Exploring the role of quenching in the production of calcite-tempered pottery in the

western Balkans.

Introduction
Traditional pottery-making in the western Balkans, an area centred upon Bosnia and extending
into neighbouring parts of southern Croatia, western Yugoslavia and south-east Slovenia, is
confined mainly to the use of hand-wheel and bonfire-firing technologies (Figure 1 and Plates 1-
2).1 The pottery produced there can be characterised as coarse, being formed from unwashed clays
to which a high proportion of crushed calcite or sieved river sand has been added. Despite the
difficulties involved in its preperation, the prevalent use of calcite, even where alternative
materials are available, is marked.

Calcium carbonate inclusions

The advantages and limitations of including calcium carbonate (CaCO 3) in a clay paste are very
well known and frequently cited in studies of ceramic technology (cf. Rice 1987, Woods 1986).
Briefly, its most significant properties are that it crushes to angular particles and displays a
similar Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) to that of fired clay. In practical terms this
makes the clay more manipulable during forming, reduces shrinkage during drying, and during
firing and use reduces the risk of cracking by lowering thermal stress and arresting incipient
cracks within the fabric. The most significant drawback to calcite as an inclusion in clay pastes is
that it is chemically transformed above about 750 oC to Calcium Oxide (CaO), the subsequent
rehydration of which in air leads to pressures within the ceramic fabric, potentially leading to
spalling, cracking or disintegration (Plate 3).

Previous experiments have shown that the damage likely to result from over-firing calcite-
tempered pottery increases with temperature and duration of firing (Rye 1981), so that extended
firing at, or even a little below, 800 oC will result in greater damage than a firing briefly peaking
at 800oC or a little above. Rather more predictably it has also been shown that the risk of damage
increases in correlation with the proportion of CaCO 3 in the matrix and to some extent with
increasing particle sizes of CaCO3/CaO inclusions. Therefore, the risk of damage to pottery made
from calcium carbonate-rich fabrics may be reduced by controlling firing temperatures and
lowering the CaCO3 content of the clay paste.

Throughout most of the Dinaric region calcium carbonate in various forms - principally calcite,
sometimes limestone and shelly river sand - is certainly the preferred and frequently the only
material considered suitable for use by potters as a tempering agent (Plate 4). The potters'
dilemma is that the proportion of non-plastic in the clay paste can not be lowered without
endangering vessels made from it during drying, firing and subsequent use; yet the inclusion of
high proportions of calcium carbonate means that any over-firing is more likely to lead to damage
by lime spalling.

Quenching
The most universally-practiced of several post-firing treatments traditionally carried out in the
Western Balkans involves submerging red-hot, newly fired vessels in a soupy solution of flour or
other organic materials.2 This practice, known to ceramic technologists as ‘quenching’, but more
commonly as ‘tempering’ amongst its practitioners, varies little within the study region. Most
potters take pots straight from the fire and immerse them for a few seconds in a large metal
container of the prepared solution, causing vigorous effervescence as the solution boils. Upon
removal from the solution, the vessel changes colour rapidly as the organic component of the
solution carbonises. The nature and extent of colouration depends upon the nature of the
material(s) used in the solution, as well as its consistency and the temperature of the pots to
which it is applied - too low and carbonisation may not occur; too high and the thin carbonised
layer may burn away entirely. Many potters appear to aim for complete blackening of the vessels,

1
Descriptions of traditional pottery-making practices in the region are given by Popovic (1959) and Carlton
(1999a).
2
Alternatives include charred and crushed fern root, wallnut casing, and oak or ash bark
an effect best achieved with a flour solution. 3 Sometimes, as at Pulac, a metallic sheen may be
produced, while at Ularice, quenching with a charred fern root solution gives a lighter,
distinctively dappled effect which may have aesthetic importance. Some potters, notably at
Potravlje, Donji Rujani and Ervenik, do not dip the vessels in the solution but splatter it onto
them with a cloth (Plate 5), producing a streaky effect upon carbonisation, the purpose of which
is likely to be primarily decorative – this may be a residual practice, symbolic of the complete
immersion which may formerly have been practised.

In the few cases where information has been collected on the reasons for the practice of
quenching, potters concentrate on its decorative and apparent strengthening effects. At Pulac, the
potter Refik Delic gave consumer preference as the reason for blackening half of a batch of fired
vessels in August 2000. It may also be the case that potters or their customers prefer pots without
the colour variations created by differential conditions in open firing, and can also be noted that
darker colours more effectively absorb the energy of (cooking) fires, but this is probably of
marginal, if any, consequence, particularly since pots are rapidly blackened by use on the open
hearth. Another plausible reason, though not one given by potters, is that the creation of a thin
layer of carbonised deposit on the surface of the vessel may cover cracks or other defects.
Similarly, it may also be suggested that carbonisation makes vessels more water-tight by sealing
pores in the fabric.

