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.
Rixton Clay Pits
Rixton Clay Pits (also known as Rixton Claypits) is a former clay extraction site in Rixton, near Hollins Green, Warrington, England. Formerly farmland, boulder clay extraction started in the 1920s for brick making in the adjacent brickworks, and ceased in 1965 - since when it has been allowed to return to nature. It is now an area of ponds, scrub, woodland and damp grassland. It is owned and managed by Warrington Borough Council as a local amenity.