An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c21.s12.6

v1.c21.s12.6

The firing may take 8 to 16 hours or more, depending upon the size of the pile and its contents. The potter continuously keeps a watch on the pile to cover any hole through which heat may escape. In laboratory experiment the temperature of an open fire using cow-dung cakes as the main fuel has been found to reach 950° to 1000° C (a temperature of 800° C is adequate for baking pottery). The potter allows a sufficiently long time, two days or more, for the pile to cool so that the risk of breakage is minimized.