The Oldest Pottery

[Malthus]

For you anthropology types out there, this may be interesting: pottery use predates agriculture. World's first pottery shows up in the middle of the last ice age.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21985-oldest-pottery-hints-at-cookings-iceage-origins.html

[Syt]

Those must have been some seriously Hairy Potters.

[Malthus]

Those must have been some seriously Hairy Potters.

Seriously though - these were modern humans (i.e., no more hairy than the rest of us). 

[Admiral Yi]

pottery use predates agriculture.

That's not surprising.  Agriculture takes a large number of causal connections.  You watch a piece of mud dry in the sun and you've got pottery.

[Viking]

Those must have been some seriously Hairy Potters.

Seriously though - these were modern humans (i.e., no more hairy than the rest of us). 

Not quite true....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/shortcuts/2013/jan/15/are-pubic-lice-in-danger-of-extinction

but you main point that people since 200,000 years ago have been modern humans, though at times up to 11 different homonids existed during the existence of modern humans.

[Malthus]

pottery use predates agriculture.

That's not surprising.  Agriculture takes a large number of causal connections.  You watch a piece of mud dry in the sun and you've got pottery.

The main reason pottery was traditionally not thought to predate agriculture (well, except for figurines) wasn't taht people could not figure out how to do it, but rather that pottery dishware wasn't very practical for people who did not live all the time in one place - and living all the time in one place required agriculture.

If you are a hunter-gatherer, it is a bit inconvenient to lug heavy and breakable pottery bowls, jugs and plates about with you.

But evidently, this factor did not, in fact, prevent some hunter-gatherers from using pottery.

[crazy canuck]

pottery use predates agriculture.

That's not surprising.  Agriculture takes a large number of causal connections.  You watch a piece of mud dry in the sun and you've got pottery.

The main reason pottery was traditionally not thought to predate agriculture (well, except for figurines) wasn't taht people could not figure out how to do it, but rather that pottery dishware wasn't very practical for people who did not live all the time in one place - and living all the time in one place required agriculture.

If you are a hunter-gatherer, it is a bit inconvenient to lug heavy and breakable pottery bowls, jugs and plates about with you.

But evidently, this factor did not, in fact, prevent some hunter-gatherers from using pottery.

Makes sense I guess.  If you are out gathering a bunch of berries it makes sense to put them into a container that will hold its shape so that they dont all get smooshed (that is the technical term).

[Malthus]

pottery use predates agriculture.

That's not surprising.  Agriculture takes a large number of causal connections.  You watch a piece of mud dry in the sun and you've got pottery.

The main reason pottery was traditionally not thought to predate agriculture (well, except for figurines) wasn't taht people could not figure out how to do it, but rather that pottery dishware wasn't very practical for people who did not live all the time in one place - and living all the time in one place required agriculture.

If you are a hunter-gatherer, it is a bit inconvenient to lug heavy and breakable pottery bowls, jugs and plates about with you.

But evidently, this factor did not, in fact, prevent some hunter-gatherers from using pottery.

Makes sense I guess.  If you are out gathering a bunch of berries it makes sense to put them into a container that will hold its shape so that they dont all get smooshed (that is the technical term).

No-one is likely to use a pottery container for gathering berries. You'd make a basket out of organic materials - much lighter and also rigid.

Clearly, you failed to take Basket-Weaving 101 in university. 

[crazy canuck]

Clearly, you failed to take Basket-Weaving 101 in university. 

Guilty as charged.

[The Minsky Moment]

Pre-agrarian peoples could have semi-permanent abodes, like seasonal fishing or hunting grounds.

[PDH]

The problem with notions of pottery come from some misconceptions.  The rounds of foraging hunters are scheduled, with weeks-long stays at various location for seasonal activities, crude pots would be useful in these situations.  Beyond this is the notion of pottery being something that is permanent.  Instead, crude pottery was use and throw out - discarded remnants of previous years pots could be added to the clay if ground up.  Crude fire-hardened clay is quick to make and discard, and would not last that long (in archaeological terms) after being thrown out.

I have always suspected that the use of clay will continue to be pushed back to at least the time of seeming cultural awakening around 50kya.