nature12109 |pmid=23575637 |pages=351–54 |hdl=10454/5947 |arxiv=1510.02343 |bibcode=2013Natur.496..351C |s2cid=3094491 }}</ref>

It appears that pottery was independently developed in Sub-Saharan Africa during the 10th millennium BC, with findings dating to at least 9,400 BC from central [[Mali]],<ref name=swissinfo/> and in South America during the 9,000s–7,000s BC.<ref>Barnett & Hoopes 1995:211</ref><ref name="Roosevelt 1996 264–349"/> The Malian finds date to the same period as similar finds from East Asia – the triangle between Siberia, China and Japan – and are associated in both regions to the same climatic changes (at the end of the ice age new grassland develops, enabling hunter-gatherers to expand their habitat), met independently by both cultures with similar developments: the creation of pottery for the storage of wild cereals ([[pearl millet]]), and that of small arrowheads for hunting small game typical of grassland.<ref name=swissinfo/> Alternatively, the creation of pottery in the case of the Incipient Jōmon civilisation could be due to the intensive exploitation of freshwater and marine organisms by late glacial foragers, who started developing ceramic containers for their catch.<ref name="Earliest"/>

====East Asia====
{{main|Chinese ceramics|Japanese pottery|Korean pottery}}
[[Image:Ming-Schale1.jpg|thumb|Chinese Ming dynasty [[blue-and-white porcelain]] dish with a dragon]]
[[File:Grès chinois Guimet.jpg|thumb|Group of 13th-century pieces of [[Longquan celadon]]]]

In Japan, the [[Jōmon period]] has a long history of development of [[Jōmon pottery]] which was characterized by impressions of rope on the surface of the pottery created by pressing rope into the clay before firing. Glazed Stoneware was being created as early as the 15th century BC in China. A form of [[Chinese porcelain]] became a significant Chinese export from the Tang dynasty (AD 618–906) onwards.<ref name="Cooper 2010, p. 54"/>  Korean potters adopted porcelain as early as the 14th century AD.<ref>Cooper (2010), p. 75</ref> The ceramic industry has developed greatly since the [[Goryeo]] dynasty, and [[Goryeo ware]], a celadon with unique inlaying techniques, was produced. Later, when white porcelain became common and celadon fell, they created unique ceramics such as [[Buncheong]]. Japan's white porcelain was influenced by potters kidnapped during the [[Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)]], called The Ceramic Wars, and Japanese engineers introduced it during the Fall of the Ming dynasty's. Typically, Korean potters who settled in Arita pass on pottery techniques, Shonzui Goradoyu-go brought back the secret of its manufacture from the Chinese kilns at Jingdezhen.<ref>Cooper (2010), p. 79</ref>

In contrast to Europe, the Chinese social elite used pottery extensively at table, for religious purposes, and for decoration, and the standards of fine pottery were very high. From the [[Song dynasty]] (960–1279) for several centuries,  the tastes of Chinese elites favoured plain-coloured and exquisitely formed pieces; during this period porcelain was perfected in [[Ding ware]], although it was the only one of the [[Five Great Kilns]] of the Song period to use it. The traditional Chinese category of high-fired wares includes stoneware types such as [[Ru ware]], [[Longquan celadon]] and [[Guan ware]]. Painted wares such as [[Cizhou ware]] had a lower status, though they were acceptable for making [[pillow#Ancient China|pillows]].

The arrival of Chinese [[blue and white porcelain]] was probably a product of the Mongol [[Yuan dynasty]] (1271–1368) dispersing artists and craftsmen across its large empire. Both the [[Cobalt(II) oxide|cobalt]] stains used for the blue colour, and the style of painted decoration, usually based on plant shapes, were initially borrowed from the Islamic world, which the Mongols had also conquered. At the same time [[Jingdezhen porcelain]], produced in Imperial factories, took the undisputed leading role in production. The new elaborately painted style was now favoured at court, and gradually more colours were added.

