Ceramic raw materials: how to establish the technological suitability of a raw material

The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of raw materials in the production of ceramic artefacts. A brief but in-depth explanation is provided to emphasise the connections between raw materials and ceramic products. A step by step approach is developed with the aim of illustrating the different ceramic raw materials and their features and describing the effects of each component on the characteristics of the end products with particular attention to their function and use. When a potter makes an object in fact, this was already conceived thinking for a specific purpose.