Rashid's Blog: A Place for Inquisitive Souls

In the Politicised Literary Geographies event, one of the things discussed was the relation between the discipline of Geography and the Humanities. Geography is often put in a Social Sciences faculty (which can be seen as an issue by Physical Geographers) or in a Science faculty (potentially a problem for Human Geographers), but rarely in the Humanities – I’m happy to be told of examples though. But why does Human Geography research not orientate itself towards the Humanities at least as much as to the Social Sciences? There are counter-examples of course, but the links to literature, philosophy, art etc. and their ways of working seem to be outweighed by the links to economics, anthropology, political science and sociology. History in historical geography is perhaps the key area in which the Humanities remains crucial. The two books pictured below – GeoHumanitiesand Envisioning Landscapes, Making Worldswere attempts to begin just…

Ceramics is one of the most ancient industries on the planet. Once humans discovered that clay could be dug up and formed into objects by first mixing with water and then firing, the industry was born. As early as 24,000 BC, animal and human figurines were made from clay and other materials, then fired in kilns partially dug into the ground.

Almost 10,000 years later, as settled communities were established, tiles were manufactured in Mesopotamia and India. The first use of functional pottery vessels for storing water and food is thought to be around 9000 or 10,000 BC. Clay bricks were also made around the same time.

Glass was believed to be discovered in Egypt around 8000 BC, when overheating of kilns produced a colored glaze on the pottery. Experts estimate that it was not until 1500 BC that glass was produced independently of ceramics and fashioned into separate items.