The secret of making such porcelain was sought in the Islamic world and later in Europe when examples were imported from the East. Many attempts were made to imitate it in Italy and France. However it was not produced outside of East Asia until 1709 in Germany.<ref>Cooper (2010), pp. 160–62</ref>

====South Asia====
{{See also|Pottery in the Indian subcontinent}}
[[File:Pottery wheel before 1910.jpg|thumb|A potter with his pottery wheel, [[British Raj]] (1910)]]
Cord-Impressed style pottery belongs to "Mesolithic" ceramic tradition that developed among Vindhya hunter-gatherers in Central India during the [[Mesolithic]] period.<ref>{{cite book |last1=D. Petraglia |first1=Michael |title=The Evolution and History of Human Populations in South Asia |date=26 March 2007 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9781402055614 |pages=407 |edition=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qm9GfjNlnRwC |access-date=26 March 2007 |archive-date=1 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101050905/http://books.google.com/books?id=Qm9GfjNlnRwC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute, Volume 49, Dr. A. M. Ghatage, Page 303–304</ref> This ceramic style is also found in later Proto-Neolithic phase in nearby regions.<ref>{{cite book |author=Upinder Singh |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone age to the 12th century |year=2008 |page=76 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=9788131716779 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ |access-date=2020-06-04 |archive-date=2020-12-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214012742/https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> This early type of pottery, also found at the site of [[Lahuradewa]], is currently the oldest known pottery tradition in South Asia, dating back to 7,000–6,000 BC.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2HMTBwAAQBAJ|page=250|author1=Peter Bellwood|author2=Immanuel Ness|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|title=The Global Prehistory of Human Migration|isbn=9781118970591|date=2014-11-10|access-date=2020-06-04|archive-date=2020-07-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728093044/https://books.google.com/books?id=2HMTBwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xv-CwAAQBAJ|title=A Companion to South Asia in the Past|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|page=350|author1=Gwen Robbins Schug|author2=Subhash R. Walimbe|isbn=9781119055471|date=2016-04-13|access-date=2020-06-04|archive-date=2021-07-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210701092931/https://books.google.com/books?id=7xv-CwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Barker |first1=Graeme |last2=Goucher |first2=Candice |title=The Cambridge World History: Volume 2, A World with Agriculture, 12,000 BCE–500 CE |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781316297780 |page=470 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ri07CQAAQBAJ |language=en |access-date=2019-10-21 |archive-date=2020-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728093050/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ri07CQAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cahill |first1=Michael A. |title=Paradise Rediscovered: The Roots of Civilisation |date=2012 |publisher=Interactive Publications |isbn=9781921869488 |page=104 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JTKB5mev6p8C |language=en}}</ref> Wheel-made pottery began to be made during the [[Mehrgarh]] Period II (5,500–4,800 BC) and Merhgarh Period III (4,800–3,500 BC), known as the ceramic [[Neolithic]] and [[Chalcolithic]]. Pottery, including items known as the ed-Dur vessels, originated in regions of the [[Indus River|Saraswati River / Indus River]] and have been found in a number of sites in the [[Indus Civilization]].<ref>Proceedings, [[American Philosophical Society]] (vol. 85, 1942). {{ISBN|1-4223-7221-9}}</ref><ref>Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates: Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the U.A.E. By Daniel T. Potts, Hasan Al Naboodah, Peter Hellyer. Contributor Daniel T. Potts, Hasan Al Naboodah, Peter Hellyer. Published 2003. Trident Press Ltd. {{ISBN|1-900724-88-X}}</ref>
Despite an extensive prehistoric record of pottery, including painted wares, little "fine" or luxury pottery was made in the subcontinent in historic times. [[Hinduism]] discourages eating off pottery, which probably largely accounts for this.  Most traditional Indian pottery vessels are large pots or jars for storage, or small cups or lamps, occasionally treated as disposable.  In contrast there are long traditions of sculpted figures, often rather large, in terracotta; this continues with the [[Bankura horse]]s in [[Panchmura|Panchmura, West Bengal]].

====Southeast Asia====
{{See also|Vietnamese ceramics|Thai ceramics|Philippine ceramics}}
[[File:Large dish from Vietnam with arabesque design, 15th century, Tokyo National Museum.JPG|thumb|right|15th-century Vietnamese Chu Dau blue-white porcelain dish with [[Islamic geometric patterns|Islamic geometric]] decorations.]]
[[File:Manunggul Jar.jpg|thumb|[[Late Neolithic]] [[Manunggul Jar]] from [[Palawan]] used for burial, topped with two figures representing the journey of the soul into the afterlife.]]

