Atemper is a non-plastic material added to clay to prevent shrinkage and cracking during drying and firing of vessels made from the clay.[1] Tempers may include:
Some clays used to makepottery do not require the addition of tempers. Purekaolin clay does not require tempering.[6] Some clays are self-tempered, that is, naturally contain enough mica, sand, or sponge spicules that they do not require additional tempering.[14][13]
^abc"Ceramics".Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center – Technologies. University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. Archived fromthe original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved4 November 2011.
^abStilborg, Ole (1 December 2001). "Temper for the Sake of Coherence: Analyses of Bone- and Chaff-Tempered Ceramics from Iron Age Scandinavia".European Journal of Archaeology.4 (3). Maney Publishing:398–404.doi:10.1177/146195710100400316.ISSN1461-9571.
^Fontana, Bernard L.; Robinson, William J.; Cormack, Charles W.; Leavitt, Earnest E. (1962).Papago Indian Pottery. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, on behalf of the American Ethnological Society. p. 57.OCLC869680.
^Fontana, Bernard L.; Robinson, William J.; Cormack, Charles W.; Leavitt, Earnest E. (1962).Papago Indian Pottery. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, on behalf of the American Ethnological Society. p. 57.OCLC869680.
