A Pottery History

An illustrated timeline of the history of pottery:

The following is an illustrated timeline introduction into the history of pottery. It is by no means complete and it is intended as an overview into this art form. Where possible, modern adaptations of historical designs are also included.

Pottery making is one of the oldest activities of humankind. By exploring pottery throughout the ages, we can glimpse into our cultural histories. Pottery was a functional item in daily life with its creation utilizing readily available resources and incorporating innovative designs into often functional art forms. Many technique and design similarities appear throughout the world at different times in history.

Enjoy the journey!

12,000 B.C. - First known pottery - Nasunahara, Japan

Used by hunter/gatherers in Japan; coil

7,000 B.C. - Africa

Used by groups of hunters and fisherman – Nile Valley. Designs were made by dragging the spine of a fish across clay

6,000 - 5,000 B.C. - Central Europe

Earliest pottery vessels of central Europe known as Bandkeramik decorated with incised lines and infilled with dots or cross-hatching – found from France to Hungary to Ukraine

    6,000 - 5,000 - Susa, Iran



Painted beakers from Iran

5,000 - 4500 B.C. - The Nile Valley
Burnished pottery made by the Badarian people of the Nile Valley characteristically red with black rims. The pottery was fired with rims buried in sand. They were highly burnished to give smooth, polished surface.
4,000 B.C. - Ukraine

Decorated pottery; red geometric design

Prior to 3,000 B.C. - Clay tablet – Mesopotamia

Clay used for some of the earliest stages of writing. The clay tablet was used to record crops (administrative records) which were kept by temple bureaucrats and merchants in order to tract revenues and transactions. Clay was readily available and was impressed by scribes with a rectangular stylus

3400 B.C. - The Nile Valley

Temple bureaucrats invented this incised cylinder seal to replace stamps previously used on tablets. The seal could be rolled over larger areas and was also used for official decorations

3,000 B. C. - Valdivia, Ecuador

The earliest known pottery representations of humans in the Americas. All figures were highly stylized

In this example the simplicity of nude body contrasts with the elaborate and stylized hairstyle

2,400 B.C. - Barnack, Cambridgeshire, England

These standardized and sized pottery beakers were probably used for mead or honey sweetened brew popular during this time frame

2,200 - 1,800 B.C. - Cyclades

Cluster vase

1,600 - 1,400 B.C. - Minoan Crete

The potter's wheel (thought to be invented by the Chinese circa 3,000 B.C.) was now widely used in the areas surrounding Crete. Food storage vessels such as this were used to deliver olive oil, wine, grain and other agricultural products to such places as the palaces of Knossos in Minoan Crete. The products were paid as a tax or tribute and much of bounty was used to support royal household. Excess products were also exported overseas. The following are also examples of pottery of Santorini, Greece - Akrotiri - during this same time period:

1,600 - 1,400 B.C. - Ocós, Guatemala

Decorative grooves in the clay are made with shells or impressed with fabric or cord. This shard was found near Chiapas on the Mexican/Guatemala border. It represents some of earliest ceramics in Mesoamerica and may be related to Chorrera ceramic tradition of Ecuador

1200 B.C. - central Europe

During this time period burying the dead was mostly abandoned and, instead, the dead were cremated with ashes buried in funeral urn in cemeteries known as urn-fields. The urns are known for uniformity and similar urns were used for the rich and poor alike

1200 - 500 B.C. - Tlatilco, Mexico

Ceramic figurines and other ceramic objects of burials have been found beneath floor of houses. The social class of deceased was determined by number and type of objects buried with them.

1200 - 1000 B.C. - Santa Cruz Islands

Red slipped pottery vessels with incised patterns, mostly geometric, have been discovered in the western Pacific Islands (including modern Tonga and Samoa)

1000 - 800 B.C. - Tlatilco, Mexico and Costa Rica

Ceramic stamps were used to decorate skin and fabric. Discovery of the stamps indicates historic trading between Latin America including Costa Rica and Tlatilco, Mexico.

1000-800 B.C. - Ecuador

This fragment of a Chorrera ceramic vessel design is reminiscent of Olmec motifs - possibly showing trading between South and Central America.

700 - 600 B.C. - Greece

Many Greeks expanded beyond their borders due to lack of space. Their colonies influenced their non-Greek neighbors and gave them a taste for wine and perfume. Pottery vessels were used for these luxuries beginning lucrative trade to now modern Italy. Amphoras, first Greek then Roman (200 B.C.) were used for transporting wine and olive oil.

500 - 400 B.C. – Greece

The red figures on black illustrated wine parties. Wine was drunk from pottery vessels. These types of pottery were produced in the most famous workshops in Attica (530 B.C.) These designs were widely copied especially in the Greek colonies of southern Italy.

400 - 300 B.C.

The areas now known as Switzerland and France imported the potter's wheel from the Mediterranean world and incorporated new pottery techniques with decorative patterns of curving spirals known as La Tène art named for the site first found in Switzerland. These patterns are widely found on pottery throughout western and central Europe.

