Pottery & History: The Earliest Evidence of Mathematical Thought

 

The craft of pottery ties us to our history, in part because the material is so durable. Pieces of the objects themselves survive, giving us clues as to the lives of the people who made them.

Much of prehistoric pottery, if it contains images at all, features images of animals or humans, reflecting the interests of the culture that produced it. A recent article in Science Daily reveals that Halafian pottery, from the Mesopotamian region in the era from 6100 B.C. to 5100 B.C., produced the earliest known botanical images on ware. This is of particular interest to me, as botanical imagery is sort of a specialty of mine! In Halafian ceramics, flowers, seedlings, shrubs, and branches are depicted but interestingly no edible plants, suggesting the images were purely aesthetic, rather than conveying information about agriculture or food gathering. The floral images were arranged in precise geometric patterns, indicating the makers engaged in mathematical thinking long before any known numerals or mathematical writings. The images are spaced evenly across the surfaces, and some floral images have petals arranged in mathematical sequences: 4, 8, 16, 32.

Math, science, history, unraveling the mystery! Or, if you prefer: prehistoric people! they were just like us.

Break Time!

I have most of the month of December off from teaching my classes at Portland Pottery. It's great, and it's not; I don't get paid, & I miss my students, but, you know, free time! Every year, I think I am going to get SO much done on my break. Every year the first week is spent preparing for holiday shows & delivering ware, & the second is spent...well, I believe the kids call it "bed rotting." 

Not entirely, of course; I still do laundry & dishes, and other basic household stuff; I still take my mom grocery shopping. I even still do my (admittedly pretty minimal) morning workout, I still cook. What I don't do? Go into the studio. Like, at all, that whole week. Which is weird because in the lead up to the break, I spend a lot of time thinking about all the stuff I want to make! But I can't seem to do it. My studio is in the same disorderly state I left it in at the end of the glazing marathon for the last firing. 

That all changes today! The 2nd week of my four-week break ended yesterday, and while I do still have some holiday stuff to do, I think my brain has had its needed hiatus. 

Merry Christmas, Bigfoot

 Yesterday was my friend's annual Christmas Cookie Decorating party. This is right in my wheelhouse, as royal icing cookies are a hobby of mine. I bring cookies & frosting & tools - though of course she has all of that stuff - and, because I'd rather end up with 10 good cookies than 30 half-assed cookies, I pick a theme & go about decorating a few, slowly & carefully. 

I usually prefer non-traditional cookie images; trees & Santas are fine & cute & I do make a few of them! But it's fun to reach for something that people will recognize as seasonal that they haven't seen a million times. This year I got quite interested in this thru-the-window idea:

Yes, that's Bigfoot! this one is my favorite. 

Some things I would do differently: stiffer frosting for the window frames; draw the smaller details - the cardinals, etc - with cookie markers instead of a paint brush; be more careful with the background icing; small tip for the Christmas lights around the window. 

Anyway! It's the time of year that i catch up on all the stuff I didn't do the rest of the year, since my last sales event is over, no more parties to attend. I don't know if I'm going to do an "official" batch of cookies this year but if I do I'm leaning towards more window scenes. 

Merry, happy, jolly - whatever works for you, I hope your season is bright. XO L