Florin Dumitru
p2b
neolithic-like pottery
neolithic-like pottery
The prehistoric pottery in Romania fascinates by its diversity, quality and exquisite sense of beauty. A number of European Neolithic cultures are known all over the world for their extremely valuable pottery production. Each of these cultures can be distinguished according to their specific forms and decors. From the archaeological perspective, pottery is considered to be a “vectorial / leading fossil” helping to identify the human communities that occupied a certain area during a certain past period of time.
The project
The ongoing project entitled “Replica” intends to recreate, in an experimental manner, the clay “adventure” from its starting point as a geologic sediment to its final phase, when it becomes a finite art object. While achieving this complex process, we have minutely tried to rediscover and at the same time apply the prehistoric pottery and statue carving techniques.
The beginning
Basket working was considered to be the first handcrafted recipients. Later on these baskets were covered with clay. This is one of the hypotheses regarding the starting point of pottery making. It is believed that ceramic recipients appeared as a result of some chance basket burning. These recipients had a major peculiarity – water could be boiled into them. Gradually, people ceased using the wickerwork support and started using long clay bands to build the recipient. These bands went upwards, from the basis to the recipient aperture.
The clay
The first step taken in realising the recipient you are holding in this very moment was to discover a resource of high quality raw material. Thus, the clay we have used was found in the proximity of ancient pottery centres situated in the southern regions of Romania. It has been used for centuries in pottery production. The clay needs to be exposed to at least one winter frost in order to acquire the necessary plastic qualities; only afterwards water is added and it gets sufficiently well homogenized to obtain the consistency to mould the recipient.
The technique
The process we use to build the recipients tries to reproduce as close as possible the Neolithic one, called en colombin. The construction of such a recipient starts form the basis, superposing clay bands which are consequently homogenized, from both the interior and exterior, by means of a bone or wooden spatula. Building bigger dimension recipients raises some problems - in this case the technical procedure requires higher attention as well as a longer time for its construction. This technique resembles the one that swallows use to build their nests – while the basis of the recipient begins to dry, the upper part is maintained wet so that the building process could be continued. The recipients’ decoration with incisions or excisions is realised before they are completely dried. After the completion of these first stages, the recipients are stored in a shadowy place since a rapid dehydration could deform or even crack them.
The pigments
Before being burnt, the recipients are painted with mineral pigments, resistant to high temperatures of over 700° Celsius. The pigments’ extraction is realised in a quite resembling manner to the one practiced in prehistory. The red pigment is obtained from sediment containing a high concentration of iron oxide. The white is obtained from a special type of clay brought from an area rich in kaolin deposits, situated in the proximity of Medgidia town. The black colour is obtained by grinding the slag resulted from iron burning.
The kiln
The recipients are burnt in a kiln built after the Neolithic model – it is a bicameral clay kiln in which a high quality oxidising burning can be realised. The recipients are carefully placed into the kiln in a well established order so that the hot air can circulate, realising thus a complete burning. They are positioned in circles; the widest circle comes first. On the pile top, a lid of broken recipients is made.
The burning
At the beginning, the fire is made with soft wood such as poplar, lime tree or willow wood cut in small pieces – 30 cm at most. They have a lesser caloric power and are used for the gradual kiln heating. At this stage, the wood is set at the kiln aperture, as far as possible from the recipients because a high temperature without a preliminary gradual heating would crack them. This stage can last up to three hours. At this point, wood with a higher caloric power such as poplar, lime tree or willow wood is introduced. The best wood that can be used in pottery burning is the fir wood. The wood pieces should be 80 cm long and cut thinly. The burning can last up to twelve hours.
The culture of Cucuteni is known to have appeared around 5000 years ago in the eastern part of Romania, more precisely in the Central and Western parts of a region called Moldavia. It started its existence during the last phase of a Precucutenian culture and undertook some influences from Gumelnita and Petresti cultures. It belongs to the great painted ceramics complex known by the name of Ariuşd – Cucuteni – Tripolie. Further phases – A, A-B, B and C have been stratigraphically and typologically identified to have existed during its long-lasting life of more than 700 years (around 3500 BC – 2900 BC).
Working the land was considered to be the basic occupation of these communities, but they were animal breeders as well. They took great interest in breeding taurines. Haunting was of a secondary importance to them.
Among the countless and outstanding artistic manifestations belonging to the Neo- eneolithic epoch 5000 years ago, and which appeared in both Romania and the rest of Europe, Cucuteni culture stands as the symbol of one of the greatest achievements of the prehistoric man’s genius. As compared to the contemporary cultures, Cucuteni is undoubtly the most impressive of them. The artistic value of its painted pottery is genuine and surpasses the most exquisite manifestations belonging to most of the European cultures of that epoch.
wwwdumitruflorin.eu
p2b
neolithic-like pottery
neolithic-like pottery
The prehistoric pottery in Romania fascinates by its diversity, quality and exquisite sense of beauty. A number of European Neolithic cultures are known all over the world for their extremely valuable pottery production. Each of these cultures can be distinguished according to their specific forms and decors. From the archaeological perspective, pottery is considered to be a “vectorial / leading fossil” helping to identify the human communities that occupied a certain area during a certain past period of time.