221 B.C. - China

Qin Shi Huangdi was the emperor who unified China. He was responsible for the building of the Great Wall. He was buried with thousands of life-sized terra cotta models of warriors, chariots and horses. It is said that the mausoleum and surrounding burial pits took 700,000 conscripted laborers 35 years to build.

200 B.C. – Ganges Delta – Tamluk, India

This terra cotta figurine represents Yakshi (the benign nature spirit) and represents the dress of the period.

100 B.C. - Louisiana, U.S.A.

This incised pottery found in Louisiana is similar to Hopewell community pottery found in Illinois and the Ohio River Valley indicating trade between the areas. The vessels were used for storage, transportation and cooking.

100 B.C. - A.D. 1 - China

Terra cotta bricks and tiles decorated with impressed patterns were used for building palaces and tombs.

100 B.C. - 1 A.D. - Southern Peru

The Nazca culture created designs using anthropomorphic characters and iconography on their pottery objects.

100 B.C, - 1 A.D. 100 - China

A glazed stoneware jar from the Han dynasty; wheel made; reduction fired

A.D. 300 -400 - Monte Albán, Oaxaca, Mexico

These Zapotec funerary urns were produced on a prolific scale - stamped out from molds in a version of an early assembly line.

A.D. 400 - 500 - Persia

Persia was the melting pot of religions. Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire and was practiced alongside the Persian state religion, Zoroastrianism. In addition to the official religions there were also many populist faiths as evidenced by small bowls with inscribed magical incantations in Aramaic, Syriac or Hebrew which were found buried beneath the floors of Mesopotamian houses.

A.D. 700 - 750 - Korea

These glazed pots with distinctive indigenous styles were used as ceremonial items.

A.D. 600 - 800 - Moche Valley, Peru

Distinctive decorated pottery with brown line drawings on a beige background depicting scenes of hunting, warfare, feasts and other aspects of daily life.

A.D. 600 - 800 - Sipán, Peru and Costa Rica

Grave goods including ceramics for use in the afterlife were included with corpses dressed with objects of gold, lapis lazuli and shells to indicate their relative wealth.

A.D. 800 -1000 - El Salvador

These Mayan ceramic ceremonial vessels were decorated with monkeys and are examples of Toltec cultural influences

A.D. 800 - 1000 - Peru and Central America

Historic and modern versions of whistles found in Peru and Central America.

A.D. 800 - 850 - Tungarahua, Ecuador

This Zoomorphic Efficy Vessel represents a stylized puma or jaguar with painted geometric motifs achieved using a resist technique

A.D. 900 - 950 - Costa Rica

Cattle farming and milk were an important part of diet. Milk was collected and stored in bag-shaped ceramic containers.

A.D. 950 -1000 - Nicaragua and Costa Rica

This polychrome pottery was probably influenced through trade contacts of Mayan civilizations to the north.

A.D. 950 - 1000 - China

This Chinese glazed stoneware was fired at extremely high temperatures in the Yue kilns of central China. The glaze was usually a thin silver- green glaze and the pots were either plain or adorned with incised decoration. Many of the pots were then exported to The Philippines, Indonesia, The Persian Gulf and Egypt.

A.D. 1075 - Arizona, U.S.A.

This Sinagua bowl combined geometric designs and human forms.

A.D. 1050 - Mississippi Valley in North America

Animal symbolism such as a rattlesnake with falcon wings and deer antlers were Mississippian symbols for the underworld, the sky and the earth.

A.D. 1055 - Kashan, Iran

Polychrome glaze ware from Kashan, a major center for ceramic production in the Seljik era

A.D. 1000 - 1050 Herrara, Panama

This zoomorphic style known as Parita Polychrome is highly individualistic and painted in red, black and purple.

A.D. 1050 - 1100 - Mimbres Pottery, Mimbres Valley, New Mexico

These black on white ceramics were common grave goods from A.D. 900 - 1200. Many have “kill” holes making them useless for practical purposes as they were intended for mortuary purposes.

A.D. 1100 - 1150 - Korea

Korea's own distinct style of an eight-petaled porcelain cup on an inverted lotus. This technique was derived from the Chinese tradition.

A.D. 1100 - 1150 - Iran

Sgraffito-ware pottery was developed by Iranian potter. The word "sgraffito" is derived from the Italian word “sgraffire” meaning "to scratch." The vessel is covered with a white slip and a design is carved through it. Glaze is applied before firing.

A.D. 1150 - 1200 - Casas Grande region, Mexico

   This pottery was traded as far south as southern Mexico and into southwestern North America

    ...and it is still a tradition that lives on today in the region:

A.D. 1150 -1200 - Peru

The Chancay ceramics of Peru specialized in the production of human statuettes, usually couples with outstretched arms and caps.

A.D. 1200 - 1250 - Iran

The Middle Eastern ceramics of Iran displayed innovations such and blue and black painted underglaze decorations technically demanding for uses such as covers for entire tombs and niches in mosques (mihrabs).