Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center

The ceramic vessels made by the Pequots were both functional and artistic. Native people in southern New England first created ceramics, or fired clay pottery, approximately 3,000 years ago. The basic techniques of making these cooking and storage vessels—gathering raw clay, adding temper, rolling and molding it into the desired shape, and baking it until hardened—remained essentially the same over many centuries.

Yet as generations of women experimented with materials, styles and decorations, the form and design of these vessels changed. The pots became more elaborate in shape, with rounder bottoms, thinner necks, and collars, or upper rims, that were thicker and sometimes peaked, or castellated. Decorations, made by pressing a variety of tools into the wet clay, became more elaborate.

Pequot Ceramic Pot, ca. 1675

Here you see the reconstructed remains of a Pequot pot from the second half of the 17th century. It is interesting to note that this pot was made according to a centuries-old tradition even at a time when strong and inexpensive European pottery had become available to the Pequots.

The pottery of our Pequot ancestors closely resembles that of neighboring groups in southern New England, the Mohegans, Niantics, and Narragansetts. At the same time, each group’s pottery differs in subtle ways, and so Pequot pottery is both part of this regional tradition and a unique expression of Pequot identity.

The Process of Making Ceramic Vessels

The Pequots made ceramic vessels using a technique known as coil construction. Small pieces of clay were rolled into thin coils, and these were added onto the base one by one, placing each just inside rather than directly on top in order to strengthen the structure by overlapping. Each coil was pinched or pressed into the previous one, melding them together.

When the desired height and shape of the pot was achieved, the woman used a plain or cord-wrapped wooden paddle to smooth over the coils both inside and out. This paddling process further compressed the coils and forced out air trapped between them. The decorative marks left by this cord-wrapped paddle are visible on some early types of Pequot pottery. Alternatively, the woman could use a water-smoothed stone or piece of wood to remove the marks left by the paddle.

After the pot had dried to a leathery consistency, it was often decorated. A scallop shell was one tool used to ornament ceramic vessels; carved antlers, toothed combs, pointed sticks, shells, nets, and textiles also left their mark in the clay. Geometric designs-lines, triangles, zig-zags, and dots-were most common. Occasionally the potter used her hands to sculpt other shapes into the rim.

After it was ornamented and left to dry for two or three days, the pot was ready for firing. The woman built a fire and propped up one or more vessels around the edge, mouths toward the blaze, in order to heat them gradually and evaporate any remaining moisture. When the pots were sufficiently hot, the woman used a long stick to roll them onto the embers, mouths down, and covered them with 2 or 3 inches of dried bark, wood or corncobs to block the wind and keep the temperature constant. An hour or so later, the fire had burned down and the process was complete. The finished pot could be used for storage or, set directly onto the hearth, for cooking.