Neolithic Pottery Manufacture
The first farmers introduced an important new type of container - the pot. Made from baked clay, it could stand the direct heat from a fire during cooking, a distinct advantage over organic containers.
The earliest pottery known from Meayll Hill is characterised by open-mouthed, shouldered, round-based bowls finely made from well-fired clays evenly tempered with mica and white quartz grits.
The pottery known from Ronaldsway and other sites developed locally, and although later in date than the Meayll Hill pottery, is much cruder. Large jars with thick, straight-sided walls, round bases and applied rims and cordons are common. The fabric is very coarse and some of the tempering grits exceed 10mm in diameter.
Decoration on Manx Neolithic pots occurs mainly at or near the rim. The Meayll Hill farmers usually burnished their pots by rubbing and polishing the almost dry surface before decorating them whereas Ronaldsway farmers preferred the effects obtained from pressing objects in to the wet clay. Linear, drawn and incised patterns are common as are small dots made with a pointed tool or hollow feather quill. Bird bones were favoured as versatile tools, impressions being made with both the ball joint and knuckle ends as well as the cut end of the hollow shaft.
Making Pottery
Preparation Before clay could be used to make a pot it had to be cleaned and evenly mixed. To reduce shrinkage during drying and firing a tempering material such as crushed rock was added and mixed in.
Shaping Small, simple pots were shaped from a hand-held ball of clay but most prehistoric pots were built up from coils or wedges which were smoothed together as the pot grew.
Finishing When complete, the walls of large pots might be beaten to consolidate the rings and smooth the surface using a wooden bat and an anvil stone. The rim would be completed last and any decorative finishes applied. Final touches might include stamped and incised decoration and burnishing after the pot had dried to the consistency of stiff leather. The finished pots were then fired, probably in a simple bonfire kiln. Extra clay was sometimes added to thicken the rim.
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