London/Ancient Cookware, 6. Manufacturing Technique for Cypriot Red Clays

To shape pottery with coils and turning requires an interrupted manufacturing technique with drying intervals to allow the clay to slightly harden before more work is carried out. The turntable is used preliminarily to shape a flat bottom. Coils were added and pulled up or thinned with a split cane tool. Each stage of work varied in time, but during the height of the pottery-making season, when the air is dry and hot, it is possible to start and finish pots in one day. Cypriot potters who coil build coarse wares from local clays provide an ideal model for the study of ancient potters who hand build ceramic containers.