Pottery in Southeast Asia is as diverse as its ethnic groups. Each ethnic group has their own set of standards when it comes to pottery arts. Potteries are made due to various reasons, such as trade, food and beverage storage, kitchen usage, religious ceremonies, and burial purposes.<ref>The pottery trail from Southeast Asia to remote Oceania, MT Carson, H Hung, G Summerhayes, 2013</ref><ref>The incised & impressed pottery style of mainland Southeast Asia: following the paths of Neolithization
F Rispoli – East and West, 2007</ref><ref>Sa-huỳnh Related Pottery in Southeast Asia
WG Solheim – Asian Perspectives, 1959</ref><ref>The Kulanay pottery complex in the Philippines
WG Solheim – Artibus Asiae, 1957</ref>

====West Asia====
{{see also|Levantine pottery|Persian pottery|Pottery of ancient Cyprus}}

Around 8000 BC during the [[Pre-pottery Neolithic]] period, and before the invention of pottery, several early settlements became experts in crafting beautiful and highly sophisticated containers from stone, using materials such as [[alabaster]] or [[granite]], and employing sand to shape and polish. Artisans used the veins in the material to maximum visual effect. Such objects have been found in abundance on the upper [[Euphrates river]], in what is today eastern Syria, especially at the site of [[Bouqras]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Metropolitan Museum of Art |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/327124 |website=Metmuseum.org |access-date=2019-04-26 |archive-date=2019-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422212115/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/327124 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The earliest history of pottery production in the [[Fertile Crescent]] starts the [[Pottery Neolithic]] and can be divided into four periods, namely: the [[Hassuna]] period (7000–6500 BC), the Halaf period (6500–5500 BC), the [[Ubaid period]] (5500–4000 BC), and the Uruk period (4000–3100 BC).  By about 5000 BC pottery-making was becoming widespread across the region, and spreading out from it to neighbouring areas.

Pottery making began in the 7th millennium BC. The earliest forms, which were found at the [[Hassuna]] site, were hand formed from slabs, undecorated, unglazed low-fired pots made from reddish-brown clays.<ref name=autogenerated5 />  Within the next millennium, wares were decorated with elaborate painted designs and natural forms, incising and burnished.
[[File:Ubaid III pottery 5300-4700 BC Louvre Museum.jpg|thumb|200px|Earthenware Ubaid jar. c. 5,300–4,700 BCE.]] 
The invention of the [[potter's wheel]] in [[Mesopotamia]] sometime between 6,000 and 4,000 BC ([[Ubaid period]]) revolutionised pottery production. Newer kiln designs could fire wares to {{convert|1050|C|F}} to {{Convert|1200|C|F}} which enabled increased possibilities. Production was now carried out by small groups of potters for small cities, rather than individuals making wares for a family. The shapes and range of uses for ceramics and pottery expanded beyond simple vessels to store and carry to specialized cooking utensils, pot stands and rat traps.<ref>Cooper (2010), pp. 19–20</ref> As the region developed new organizations and political forms, pottery became more elaborate and varied. Some wares were made using moulds, allowing for increased production for the needs of the growing populations. Glazing was commonly used and pottery was more decorated.<ref>Cooper (2010), pp. 20–24</ref>

In the [[Chalcolithic]] period in Mesopotamia, [[Halaf culture#Halaf pottery|Halafian pottery]] achieved a level of technical competence and sophistication, not seen until the later developments of [[Greek pottery]] with Corinthian and [[Attic ware]].

====Europe====
{{Main|Minoan pottery|Pottery of ancient Greece|Ancient Roman pottery}}
[[File:Altamura Painter - Red-Figure Calyx Krater - Walters 48262 - Side A.jpg|thumb|Greek [[Red-figure pottery|red-figure]] vase in the [[krater]] shape, between 470 and 460 BC, by the [[Altamura Painter]]]]
Europe's oldest pottery, dating from circa 6700 BC, was found on the banks of the [[Samara (Volga)|Samara River]] in the middle [[Volga]] region of [[Russia]].<ref>D. W. Anthony. ''[[The Horse, the Wheel, and Language]]''. P. 149.</ref> These sites are known as the [[Yelshanka culture]].

