My grandpa changed how I see old pottery shards

I was helping him clean out his garage last Saturday and he pulled out a box of broken ceramic pieces from his yard. He said every chip tells a story about who lived there and what they ate off of. It hit me different because I always just saw trash, but now I look at field fragments like tiny history books. Anyone else have a relative who made you see archaeological stuff in a new light?

3 comments

3 Comments

mark_price10d ago

That bit about "every chip tells a story" is exactly right. Next time you're out in a field or a creek bed, look for the rim sherds or pieces with any glaze left on them. The glaze color can tell you the rough age, like a cheap brown or green glaze usually means 1800s farm stuff. Also check the paste where it's broken - if it's real fine and smooth, it's probably store-bought, but if it's got little bits of sand in it and feels rough, that's likely homemade or local. You can piece together a surprising amount from just a handful of shards.

lucasw8210d ago

My granddad had a whole box of shards he found walking the creek behind his place, and he could tell you the year range just by holding one. @mark_price you nailed it about the glaze and paste thing, that's exactly how he taught me to sort them out. I remember one piece had that rough sandy paste and a thick brown drip glaze, and he said it was probably a jug from the 1820s made by some local potter nobody remembers. It's kind of sad but also COOL that these broken pieces are the only record left of those folks and their work. Thanks for bringing that up man, it's good to hear someone else gets it.

cole35610d ago

Nah, I think folks back then weren't all that different from us - just people making a living.

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