Of Bread and Clay

So if you are looking for a scholarly article full of facts and proofs you are at the wrong place. But if you are interested in the rambling thoughts of one human about the history and culture of humanity keep reading.

I love the ways that culture adds to our human experience. When I was a kid my family spent a month in Columbia up in the Andes mountains. As a little girl I was in awe of the differences in dress, food and everything. As an adult I have not had the opportunity to travel the world, but I have lived where there is great diversity. I have been in the homes of people from all over the world and I have enjoyed trying a wide variety of foods and traditions. I will admit I did not always like the food, but I always tried it and I always said thank you and asked if it was a family recipe and listened when my hosts proudly told me about their food and their family. I have benefited greatly from these interactions and have tried to encourage my children to be curious and respectful guest.

My title would lead you to believe I am going to talk about bread and clay. So let's start with bread. I love bread, I love baking bread, I love eating bread. If you told me that I would have to live on bread and water I would be like "What kind of bread?". It amazes me how different people at different times and places have made such a variety of bread out of such a variety of grains. I think the kind of bread people make says a lot about what resources were available to them. Does wheat grow where they are or do they use corn or rice? Does their culture live in one place and what kind of oven did they make for baking their bread? Do they use leaven to make big puffy loaves of bread or do they cook flat bread on flat rocks on an open fire?

I am fascinatedof how the answers to these questions will tell you a lot about a culture. I was amazed when I found out that there was bread found in Pompeii and it told scientist what Roman bread was like. How cool is that. I love that there are breads so iconic to a place and a people that we automatically link it to that place and those people and their culture. Some examples are fry bread, soda bread, tortilla, flat bread, baguette. When we see these breads our minds immediatlly link them to the people who make or made it. It is a part of their culture and their identity even though it is among the most common 0f things on earth.

Now about Clay. It is so common we literally walk on it every day of our life as ultimately clay is dirt. I have always loved playing with clay. I am not good at it but I enjoy it. As a kid I made mud pies and mud figures of animals and would dry them in the sun. I took an art class in high school where I got to turn clay on a wheel. Lately I have been experimenting with primitive clay, meaning I have done all of the processes myself from digging the dirt, processing it into clay, making something out of it and then firing it in an open fire. I have not made anything anyone would desire but I have loved the process and found it very satisfying.

Doing that has got me to thinking about clay pottery and its place in history and culture. I love it that smart people who dig up artifacts from the ground can tell so much about a long gone society by the bits of pottery they find. They can answer such questions as what did they cook and how? Did they trade with other people or stick to themselves. Did they have the luxury of having a variety of pottery for specific purposes or did they travel with one good cooking pot? These are amazing deductions that can be made from what amounts to dirt and what they did with it.

And just like bread pottery is so linked to culture that even those of us who are not experts immediately link it to places and people. I am certainly not an expert but I can often tell the difference between pottery from Africa and South America or the American Southwest. Pottery is so linked to places that we often buy it as a souvenir from a trip.

I do know that culture is much more than bread and clay. I am also aware of human tendency to attack anything different but I choose to appreciate it and to continue to be curious and not judgmental.

Thank you for reading my rambling thoughts. Maybe you will think twice next time you enjoy your bread, or make use of your favorite pottery items, knowing you are participating in the human experience that has always been culture and always will be I think.

Again thank you for taking your time to read this. If you want to show your support feel free to like, share or comment. Vocal also allows you to leave a small tip which I always appreciate but never expect.