The early inhabitants of Europe developed pottery in the [[Linear Pottery culture]] slightly later than the Near East, circa 5500–4500 BC. In the ancient Western Mediterranean elaborately painted earthenware reached very high levels of artistic achievement in the Greek world; there are large numbers of survivals from tombs.  Minoan pottery was characterized by complex painted decoration with natural themes.<ref>Cooper (2010), pp. 36–37</ref>  The classical Greek culture began to emerge around 1000 BC featuring a variety of well crafted pottery which now included the human form as a decorating motif. The pottery wheel was now in regular use. Although glazing was known to these potters, it was not widely used. Instead, a more porous clay slip was used for decoration. A wide [[Typology of Greek vase shapes|range of shapes]] for different uses developed early and remained essentially unchanged during Greek history.<ref>Cooper (2010), p. 42</ref>

Fine [[Etruscan pottery]] was heavily influenced by Greek pottery and often imported Greek potters and painters. [[Ancient Roman pottery]] made much less use of painting, but used moulded decoration, allowing industrialized production on a huge scale.  Much of the so-called red [[Samian ware]] of the Early [[Roman Empire]] was produced in modern Germany and France, where entrepreneurs established large potteries.  Excavations at [[Augusta Raurica]], near Basel, Switzerland, have revealed a pottery production site in use from the 1st to the 4th century AD.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/exhibitions/materials-energy/ceramics/history/| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160707153740/http://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/exhibitions/materials-energy/ceramics/history| archive-date=2016-07-07| title=Deutsches Museum: History}}</ref> 
<!-- Deleted image removed:   [[Image:keramik diorama 02.jpg|150px |link=https://www.deutsches-museum.de/fileadmin/Content/010_DM/020_Ausstellungen/040_WerkstoffeProduktion/070_Keramik/020_Ausstellung/keramik_diorama_02.jpg |alt=Alt text|Reconstruction of site at Deutsches Museum]] -->

Pottery was hardly seen on the tables of elites from [[Hellenistic]] times until the [[Renaissance]], and most medieval wares were coarse and utilitarian, as the elites ate off metal vessels.  Painted [[Hispano-Moresque ware]] from Spain, developing the styles of [[Al-Andalus]], became a luxury for late medieval elites, and was adapted in Italy into ''[[maiolica]]'' in the [[Italian Renaissance]].  Both of these were [[faience]] or [[tin-glazed]] earthenware, and fine faience continued to be made until around 1800 in various countries, especially France, with [[Nevers faience]] and several other centres.  In the 17th century, imports of [[Chinese export porcelain]] and its [[Japanese export porcelain|Japanese equivalent]] raised the market 
expectations of fine pottery, and European manufacturers eventually learned to make porcelain, often in the form of [[soft-paste porcelain]], and from the 18th century European porcelain and other wares from a great number of producers became extremely popular, reducing Asian imports.

====United Kingdom====
{{Main|Wedgwood|Staffordshire figure|Royal Doulton|Mintons|Midwinter Pottery|Spode}}
[[File:BLW Bone China Chocolate Cup.jpg|thumb|200px|Handpainted bone china cup. England, 1815–1820]]
The city of [[Stoke-on-Trent]] is widely known as "The Potteries" because of the large number of pottery factories or, colloquially, "Pot Banks". It was one of the first industrial cities of the modern era where, as early as 1785, two hundred pottery manufacturers employed 20,000 workers.<ref>Richard Whipp, ''Patterns of Labour – Work and Social Change in the Pottery Industry'' (1990).</ref><ref>Simeon Shaw, ''History of the Staffordshire Potteries: And the Rise and Progress of the Manufacture of Pottery and Porcelain; with References to Genuine Specimens, and Notices of Eminent Potters'' (1900). [https://archive.org/details/historystafford00shawgoog At the Internet Archive.]</ref> [[Josiah Wedgwood]] (1730–1795) was the dominant leader.<ref>Brian Dolan, ''Wedgwood: The First Tycoon'' (2004).</ref>

