Fuels and Fires: Clay Cooking Pots

Clay cooking pots and containers were constructed and fired by hand. In many cases they were handsome, thin walled, symmetrical, and decorated regionally, characteristically painted in the Southwest and inscribed in the East. The pots were invariably shaped with round or rounded-point bottoms, sometimes set into loose soil and ringed with fire, and sometimes propped and leveled over the fire with small easel stones. Pots with projecting ears and flaring rims were wrapped with cordage and suspended over the heat. Clay pots were made in all sizes. Some held more than 20 gallons and were used for boiling quantities of festival dishes, for reducing tree sap into syrup, and for storage. Clay pots were often admired by Europeans and were considered as well-formed and handsome as any being thrown on European potters’ wheels of the time.