Thanks for watching! Learn more about simple and inexpensive pottery tools, check out my playlist of videos on that subject ru-vid.com/group/PLxjk09ZJzrls1wmFMUXtE8m0Sirc5NQhi
The perforation probably has the most simple of explanations. It pretty. Archeologist love to over-analyze since there is no one who knew the answer left. So, yeah, „it pretty“ or „it interesting texture“ or „kids, amirite“ are all valid points.
This is Judy K. from Colorado Springs. I found this video to be an excellent explanation what pukis are and how they are used for hand building pottery with a round bottom. Before attending the Southwest Kiln Conference in 2021, I tried my hand at making a coiled pot while working on a table. Needless to say, the coils on the bottom separated and I don't think that would have happened if I had used a puki properly. Your video explained so many ways that the puki helps in making a pot and what to watch for and how to correct an issues after the pottery is removed from the puki. It held my interest the whole time, so much so that I will be watching many more of your videos like how to make a puki and how to make a pot without a kiln (or anything else). Thanks for helping educate us! I appreciate it so much!
Thanks Judy, I'm glad you enjoyed it, and also thank you for taking the time to write a response. Will you be coming to the kiln conference this summer in Silver City?
The holes, to me, looks more to be the visible signs that you put in to designate the puki as a puki. That it was purpose built for being a mold instead of.... a common bowl. Certainly makes it easier to see which bowl's meant for cookery and the other clay.
Great bit of humor in the start caught the attention, with the promise of a 2nd "puki" definition to come later in the video. So there's that. As for the overview of how a Potter uses a puki, where and why they were implemented, and how to find pukis in the wild at Target! All important info!! Lol You look like you're enjoying making the video, and I enjoyed watching your humorous, informative, but "at home" style. It's a winner Andy.
Thank you so much for the response. I am glad that it seems I am still on the right track. Sometimes when you do the same thing day after day after day such as making videos you start to question whether you are doing it right. Glad you are still enjoying my videos.
I really enjoyed learning about the history. You explained it the right amount and level for most to understand. You provide us with enough info for further research . When presented with humor , archival footage and examples I learned something interesting while being engaged and entertained.
instead of cloth , I use stretch film. Wrinkles dont show up too big, since it is thinner. Even in some cases you can avoid wrinkles completely since it can be stretched.
Totally enjoyed it, start to finish. Pukis have been the bane of my existence so far! Oh, I've got plenty of perfectly good bowls in the kitchen I could be using, but do I? No, I'm way too stubborn for that. Nearly every puki I've made to date has warped while drying and firing, so that it's no longer quite round when I use it, making my pots asymmetrical. The one exception was too shallow, which limits its usefulness as well. Turns out making a good puki is a skill all its own, one that I'm still working on. But I'm also finding it's part of the fun! Love the video, Andy -- both your presentation style and how you organized the information.
Thanks a lot Dave, I appreciate your thoughtful feedback. You patience and practice at making pukis will also build general expertise with clay and pottery forming, keep at it.
Ha Im the same. Cant make a good puki yet and Ive tried so many times ;-). The last ones came out looking nice and symmetrical but after the first use I discovered the clay is crumbly and isnt going to last long. so it is back to puki making for me.
Silly me, I thought a puki was the dent you make in bread dough when testing if it has risen, not to be mistaken for a pooki, which in Hawaiian is a hole formed when lava surrounds a tree trunk, then the trunk burns away.
the holes are smooth on the inside and a little bumpy on the outside. being near the top and regularly spaced, they provide a little grip as you turn the bowl
as a leather craftsman, my first thought, when I saw those holes, was that they were there to put a braided rim on the pots - perhaps of grass, because that's how you put a braided edge on leather items.
Nice, rich and layered multi directional video. Except why the round bottoms, I'm guessing you've covered this in other videos. When I first saw the roundish bottoms on medieval English slipware, I thought it was a mistake. Discovering it was for stability before, so to speak, the invention of the table, or when most living was done outdoors on the ground. It wasn't given a name but working in a clay pipe extrusion plant an oval puki was used on extruded elbow joints that needed additional hand work attachments.