In North Staffordshire hundreds of companies produced all kinds of pottery, from tablewares and decorative pieces to industrial items.  The main pottery types of earthenware, stoneware and porcelain were all made in large quantities, and the Staffordshire industry was a major innovator in developing new varieties of ceramic bodies such as [[bone china]] and [[jasperware]], as well as pioneering [[transfer printing]] and other glazing and decorating techniques.  In general Staffordshire was strongest in the middle and low price ranges, though the finest and most expensive types of wares were also made.<ref>Aileen Dawson, ""The Growth of the Staffordshire Ceramic Industry", in Freestone, Ian, [[David Gaimster|Gaimster, David R. M.]] (eds), ''Pottery in the Making: World Ceramic Traditions'' (1997), pp 200–205</ref>

By the late 18th century North Staffordshire was the largest producer of ceramics in the UK, despite significant hubs elsewhere.  Large export markets took Staffordshire pottery around the world, especially in the 19th century.<ref>Dawson, 200–201</ref>  Production had begun to decline in the late 19th century, as other countries developed their industries, and declined notably after World War II. Employment fell from 45,000 in 1975 to 23,000 in 1991, and 13,000 in 2002.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2002/may/29/guardiansocietysupplement | title=Gone to pot | newspaper=The Guardian | date=29 May 2002 | last1=Ridge | first1=Mian }}</ref>

====Arabic pottery====
{{Main|Islamic pottery|Persian pottery}}

Early [[Islamic pottery]] followed the forms of the regions which the Arabs conquered. Eventually, however, there was cross-fertilization between the regions. This was most notable in the [[Chinese influences on Islamic pottery]]. Trade between China and Islam took place via the system of trading posts over the lengthy [[Silk Road]]. Middle Eastern nations imported stoneware and later porcelain from China. China imported the minerals for [[Cobalt blue]] from the Islamic ruled [[Persia]] to decorate their [[blue and white porcelain]], which they then exported to the Islamic world.

Likewise, Arabic art contributed to a lasting pottery form identified as [[Hispano-Moresque]] in [[Andalucia]]. Unique Islamic forms were also developed, including [[fritware]], [[lusterware]] and specialized glazes like [[tin-glazing]], which led to the development of the popular [[maiolica]].<ref>Nelson (1966), pp. 23–26</ref>

One major emphasis in ceramic development in the Muslim world was the use of [[tile]] and [[Tile#Decorative tilework and coloured brick|decorative tilework]].

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Thr muze art islam 7.jpg|alt=|Bowl painted on slip under transparent glaze ([[polychrome]]), 9th or 10th century, [[Nishapur]]. [[National Museum of Iran]]
File:Bowl, Mina'i ("enameled") ware MET DP372046 (cropped).jpg|Persian [[mina'i ware]] bowl with couple in a garden, around 1200.  These wares are the first to use [[overglaze enamel]] decoration.
File:Chess Set MET DP170393.jpg|alt=|Chess set ([[Shatranj|Shatrang]]); Gaming pieces. 12th century, [[Nishapur]] glazed [[fritware]]. [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
</gallery>

====Americas====
{{Main|Ceramics of indigenous peoples of the Americas}}
[[File:Sun God Effigy Lid, 500-700 AD, Maya culture, Mexico, Guatemala, or Belize, earthenware - Gardiner Museum, Toronto - DSC01179.JPG|thumb|200px|Earthenware effigy of the Sun God. Maya culture, 500–700 CE]]
Most evidence points to an independent development of pottery in the Native American cultures, with the earliest known dates from Brazil, from 9,500 to 5,000 years ago and 7,000 to 6,000 years ago.<ref name="Roosevelt 1996 264–349"/> Further north in [[Mesoamerica]], dates begin with the [[Mesoamerican chronology#archaic|Archaic Era]] (3500–2000 BC), and into the [[Mesoamerican chronology#PreclaPreclassic Era or Formative Period|Formative period]] (2000 BC – AD 200). These cultures did not develop the stoneware, porcelain or glazes found in the Old World. [[Maya ceramics]] include finely painted vessels, usually beakers, with elaborate scenes with several figures and texts.  Several cultures, beginning with the [[Olmec]], made terracotta sculpture, and sculptural pieces of humans or animals that are also vessels are produced in many places, with [[Moche portrait vessel]]s among the finest.

