How to Make Primitive Pottery

Follow me as I guide you through the whole process of making primitive pottery, some of my other videos show more details on parts of the process but this video shows the entire process of creating primitive pottery. Please post questions below and I will answer.

#clay #primitiveskills #anasazipottery

To learn more about how to make pottery like the ancients look at my online workshops at

You can purchase a gourd scraper like the one I use in this video

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45 thoughts on “How to Make Primitive Pottery”

  1. An Unfoldment of Consciousness Oracle by Maha Aten

    Thank you for the video 🙂 I enjoyed your clear talking style and it was a nice balance of visuals and explanation.

    1. Andy Ward's Ancient Pottery

      Thanks Sharon, you are well on your way.

  2. Elsa Fuster

    Hi Andy! thanks for all the videos. I’m finding them really useful. I’m wondering if the unglazed pots are safe to use for cooking over a fire?

    1. Andy Ward's Ancient Pottery

      Well, there is unsafe and there is unsafe. We could say that eating lead is unsafe because it is toxic, but unglazed pottery is not toxic. Our ancestors ate from unglazed pottery from the beginning of time up until the 19th century and they seemed to do okay. The issue is that unglazed ceramics are porous so liquids and juices from the food can soak into the pottery and sour over time much like a wood cutting board but I still use one of those too. I know a lot of people who do eat on unglazed ceramics and they are still alive and if you cook on it, the heating will kill any germs in the clay. Good luck.

    2. Elsa Fuster

      Thanks for the reassurance. Look forward to more videos. It’s keeping me sane during lockdown!

    3. rockettony101

      @Andy Ward’s Ancient Pottery I had gread luck dealing my pots by burnishing then in two to three stages of burnishing them and they keep water very well.

  3. Mário Carvalho

    Thank you, this is a excellent video! Greetings from a Portuguese primitive potter amateur!

  4. Dungeon Fizz

    Really enjoying your videos Andy thank you for sharing your enthusiasm for this craft. You’ve inspired me to have a crack. Kind regards from Melbourne Australia.

  5. Yilda Diquez

    I’m going to dive deep into your amazing channel. I recently found some beautiful red clay while camping & it inspired me to try this art form out.

    1. Andy Ward's Ancient Pottery

      Great! The nice thing about this kind of pottery is that anyone can do it almost anywhere.

  6. S Davis

    Andy, thank you so much for taking the time in making these fantastic videos! Informative, inspiring, just great! Thank you!!

    1. Andy Ward's Ancient Pottery

      Thank you I’m glad you are enjoying them.

  7. Mmo Majd

    Hi Andy,
    Greetings from Luxembourg. I appreciate your knowledge sharing. Your videos are really instructive.
    One question please: when you say you mix 1 part sand with 4 parts of clay. Which granulomtrie of sand would be appropriate. Concerning the clay, is it the ground you dig, grind and screened? or the clay been obtained by processing in water, sieve and drained dried?
    Thank you for your help.

    1. Andy Ward's Ancient Pottery

      I’m not clear on the word “granulomtrie” it does not seem to be an english word. Some clay I sieve but usually I grind it dry, check out this video https://youtu.be/ntn2-Le4DB8

    2. Dario Sin Apellido

      @Andy Ward’s Ancient Pottery He referes to the size of a grain of sand, as an example clay has a low granulometrie and maybe gravel has high granulometrie.

  8. isabella livingstone

    Hi there! Thank you so much for this video- does this make the pottery functional? Thank you!

    1. Andy Ward's Ancient Pottery

      This pottery can be used for a variety of purposes, but yet it is unglazed earthenware and so is at least slightly porous. My video next week will answer the question about whether unglazed earthenware can be used.

  9. Ian Tewksbury

    What an awesome video! I have tried to make primitive pottery several times with mixed success. Typically the problem I run into is low plasticity. my pottery fires pretty well, but it cracks a lot while I am molding it. This limits the size of the vessels I make because I have to wet it so much, resulting in slumping. I’ve tried clay from a few sources in my area and different processing methods to filter out the clay. Do I just need to keep trying different clay sources until I find an acceptable one? I’m in central VA by the way if that makes a difference.

