Traditional Pottery Techniques of Pakistan: Field and Laboratory Studies

Abstract

The first part of this work deals with detailed observations obtained during four field expeditions (1967-1971) in Pakistan, for pottery making of unglazed ware in 13 areas and glazed ware in 5 major centers.<br/>For each center a brief outline of the area is given, followed by an outline of the potter&amp;apos;s craft under the following guidelines: tools and equipment, materials gathering and preparation, forming and finishing techniques, decoration (including slips and pigments), glazing, kilns and firing, and types of ware. Most of the common pottery-making techniques in Pakistan are included although fieldwork was primarily in the Northwest Frontier Province and Panjab. Pottery-related crafts such as brickmaking and <I>tanur</I> (bread oven) making are briefly discussed.<br/>In the second part of this work detailed relationships between pottery-making techniques, outlined in the first section, are developed under the headings of tools and equipment, materials, forming and finishing techniques, slips, pigments and colorants, glazes, and kilns and firing. Technical studies include mineralogy studies of clays and tempering materials, particle size distribution studies of nonplastic tempering materials, and electron microprobe analyses of fired glazes.<br/>The monograph provides essential data for use in comparative studies of archeological ceramics from Pakistan, as well as a detailed record of the rapidly disappearing pottery crafts of that country, including five appendixes and a glossary.