Pottery is the first synthetic material that humans made. Essentially artificial stone, pottery is a mixture of clay, water, and temper, transformed by the application of heat. Pottery first appears in the archaeological record of San Diego about 1,000 years…

The sherd above features cord marking, a surface decoration which involves pressing vegetal cordage or basketry into damp pottery.  Since the archaeological record of San Diego County rarely includes preserved textiles, these impressions are an important source of information about…

Indigenous peoples of Southern California have been creating and pit-firing clay pottery for thousands of years. Prehistorically, two pottery wares were constructed in the region. The inhabitants of the peninsular mountains produced Tizon brown ware while people in the Colorado…

Pottery was a valuable asset for people of the past. An olla is a ceramic jar, often unglazed, used for cooking, storage of water or dry foods, or for other purposes. They were watertight and rodent proof. Hot rocks were…