My phone constantly finds different things to focus on. 🙄 I miss the days of a center focal point cameras.

tempering created, the drawback is that anything with shell temper can't be fired as hot (thus as hard) as grog, sand or grit tempered ceramics because fired too hot & the shell particles can slake (absorb moisture & expand), breaking the item. #ceramics #archaeology

walls & allowing for larger, stronger pots.

Fine shell particles also make the clay easier to work due to CaCO3 + cations bonding to clay - cations.

The white shell speckles on a dark surface also have an aesthetic appeal. For all the advantages the Mississippian introduction of shell...

I reproduce native ceramics. A lot of Mississippian (ca. 900-1700 CE) pottery is shell tempered.

We normally think of the shell as being fired just enough to be able to pulverize it into temper. The shell, like any temper, takes up space in the clay body, reducing shrinkage, strengthening the...

Why am I making test beads with shell temper in them?

To better understand the highest "safe" temperature to fire shell-tempered ceramics, thus preventing shell slaking like happened with this Barton Incised jar. #ceramics

The bead with the black dot is the commercial earthenware clay.

The previous Parkin Punctated jar I built was ~17.5 cm in diameter. Here it is pre-fire. I forgot to take a photo after firing it. #ceramics #archaeology

The shell-tempered beads are currently 212.3° C (414° F). A little too hot to handle. #ceramics

The fired reproduction Parkin Punctated variety Parkin (Late Mississippian ca. 1400-1650 CE) bowl came out a perfect matte black. #ceramics #archaeology

Do not touch! #ceramics

Here is the bowl after being dropped into a bed of oak leaves. #ceramics #archaeology

I opted for 585° C to be extra safe. This is a photo before I pulled the Parkin Punctated bowl out of the kiln. #ceramics #archaeology

I was very tempted to fire the duck head platform pipe but declined for 2 reasons. 1st, it has only been drying for 4 days. 2nd, I'd have to pull all of the shell-tempered items from the kiln at 590 C so I could take the temperature up to 900 C or so. #ceramics

The small pot is a reproduction of a larger Parkin Punctated variety Parkin (Late Mississippian ca. 1400-1650 CE) jar. The beads are "test tiles" left over from determining what temperatures are safe for firing shell-tempered ceramics. Appears shell doesn't slake when fired below 600 C.

I'm torn about how to fire this pipe. I'd like to do the jet black effect like I did the raccoon pipe, but I also want to see what color this clay fires in an oxygen environment.

I told Ann that if I didn't like the color, I could refire & blacken it. #ceramics

Now, where's the vanilla ice cream & coffee. #pies #food