Yes you are spot on. Before tables and shelves and other flat surfaces, a round bottom pot was practical and stronger. Here is a short video I made about that ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-f3Nie-B5j9g.html
Hey Andy! You have been one of my greatest teachers, thanks for sharing all of this knowledge. I'm from the north of Mexico and its hard to get all of this information of wild clay and most of all the cultural link of it. I´ve learned so much from you. Thanks again for sharing this videos.
Thanks, glad to hear that you are enjoying my videos. What part of northern Mexico? I love Sonora and have never been but am super interested in Chihuahua.
Very informative video! I remember you made a video on pukis a while back but you added a lot more information on its history in this one. Will we see more videos on the Southwest cultures in the future?
Thanks! I love to make that kind of video but my focus is pretty tight, if I make too many videos about those cultures I am interested in too fast I will burn through them all. Have you seen this one ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4KkV8ZKgXXI.html and this one ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-l-i5ona4CgY.html Next week's video is a documentary style video about the Coronado expedition. I hope to make a video about the Mimbres Mogollon this summer.
You talked previously about the pookies and plates with holes in them and not understanding the purpose of the holes. In this video you talked about the importance of removing the clay from the pookie quickly. Do you think the holes might be to create a gradient or to compensate for the difference in moisture?
Hey, this is the first time that I see you, and I have to say that I'm already your fan and subscriber, so your vids are really helpful and exact. I have a few doubts: how can I make a homemade glaze?(if possible), how can I increase temperature at a pit firing kiln?. Thanks and good vibes.
In order to melt a silica based glaze (as all modern, food-safe glazes are) you will need temperatures near 1300 C which is pretty hard to get without a proper kiln. Less safe, more old fashioned, lead based glazes can be formed at much lower temperatures and is more suited to primitive pottery firings. I personally think that glaze is over-rated.
Dear Mr. Ward 👍👌👏 Simply fantastic and really very interesting. I never heard of this before. A puki obviously is a simple and therefore ingenious and very helpful pottery making device. I can't imagine why it seems not to be known in Europe.(although the Spanish unfortunately had contact to South and North American native people). Even the builders of a big new ancient medieval castle in Guedelon, France (very longtime and unbelievably fantastic project) build a kind of a potters wheel. A puki seems also not to be known in Australia. By the way: I bet that worldwide known and famous John Plant (the father of nearly all outdoor primitive technology channels) would like to here about a puki. Maybe you should/could contact him!? Not only because I live in the German Westerwald (famous for pottery worldwide since ancient times), I'm really excited about the puki. Thanks a lot for making teaching explaining recording editing uploading and sharing. Best regards luck and health. Post Scriptum: I came here from Chad Zuber respectively the short video.
About the holes in the ancient pukis, if the separation beetwen the holes is equal, it could hace bren used wirh decoration purposes, showing you where to draw a pattern, or the path to pre draw on it.... U can even hold a string on the top of the jar, and the then fall with gravity with the help of a litlle weigth and it will show u the path of a radial strait line from the top to the end on a curved surface.... Anyone can comment if my ideas makes sence for someone else than me?
Is there any evidence that puki bowls were ever made from the bottoms of bottle gourds? I would assume that bottle gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) were widely grown in the desert southwest along with cushaw squash and pumpkins so they would have been readily available for potters to use for shaping pots. I believe you even make pottery ribs out of bottle gourds as well.
No. Gourds and squash have a big dimple on the bottom, they are not bowl shaped. On the inside it is even more pronounced, so a gourd bottom could not make a puki. I do use gourds for my rib tools, and I sell those on my website so I actually cut into quite a few gourds and know what the inside looks like. Baskets were often used as pukis though and sometimes you can see the basket impression on the finished pot.
Why does anyone want a round bottomed ceramic? I mean I can see someone might want to for purposes of making reproductions, but what improved function does a round bottomed pot give you? 🤔 I don't want improved capacity to roll around on the table, nor the floor.
A round bottom is stronger than a flat bottom. A round bottom is superior for cooking over an open fire. A round bottom is aesthetically pleasing. A round bottom is traditional. If you prefer flat bottoms, that is okay too.
@@AncientPottery thank you. I knew round bottoms were traditional. I did not know they were stronger. I can see how they would be better in a cooking fire. We don't usually cook directly on a flame in ceramic these days.
looking at the perforated plate, it looks like a few fine sticks between holes could transform a round bottom puki into a flat bottomed one, is that possible?
