Ceramology (POTTERY) with Potted History’s Graham Taylor & Sarah Lord Taylor

Porcelain. Earthenware. China. Archaeology. Stoneware. Anthropology. Amphora. Throwing wheels. We got it all. Master potters, history aficionados and Potted History’s icons Sarah Lord Taylor and Graham Taylor are here for our 8th anniversary episode. We get the dirt on ceramics versus pottery, where clay comes from, if there’s enough in the world, how can you spot clay in the wild, how long have humans being making pots, what were the first ceramics, what is glaze exactly, why did your pots explode, what excavations of stoneware have revealed about our ancient ancestors, the Venus figurines of history, the hidden ingredients that might surprise you, and how to feel about thrift store finds. Also: how to bond with a potter instantly.  

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Visit the Potted History website and follow them on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube

Donations went to Cancer Research UK and Little Lifts


Links to things we discussed:

Ceramology: what is it and why?

What’s the Difference Between Fine China & Dinnerware?

Wild Pottery: Clay - digging your own 

How to Find Clay, the Definitive Guide to Wild Clay with Photos

Mechanical Properties of Adobe Stabilized With Cow-Dung and Gamba-Straw Waste 

Terracotta statuette of woman with bird face: Cypriot ca. 1450–1200 BCE

Handmade Burnished Wares of the Late Bronze Age in Cyprus

Cautionary Tale Video: China Clay Disused Quarry Cornwall - Into the Belly of the Beast - Dangerous Mica Silt Pools

Working China Clay mine in Cornwall by Drone in This 4K

How China Clay Processing Plant Works | Kaolin Clay Mining | Clay Processing Industry

What is Blu Tack?

What is Raku Firing | Beginner's Guide to Raku Pottery

Historical Amphora

Jigger and Jolly Pottery Explained

Our New Jigger Jolly

Early Bronze Age Burial pots containing cremated remains

Did Prehistoric Children Make Figurines Out of Clay?

Children at play: The role of novices in the production of Europe’s earliest Upper Paleolithic ceramics

Etymology of grog

What is the Difference Between Earthenware and Stoneware Clay?

Efficient Recovery of Feldspar, Quartz, and Kaolin from Weathered Granite

Venus of Dolní Věstonice

Venus of Willendorf

Potted History/Phallus

Phallic Plaque Pompeii

Stone Phalluses of Pompeii

Bakeries In Pompeii

Earliest evidence for the use of pottery and Jōmon pottery

Jomon flame-style pottery, 3,000 BC, excavated at the Iwanohara site, Niigata Prefecture

‘No Need to Worry,’ Says ‘Wallace and Gromit’ Film Studio, After Clay Supplier Shuts Down

Guy testing ceramics on Instagram

Health Department Issues Lead Warning to New Yorkers: Avoid Using Traditional Ceramic Ware for Food and Drinks; May Contain Lead

Video: Community Pottery Class Psychoanalytical Lens


Other episodes you may enjoy:

Canistrumology (BASKET WEAVING)

Museology (MUSEUMS)

5th Anniversary Special! Xylology (LUMBER)

Indigenous Pedology (SOIL SCIENCE)

Experimental Archaeology (OLD TOOLS/ATLATLS)

Geology (ROCKS)

Scatology (POOP)


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Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth 

Transcripts by Aveline Malek

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

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Neuropathoimmunology (MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS) with Dr. Aaron Boster