An indication of the effects potters desire or presume to occur through quenching can be gauged
from the terminology applied to the process. In the majority of cases it is referred to as kaljenje
(‘tempering’; from kaliti, ‘to temper’), but kalajsali (‘tinning’), vraniti (‘to blacken’) and obara,
obaru, obarisi or obariti (‘stewed’ or ‘cooked’) are also used. Clearly, the recording and
translation of such terms leaves room for some ambiguity, but it can reasonably be suggested that
whilst some potters are aware only of the immediate effects of the process, such as colouring,
others are also aware of certain strengthening or hardening effects.

The author has considered, but failed to detect, more esoteric explanations for this practice which
may be obscure, or no longer meaningful to, its practitioners. It is possible, for example, to liken
the process of quenching to a baptism, or right of passage, signalling the end or beginning of a
process of transformation. Its potential role as a symbol of spiritual transformation, echoing
Barley’s analogous comparision between the pottery-making sequence and journey from youth to
adulthood in West African society (c.f. Barley 1994), is seductive, but unproven. Likewise,
similarities with other domestic and industrial processes are superficially apparent and may be
significant.

It was in order to investigate the possible reasons for quenching in association with calcareous
pastes that a series of experiments was carried out, one of which is detailed below. Clay paste
samples acquired from potters at Kaluderovac, Potravlje and Veli Iz were rehydrated in fresh
water, except half of that from Veli Iz which was rehydrated in sea water, and 18 briquettes
manufactured from each of the resultant four pastes. Six batches of briquettes, comprising three
of each paste, were fired at 50 oC intervals ranging from 700-950oC. One briquette in each of the
resultant 24 groups of three fired briquettes was set aside as a control. Another was allowed to
cool until warm, then immersed completely in water for 24 hours. The third was quenched for
five seconds in a mixture of flour and water (200g flour per litre of water), then withdrawn and
left to cool. The samples were then arranged on card and observed daily for two weeks before
being photographed and left for extended observation.

Results
As may be seen from Plate 6, the most profound physical changes occurred to briquettes
containing high proportions of calcite,4 fired to high temperatures. In this regard the results
comply with those expected following Rye (1976), although the use of pure calcite, rather than a
calcareous sand, caused transformations to occur at generally lower temperatures. Variations in

3
Experiments indicate that a solution of 1kg flour/15 litres of water produces effective results
4
The Kaluderovac paste is sparsely tempered while that from Potravlje, though as coarse as that from Veli
Iz, contains less pure calcium carbonate (calcite) thanthe latter.
post-firing behaviour between briquettes tempered with sea and fresh water also tend to confirm
the results of Rye (ibid.), with briquettes containing sea salts generally suffering less post-firing
damage than those rehydrated with fresh water. However, it must be noted that the post-firing
behaviour of the two groups did not mirror the distinct and dramatic difference recorded by Rye
(op. cit. 128, fig. 114).

The results are more significant, however, with regard to the effect of quenching and water
soaking upon the four sample fabrics. Plate 5 shows that damage to the Veli Iz samples begins at
800oC, and to the Kaluderovac and Potravlje samples at 850 oC. However, those treated by
quenching survive until 950oC, with the notable exception of the Veli Iz sea water sample which
capitulates from 850oC. Similarly, the briquettes placed in water after cooling survive to 900 oC,
and in the case of the Kaluderovac sample to 950oC, but the Veli Iz sea water sample is damaged
from 800oC.

Conclusions and Implications

It has been confirmed that the post-firing decomposition of calcite-tempered ceramics proceeds
more rapidly when the ceramics in question contain higher proportions of calcite and are fired to
higher temperatures, and that the addition of salt water as an agent of rehydration allows that
paste to be fired higher before post-firing damage ensues. However, the findings detailed above
also suggest that calcite-tempered fabrics containing sea salts are more susceptible to post-firing
damage when exposed to water than are similar fabrics not containing sea salts. Thus, a sample of
Veli Iz paste remains stable at 900 oC and 850oC when treated by quenching and water-soaking,
respectively; but the same sample rehydrated in salt water is stable only at 850 oC and 800oC,
respectively, despite the fact that the control Veli Iz sea water sample suffered less damage at
800oC than the control Veli Iz fresh water sample. Therefore, although Rye (1981) is correct to
state that the addition of sea water to a calcite-tempered paste appears to increase its resistance to
heat, it may be that such pottery is relativelly unstable in contact with fresh water.

It is also apparent that quenching tends to allow fabrics containing a high percentage of calcite to
survive higher temperatures without post-firing degeneration than would otherwise be the case.
The implications of this are of some importance. It is commonly noted that the maximum
temperature achievable through open firing is normally in the region of 850-900C. 5 It is also
recognised that calcium carbonate in a fabric will be oxidised from around 750C, depending on
the period of exposure, although the sizes and concentration of particles used may effect the
extent of subsequent damage. Therefore, it appears that the quenching process is a means of
protecting pottery within the danger zone between 750C and the maximum temperature likely to
be achieved in controlled open firing, around 900C, thereby offering insurance against over-firing
caused by negligence or ignorance, or indeed by climatic factors.

