We can group together that great and widely-spread class of vessels made
by the primitive races of mankind, whether before the dawn of
civilization or at the present day, for it is interesting to note that
many modern races still make pottery by the same rude method as the
Neolithic races of Europe and Asia, and with striking similarity of
result. In fact, the knowledge of the methods and practices of the
primitive potters of our own time furnishes the best possible guide to
the methods of fabrication and ornamentation of the ancient specimens
that are dug up from barrows, grave mounds, and tumuli. It is only
natural that the materials and methods of such pottery are always of the
simplest. The clay is used with very little preparation, and it is no
unusual thing to find bits of stone, gravel, &c., embedded in the paste
of such wares, though at a later stage of development they would have
been removed. It must be remarked, however, that no race of potters
practised the art for long without discovering that their vessels were
not so liable to crack in drying, or lose their shape in firing, if fine
sand or pounded "potsherds" were mixed with the clay; and when we are
dealing with the work of races that have passed beyond the Stone Age and
have learned the use of metals we find this custom universal.
There are three methods of shaping which seem to be common to almost
every primitive race:--