Bill Crumbleholme Pottery Web Pages

Bronze Age Pottery and Firings

Bucket Urn Making

Bill is a potter with an interest in ancient pottery, this page is about how he makes Bronze Age Bucket Urns - as part of the Artyfacts Project. Visit www.raftdorset.info for details.
These Urns are inspired by those found in the Dorset Barrows, some of which are on display in the Dorset County Museum. They are called Bucket Urns, some are Collared Urns. They were made about 2500BC, give or take a few centuries.


To start with the clay is prepared, by mixing clay from various sources with sand and grog - which is clay that has been fired and ground up. These "inclusions" open up the body and give it better shock resistance.
The clays used here are some commercial red clays, Swanage Brick Clay (thanks to Ibstock), some Ball Clays (thanks to Imerys in Purbeck) and an extra special "Ritually Significant Clay" which was rescued from an archeological site at Chickerell, near Weymouth - it was manhandled by Bronze Age folk when making a small circular shrine in the field near where a couple of Gold Neck Rings were found.


The clay is rolled out into slabs like pastry and cut using paper templates.


The edges are cut at an angle to increase the surface area of the joins and also make assembly easier.

A plastic bucket has been lined with a calico cloth (sewn to shape), the slabs are then positioned in the bucket and pressed together. The calico stops the clay sticking to the plastic.

The same is done with a washing up bowl.

A base is added to the bucket and the joins are reinforced with extra strips of clay pressed over them from inside. The surfaces are smoothed.

When they have stiffen up a bit, the pieces are turned out and the calico peeled off, the outside of the joins are pressed together and the surfaces smoothed over. The joints are scored to improve the mingling of clay and strengthen the join.

The bowl is placed upside down on the top of the bucket and the overlaps pushed together and smoothed over.

A "false" join flange is added to the outside of the bucket - because the orginals often had them and it strengthens the pot - both physically and esthetically.

A piece of cord, wrapped around a Kilner Jar metal lid, is used to press a pattern into the clay.


Some have handles added - to give that finishing authentic touch, perhaps these are an echo of entrances into another world (or perhaps not!)

This urn and several others were fired in a bonfire - take a look at the images of that at this link.

 

Back to Top