Ceramics Through Time

Ceramics by definition are inorganic solid, nonmetallic substances made by the action of heating and cooling. Ceramics are found in everything from toilets to car spark plugs to the space shuttle. The class of materials includes glass, bricks, tiles, and pottery. Ceramic pottery are among the oldest man-made objects found.

Prehistoric Pottery Shards

Prehistoric Pottery

Prehistoric Pottery

The oldest prehistoric pottery discovered was created 26,000 years ago according to radio carbon dating. Early man discovered that mixing mammoth fat with bone, bone ash, and loess could be molded and dried in the sun to produce a fragile, heat-resistant material. Thus was born an early form of ceramic art. Around 6,000 BC, the ancient Greeks discovered that firing the soft clay produced a stronger pot they used for storage and burials.

Ancient Greek Pottery

Ancient Greek Pottery

                                                                                                                                               The next step in the development of ceramics was a precursor to glass called faience developed and used extensively by the ancient Egyptians around 4,000 BC. This material was the first known use of a glaze that can be seen on the objects pictured below.

Ancient Egyptian Jewelry

Egyptian Faience Figure

Porcelain, consisting of kaolin clay, glazing, and heating to 1,200 degrees Celsius, was discovered by the Chinese circa 600 AD. The high temperatures make porcelain very tough and very strong. As the pictures below indicate, porcelain can also be a beautiful medium for artistic expression.

Early Chinese Vase

Early Chine Vase

The next important advance was the development of refractory ceramics in 1870. This ceramic material could withstand very high temperatures and was used to make building bricks and bricks to line kilns and steel ovens. This was an important technology that advanced the industrial revolution.

Kiln Bricks

Replacing Bricks in Kiln

The broad definition of ceramics includes glass, china, porcelain, bricks, and dinnerware. The importance of this material in all our lives cannot be overstated.

Questions to Research

1. In what ways have you used a ceramic material today?

2. How would your life change if your access to ceramics was suddenly cut off?

3. How are ceramics used in the aerospace industries?