15 No Ceramics s Age? 15.1.Ceramics and Civilization The utilization of ceramic materials by man is probably as old as human civilization itself.Stone,obsidian,clay,quartz,and min- eral ores are as much a part of the history of mankind as the prod- ucts which have been made of them.Among these products are tools,earthenware,stoneware,porcelain,as well as bricks,re- fractories,body paints,insulators,abrasives,and eventually mod- ern"high-tech ceramics"used,for example,in electronic equip- ment or jet engines.Actually,fired or baked ceramic objects are probably the oldest existing samples of handicraft which have come to us from ancient times.They are often the only archaeo- logic clues that witness former civilizations and habitats.More- over,there are scholars who believe that life took its origin from ceramics.And some ancient mythologies relate that man was cre- ated from clay.It might be of interest in this context that the He- brew word for soil,dirt,clay,or earth is "Adama."Taking all of these components into consideration,it might be well justified to ask why historians did not specifically designate a ceramics age. The answer is quite simple:stone,copper,bronze,and iron can be associated with reasonably well-defined time periods that have a beginning and frequently also an end during which these ma- terials were predominantly utilized for the creation of tools, weapons,and objects of art.In contrast to this,ceramic materi- als have been used continuously by man with essentially unbro- ken vigor commencing from many millennia ago until the pre- sent time.Thus,ceramics can be compared to a basso obstinato in a piece of music in which other instruments play the melody. Still,some identification of cultural stages through pottery is com- mon among historians and archaeologists,who distinguish a "pre- pottery"era from a pottery period.The latter one is classed by color,shape,hardness,and,notably,by decoration.15 The utilization of ceramic materials by man is probably as old as human civilization itself. Stone, obsidian, clay, quartz, and min￾eral ores are as much a part of the history of mankind as the prod￾ucts which have been made of them. Among these products are tools, earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, as well as bricks, re￾fractories, body paints, insulators, abrasives, and eventually mod￾ern “high-tech ceramics” used, for example, in electronic equip￾ment or jet engines. Actually, fired or baked ceramic objects are probably the oldest existing samples of handicraft which have come to us from ancient times. They are often the only archaeo￾logic clues that witness former civilizations and habitats. More￾over, there are scholars who believe that life took its origin from ceramics. And some ancient mythologies relate that man was cre￾ated from clay. It might be of interest in this context that the He￾brew word for soil, dirt, clay, or earth is “Adamá.” Taking all of these components into consideration, it might be well justified to ask why historians did not specifically designate a ceramics age. The answer is quite simple: stone, copper, bronze, and iron can be associated with reasonably well-defined time periods that have a beginning and frequently also an end during which these ma￾terials were predominantly utilized for the creation of tools, weapons, and objects of art. In contrast to this, ceramic materi￾als have been used continuously by man with essentially unbro￾ken vigor commencing from many millennia ago until the pre￾sent time. Thus, ceramics can be compared to a basso obstinato in a piece of music in which other instruments play the melody. Still, some identification of cultural stages through pottery is com￾mon among historians and archaeologists, who distinguish a “pre￾pottery” era from a pottery period. The latter one is classed by color, shape, hardness, and, notably, by decoration. No Ceramics Age? 15.1 • Ceramics and Civilization