Wood Fired Pottery Kilns

I mention this type first because wood fired pottery is the root of all pottery. The first pots from 10,000 years ago were baked on open wood bonfires. Over time the fires were built in enclosed spaces containing the fire, called kilns.

Smaller kilns eventually evolved into very large and intricate "climbing kilns", which contain large firing rooms extending up gently sloping hillsides.

In a climbing kiln the fire is stoked in the bottom and the heat rises up the hillside through the kiln, firing all the pottery inside.

The construction of these kilns is an art in itself. There are rooms and chambers with specially designed vents to channel the heat in specific directions.

Wood firing is a method that is still used today by some pottery artists. It is valued for the rich, organic qualities it produces in the surfaces of the pottery.

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