It is deduced from the above that, amongst several different reasons perceived or given for
quenching vessels immediately after firing, its role in ameliorating the potentially detrimental
effects of over-firing calcareous pastes is paramount. Undoubtedly, the resultant colouration of
vessels is also important, as also may be its symbolic value as a transformational event, but these
are secondary to its role in allowing potters to use higher firing temperatures than would
otherwise be possible. It is clear that the joint strategy of open firing and quenching is ideally
suited to the production of calcareous fabrics. It is the use by potters of calcareous pastes, based
on the prefereces of consumers, that is considered to occupy the pivotal role in the technological
complex broadly characterised by hand-wheels, calcareous pastes, bonfire firing and quenching. 6
Further work is needed to define precisely the chemical and physical behaviour of calcite within
pottery fabrics during firing, quenching and use, and how its performance enhances the longevity
of cooking vessels.

Certainly it is clear that, far from being the ‘primitive’ firing technology noted by generations of
fieldworkers, bonfire firing and quenching is a subtle and highly adapted response to the use of

5
Certainly, potters know how to control firing using particular kinds and sizes of partially dried wood, or
modifying firing practices, in order to to restrict firing temperatures.
6
For an opposing view see Woods (1986)
certain materials. Kilns are not universally employed, not because they are unknown or beyond
the technological competence of some potters, 7 but because open-firing is suited to the use of the
preferred, calcareous pastes. Thus, rather than the available firing technology dictating the
materials to be used in the paste, as so often presumed, particularly with regard to the use of
calcium carbonate, the converse appears more likely. Quenching is rarely practiced by potters
using double-chambered kilns – one of the purposes of which is to fire to higher temperatures,
thereby precluding the use of calcareous tempers - although some urban foot-wheel potters have
adopted the practice in order to imitate the products of their longer established, rural competitors
(Carlton 1999b). The hand-wheel potters of Lijeseva also quench the coarse, sand-tempered
(cooking ware) part of their range by placing at at the top of the open-topped firing chamber from
where it can be extracted at the appropriate time.

Above all, it is increasingly apparent that firing and post-firing strategies are part of a delicate
balance of complementary factors which make sense only when perceived holistically. It may be
remarked here that the various ways in which consumers of pots are urged by potters to treat their
aquisitions before use, notably by boiling fresh water inside, or cooking milk, may also be
regarded as part of the continuous process by which a seasoned, useful vessel is produced.

A secondary benefit of open firing is that it requires no investment or maintenance of structures,

nor does it compromise other domestic or economic activities, since it occupies space - a highly
valued and often restricted commodity in peasant communities - only temporarily. Indeed, the
portable nature of pottery-making technology in the region, including the absence of structures
and permanently defined spaces for firing, arguably reflects the inherently unstable nature of
settlement patterns, particularly in the borderlands of Bosnia-Hercegovina and Croatia, where
long-term permanency of occupation is a concept alien to many communities, most of which
have at least an inherited family tradition of migration caused by military or economic factors.
Together, the inherent insecurity of land tenure and related transience of settlement are factors
which may be argued further to promote the use of portable and archaeologically invisible
pottery-making technologies.

Richard Carlton
Department of Archaeology
University of Newcastle Upon Tyne

7
After all, potters at Visnjica and Lijesevo in Central Bosnia, as well as many others around the ‘hand-
wheel zone’, have practised with double-chambered kilns for centuries, while enclosed cooking ovens,
charcoal and lime kilns, plum drying ovens and other pyrotechnical appliances are ubiquitous.
FIGURES & PLATES
Figure 1: Locations of hand-wheel pottery-making in the Western Balkans since 1900
Plate 1: Forming a vessel on a West Balkan hand-wheel
Plate 2: Bonfire firing in Croatia
Plate 3: Disintegration cused by lime spalling
Plate 4: Calcite-tempered pottery fabric from Potravlje, Croatia
Plate 5: Quenching at Potravlje, Croatia
Plate 6: Fired briquettes after two weeks

REFERENCES
BARLEY N, 1994, Smashing Pots: feats of clay from Africa. British Museum Press.

CARLTON R J, 1999a, The Past and Future of Traditional Pottery-Making in Bosnia, The
Studio Potter, Vol. 27, No. 1.

CARLTON R J, 1999b, The Pirocanci pottery-making tradition in former Yugoslavia, The

Studio Potter, Vol. 27, No. 2, 98-99.

POPOVIĆ C, 1959, Thenika primitivnog loncarstva u Jugoslaviji; Glasnik Zemaljskog Muzeja

u Sarajevu (Etnologija), nova serija, 14, 25-59.

RICE P M, 1987a, Pottery Analysis: A Sourcebook. University of Chicago Press.

RYE O S, 1976, Keeping your temper under control: materials and the manufacture of Papuan
pottery; Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania 11, 106-37.

RYE O, 1981, Pottery Technology: Principles and Reconstruction. Manuals on Archaeology 4.

Taraxcum, Washington D.C.

WOODS A J, 1986, Form, fabric and function: Some observations on the cooking pot in
antiquity; in Kingery (ed.), Technology and Style - Ceramics and Civilisation, vol. 2. American
Ceramic Society, Columbus, Ohio.