    1. Andy Ward's Ancient Pottery

      Perhaps you could try using levigation to remove the impurities from the clay, they may result in more plastic clay. If that doesn’t work, just keep looking for a better spot. Unfortunately I have no suggestions for clay in Virginia, however, North Carolina is famous for great clay, perhaps a little trip will result in some good results.

    2. GrannyGoose

      My clay is quite similar…I’ve had more success by processing it, then letting it age a couple of weeks in plastic bags….Then I knead those lumps for several minutes and the plasticity is much improved.

  10. Sal Hammond

    How long, approximately, does it take for the firing from start to finish?

    1. Andy Ward's Ancient Pottery

      Maybe about 45 minutes to an hour on average

  11. Elizabeth Rosales

    how can you tell if the clay is dry and ready to be fired? currently working on experiment using local clay and test if it can be used as a cooking vessels but unsure how to tell if the clay is dry enough to be put on fire yet. is there a way to test the dryness of my clay pottery or is it just by eye?

    1. Andy Ward's Ancient Pottery

      Feel it, if the pot is cool, it is still damp, warm it is dry.

  12. Felix Luck

    I have a question about clay types. I refined my clay through levigation of a native clay source. Then I added a little less than 20% sand mixture to the clay. As I squish the clay, large cracks are created. I don’t know why it cracks so easily and frequently when I’ve refined the clay so much, and then added sand. What can I do? I’m located in Colorado by the way.

    1. Andy Ward's Ancient Pottery

      All clays are different. Some are lacking in plasticity, others are so plastic and sticky that they can barely be handled. It sounds to me like you have found a clay that is what they call “short”, that is to say it is lacking in plasticity. You might want to explore in your area further and find a clay that is better.

  13. Jay Sav

    I’ve been watching a lot of your videos over the last week or so. Thanks for all your hard work and effort you’ve put into this craft. It really helps us newcomers break the ice a lot quicker.

    1. Andy Ward's Ancient Pottery

      Thanks for watching, I am glad to help.

  14. Unis Vers Nature

    Hello! Very nice vidéo!
    Can we add calcareous sand?
    I heard limestone was no good. Do you have any reliable information on this?
    Nice day!

    1. Andy Ward's Ancient Pottery

      Be careful about calcium in your clay, over about 840 C it will turn into quicklime which will cause spalls in your pottery when it comes into contact with moisture. So you can use it but will need to keep your firing temperature very low.

    2. Unis Vers Nature

      @Andy Ward’s Ancient Pottery Thank you Andy for your quick, clear and precise response.
      I love watching your videos. They are very informative. It’s good job!

  15. Robert

    Awesome video. I did not expect your pottery to look so good without the potters wheel etc. Thanks for sharing.

  16. Simply Pam

    Wish I had found this channel 4 years ago when I moved here. ❤️🥰

    1. Simply Pam

      @Andy Ward’s Ancient Pottery We are in St David, AZ. By Tombstone. 🥰 We lived in Chandler before we moved here. Been in an RV 4 years. Lol

  17. mothana ahmad

    Thank you for this information no one can produce this information easily , I will try this using red soil ,the soil good for farming.

    1. Andy Ward's Ancient Pottery

      You are welcome. I hope it works out for you.

  18. Dario Sin Apellido

    Hey, your fan here, how can I avoid carbon from going deep into the structure of the pottery pieces, as don’t like that black colour in the surface. Thanks from México.

    1. Andy Ward's Ancient Pottery

      Hello Mexico (I love Mexico, the people, the land and the food). It’s all about your firing environment. If you have the fuel touching the pottery or poor air circulation then your pottery will come out dark. Better air circulation and keeping the fuel operated from the pottery will result in good colors. Watch my videos about firing. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxjk09ZJzrlsyEo-ickFHnMDwQBT1HP5b

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