Instead of using the modern kiln, these fourteen students, under the supervision of Professor Doug Calisch, built their own firing pit, modeled after the ancient firing techniques of the Peublo indians, which has been used for the past thirteen to fourteen hundred years. In this process, a large pit is dug in the earth, into which kindling and other dried wood is placed for a foundation for a fire. A metal grate is placed over the kindling to create a surface for the pottery to sit while it is being fired. Pieces of sheet metal are places around the pottery to create an oven-like environment, a virtual funnel of heat. This type of fuel is good to use because it burns at very high temperatures.
More earth is shoveled on the mound to complete the process.
On hand to assist the ceramics class was Aleeta Wilson, wife of Professor David Wilson, a professional potter in her own right. Mrs. Wilson studied at Purdue before heading off to the Southwest to study the techniques used by the ancient Anasazi indian tribe.