Life and Death in Assynt's Past

As part of our investigations into how people lived and died in Assynt’s past, we are endeavouring to find out how they made pottery, and yesterday saw the first part of what we hope may evolve into some full-blown experimental archaeology. The hypothesis to be tested was that neolithic ceramicists must have used kilns of some sort, and we set about refuting it by showing that in fact pots can be fired on an ordinary open fire. We lit the fire at 10.30, well in advance of Elphin’s chicken race (OK, we know the chicken race isn’t a truly authentic neolithic kind of thing, but there wasn’t a convenient swan race or pig race or any other kind of race to fire our pots alongside, so a chicken race just had to do).

By noon we had authentic-looking neolithic pot shards and we now understand why so much broken pottery is found at dig sites… Watch this!

Before...

...and after.

Having mastered how to make pots go pop, we turned our hands to trying to keep them in one piece. This was a bit more challenging. We tried various different speeds of entry into the fire, with little effect.

To our surprise, and to the delight of those who had wielded the spades, the only pots which seemed to be able to withstand the fire were those made from clay that had been dug up in Elphin, close to where Lawrence the goat was buried. As one onlooker pointed out, it’s well known that goats do not explode. It seems this characteristic of Lawrence must have impregnated the clay. Until someone comes up with a better one, that’s our theory and we’re sticking to it. 

Brenda seemed to find it a bit disappointing that the pots kept exploding. Perhaps that’s because she’s a potter. Everyone else thought it was highly entertaining.But eventually we succumbed to her suggestions to try a different approach.

We let the fire die down and cool a bit, then put warmed pots on and built the fire up again around them. Just before it started going like a rocket, we thought we’d better find something to slow it down. Grass cuttings were to hand, and, along with a huge amount of smoke, we managed to create a new dimension to the spectacle. By the end of the day, as the fire burned itself down, a couple of pots seemed to remain, miraculously unexploded, in among the embers.

Our hypothesis has been refuted, but we now think we know why people invented kilns. Further experiments will follow.

As part of the ‘how people lived back then’ thread of the project, on November 12 we will be doing textiles – every stage of wool handling from flock to sock, plus a bit of basket work thrown in, and we’ll be learning some old Gaelic songs as well. All day in Lochinver hall, and then a ceilidh in the evening at Drumbeg. Bring your spindle.