====Africa====
[[File:Reconstructed lotiform chalice, public domain image from the MET.jpg|thumb|200px|Faience lotiform chalice. Egypt 1070–664 BCE ([[Lotiform vessels (Metropolitan Museum of Art)|reconstructed]] from eight fragments)]]
The oldest pottery in the world outside of east Asia can be found in Africa. In 2007, Swiss archaeologists discovered pieces of some of the oldest pottery in [[Africa]] at [[Ounjougou]] in the central region of Mali, dating to at least 9,400 BC.<ref name=swissinfo/> Excavations in the [[Bosumpra Cave]] on the [[Kwahu Plateau]] in southeastern Ghana, have revealed well-manufactured pottery decorated with channelling and impressed peigne fileté rigide dating from the early tenth millennium cal. BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Watson |first1=Derek J. |title=Bosumpra revisited: 12,500 years on the Kwahu Plateau, Ghana, as viewed from "On top of the hill" |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321186127 |journal=Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa |date=2 October 2017 |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=437–517 |doi=10.1080/0067270X.2017.1393925|s2cid=165755536 }}</ref> Following the emergence of [[#Africa|pottery traditions]] in the Ounjougou region of [[Mali]] around 11,900 BP and in the Bosumpra region of [[Ghana]] soon after, ceramics later arrived in the [[Iho Eleru]] region of [[Nigeria]].<ref name="Cerasoni">{{cite journal |last1=Cerasoni |first1=Jacopo Niccolò |display-authors=etal |title=Human interactions with tropical environments over the last 14,000 years at Iho Eleru, Nigeria |journal=iScience |date=17 March 2023 |volume=26 |issue=3 |page=106153 |doi=10.1016/j.isci.2023.106153 |pmid=36843842 |issn=2589-0042 |pmc=9950523 |oclc=9806331324 |bibcode=2023iSci...26j6153C |s2cid=256747182}}</ref> In later periods, a relationship of the introduction of pot-making in some parts of [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] with the spread of [[Bantu languages]] has been long recognized, although the details remain controversial and awaiting further research, and no consensus has been reached.<ref name="jstor.org">See {{citation |jstor=4501038|title=Pots, Words and the Bantu Problem: On Lexical Reconstruction and Early African History|last1=Bostoen|first1=Koen|journal=The Journal of African History|year=2007|volume=48|issue=2|pages=173–199|doi=10.1017/S002185370700254X|hdl=1854/LU-446281 |s2cid=31956178|url=https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/446281|hdl-access=free}} for a recent discussion of the issues, and links to further literature.</ref>

Use of pottery was then found in the [[Bir Kiseiba|Bir Kiseiba region]], with a surplus of pottery shards dated roughly 9,300 BC. Archeological digs around [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] have continued to bring more history of ceramic use to light, including pottery shards found in Ravin de la Mouche, which were carbon dated to roughly 7,500 BC. After 8,000 BC the prevalence of ceramics in [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] surged, becoming a continent wide phenomenon.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jesse |first=Friederike |date=2010 |title=Early Pottery in Northern Africa - An Overview |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43135518 |journal=Journal of African Archaeology |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=219–238 |doi=10.3213/1612-1651-10171 |jstor=43135518 |issn=1612-1651}}</ref>

====Oceania====
Pottery has been found in archaeological sites across the islands of Oceania. It is attributed to an ancient archaeological culture called the [[Lapita]]. Another form of pottery called ''Plainware'' is found throughout sites of Oceania. The relationship between Lapita pottery and Plainware is not altogether clear.

The [[Indigenous Australians]] never developed pottery.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aboriginalculture.com.au/introduction.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316213213/http://www.aboriginalculture.com.au/introduction.shtml |url-status=dead |title=Aboriginal Culture: Introduction|archive-date=March 16, 2015}}</ref> After Europeans came to Australia and settled, they found deposits of clay which were analysed by English potters as excellent for making pottery. Less than 20 years later, Europeans came to Australia and began creating pottery. Since then, ceramic manufacturing, mass-produced pottery and studio pottery have flourished in Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://home.exetel.com.au/pottery/pottery/pottery.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317142740/http://home.exetel.com.au/pottery/pottery/pottery.htm |url-status=dead |title=History of Australian Pottery|archive-date=March 17, 2012}}</ref>