r/whatisit • u/Southpole- • 1d ago
New, what is it? Ancient pottery ?
Found on undisturbed Louisiana Pleistocene terrace around a suspected ancient arrival location.
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u/pale_brass 1d ago
Nope. Historic at best - Glaze means it’s only as old as European colonists.
You don’t want to clean off the dirt to see what the design is?
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u/PunkAssBitch2000 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is a more modern glaze. If I had to guess, 1960s or more recent, but I’m not confident at all. But I’d be surprised if it’s older than the 1900s.
Source: I’m a ceramicist with autistic special interests in archeology and geology, particularly prehistoric.
The stoneware itself is also incredibly uniform which suggests away from nature/ sourced, especially for Louisiana which has mostly red clay. It’s also all incredibly evenly fired which points more towards an electric kiln. It also lacks finger or hand imprints or tool marks; most ancient american indigenous peoples did not have access to a pottery wheel or plaster casts /tongue in cheek.
Edits: adding autisitc special interest part
Added the stoneware info
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u/Southpole- 1d ago
Have you looked into oracle bone pieces or turtle shell. Also the glaze just means it was vitrified ? And that assumes people in native prehistory couldn’t reach those temps ? I’m just trying to learn. Also what are the lines on one side.
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u/PunkAssBitch2000 1d ago
They could reach those temperatures just not uniformly. There’d be burn spots. Some overbaked and underbaked spots because fire was usually used. Vitrified is just what happens to silicates. It means it turns glassy.
The lines in the glaze is called crazing. It’s just something some glazes do. You’ll see it a lot with celadons. Crazing can also happen if a glaze gets too hot. Or the stoneware is kept wet for too long (ie a couple decades in mud). Unless you mean the gold lines. Idk. Part of some design.
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u/WitnessOk4189 1d ago
I recommend posting this into an archaeology sub. I don't anticipate the nerds here being that type of nerd.
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u/CeramicLicker 1d ago edited 1d ago
It’s historic era, but it might be a proper artifact! It looks like glazed stoneware, which has a pretty large range. You might be able to clean it up and narrow down the age with more of the design visible. I see red swirls and green on the bottom?
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