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FIRING OF VIKING AGE CERAMICS

Artefact type: Reconstructed clay vessels in an experimental firing.

Use: The firing of pottery in a covered kiln structure.

Location: Krookila.

Period: Modern.

Dating: 1997 A.D.

Photographer: Jari Näränen.

A well burnt kiln has a solid cover. The heat has dried the clayey turf on the top and the clay around the supporting structure, leaving the structure itself intact. The kiln is filled with black charcoal and black and shiny pottery.

The result of a burning varies with the skills of the potters and the materials used. Circumstance and coincidence are also major factors. Even in successful firings there will be cracked and discoloured vessels.

The breakage can be resulted by many factors: There may have been some large air bubbles left in the vessel structure, the different parts of the body may be poorly joined. The vessel may have been hit by something during firing or it may have suffered a thermal shock caused by a sudden rise of temperature. Fuel may have been damp and the steam may have gone into the vessel body thus exploding it, the vessel may have been next to a crack in the cover and the oxygen has discoloured it light brown.

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