The project
The ongoing project entitled “Replica” intends to recreate, in an experimental manner, the clay “adventure” from its starting point as a geologic sediment to its final phase, when it becomes a finite art object. While achieving this complex process, we have minutely tried to rediscover and at the same time apply the prehistoric pottery and statue carving techniques.
The beginning
Basket working was considered to be the first handcrafted recipients. Later on these baskets were covered with clay. This is one of the hypotheses regarding the starting point of pottery making. It is believed that ceramic recipients appeared as a result of some chance basket burning. These recipients had a major peculiarity – water could be boiled into them. Gradually, people ceased using the wickerwork support and started using long clay bands to build the recipient. These bands went upwards, from the basis to the recipient aperture.
The clay
The first step taken in realising the recipient you are holding in this very moment was to discover a resource of high quality raw material. Thus, the clay we have used was found in the proximity of ancient pottery centres situated in the southern regions of Romania. It has been used for centuries in pottery production. The clay needs to be exposed to at least one winter frost in order to acquire the necessary plastic qualities; only afterwards water is added and it gets sufficiently well homogenized to obtain the consistency to mould the recipient.
The technique
The process we use to build the recipients tries to reproduce as close as possible the Neolithic one, called en colombin. The construction of such a recipient starts form the basis, superposing clay bands which are consequently homogenized, from both the interior and exterior, by means of a bone or wooden spatula. Building bigger dimension recipients raises some problems - in this case the technical procedure requires higher attention as well as a longer time for its construction. This technique resembles the one that swallows use to build their nests – while the basis of the recipient begins to dry, the upper part is maintained wet so that the building process could be continued. The recipients’ decoration with incisions or excisions is realised before they are completely dried. After the completion of these first stages, the recipients are stored in a shadowy place since a rapid dehydration could deform or even crack them.
The pigments
Before being burnt, the recipients are painted with mineral pigments, resistant to high temperatures of over 700° Celsius. The pigments’ extraction is realised in a quite resembling manner to the one practiced in prehistory. The red pigment is obtained from sediment containing a high concentration of iron oxide. The white is obtained from a special type of clay brought from an area rich in kaolin deposits, situated in the proximity of Medgidia town. The black colour is obtained by grinding the slag resulted from iron burning.
The kiln
The recipients are burnt in a kiln built after the Neolithic model – it is a bicameral clay kiln in which a high quality oxidising burning can be realised. The recipients are carefully placed into the kiln in a well established order so that the hot air can circulate, realising thus a complete burning. They are positioned in circles; the widest circle comes first. On the pile top, a lid of broken recipients is made.
The burning
At the beginning, the fire is made with soft wood such as poplar, lime tree or willow wood cut in small pieces – 30 cm at most. They have a lesser caloric power and are used for the gradual kiln heating. At this stage, the wood is set at the kiln aperture, as far as possible from the recipients because a high temperature without a preliminary gradual heating would crack them. This stage can last up to three hours. At this point, wood with a higher caloric power such as poplar, lime tree or willow wood is introduced. The best wood that can be used in pottery burning is the fir wood. The wood pieces should be 80 cm long and cut thinly. The burning can last up to twelve hours.
The culture of Cucuteni is known to have appeared around 5000 years ago in the eastern part of Romania, more precisely in the Central and Western parts of a region called Moldavia. It started its existence during the last phase of a Precucutenian culture and undertook some influences from Gumelnita and Petresti cultures. It belongs to the great painted ceramics complex known by the name of Ariuşd – Cucuteni – Tripolie. Further phases – A, A-B, B and C have been stratigraphically and typologically identified to have existed during its long-lasting life of more than 700 years (around 3500 BC – 2900 BC).
Working the land was considered to be the basic occupation of these communities, but they were animal breeders as well. They took great interest in breeding taurines. Haunting was of a secondary importance to them.
Among the countless and outstanding artistic manifestations belonging to the Neo- eneolithic epoch 5000 years ago, and which appeared in both Romania and the rest of Europe, Cucuteni culture stands as the symbol of one of the greatest achievements of the prehistoric man’s genius. As compared to the contemporary cultures, Cucuteni is undoubtly the most impressive of them. The artistic value of its painted pottery is genuine and surpasses the most exquisite manifestations belonging to most of the European cultures of that epoch.
wwwdumitruflorin.eu