Ceramics of indigenous peoples of the Americas
The clay body is a necessary component of pottery. Clay must be mined and purified in an often laborious process, and certain tribes have ceremonial protocols to gathering clay. Different tribes have different processes for processing clay, which can include drying in the sun, soaking in water for days, and repeatedly running through a screen or sieve. Acoma and other Pueblo pottery traditionally pound dry clay into a powder and then remove impurities by hand, then running the dry powder through a screen, mixing it with a dry temper, and then mixing water to create a plastic paste. In preparing the clay, potters spend hours wedging it to remove air pockets and humidity that could easily cause it to explode during firing. The clay then needs to "cure" over time.
Metal clay
Metal clays are also available as dry powders to which water is added to hydrate and kneaded to attain a clay consistency. One advantage to the powders are their unlimited shelf life. The first silver clay in powder form was released in 2006 as Silver Smiths' Metal Clay Powder. In the following years base metal clays by Hadar Jacobson and Goldie World released several variation containing copper, brass, and even steel.