Firing practices yield insights into the technological skill, knowledge, and behavior of potters. Skill and time, clays, fuels, and intended vessel use are significant for potters' decisions about heating rates, firing temperature and atmosphere. Firing is one stage in ceramic production that, when considered with the vessel's life history, reveals strategies of craftspersons and technological changes, or continuities across space and time. This paper explores methods for estimating firing temperatures. Experiments demonstrate that techniques used in other regions, such as stepwise clay oxidation analysis, are problematic for Plains ceramics and possibly other regions. A revised protocol is developed and paired with magnetic susceptibility to produce better estimates. Results indicate unexpected amounts of low-fired pottery (<500°C), with all temperatures below 750°C. Perhaps Plains Woodland and Northeastern Plains Village potters in North Dakota employed low-firing temperatures, in combination with less desirable, but available organic rich sediments, as a strategy to produce workable vessels.

中文翻译：

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估计素瓷原始烧制温度的评估技术：实验和考古结果

烧制实践可以深入了解陶工的技术技能、知识和行为。技能和时间、粘土、燃料和预期的容器用途对于陶工关于加热速率、烧制温度和气氛的决定都很重要。烧制是陶瓷生产的一个阶段，考虑到船只的生命历史，它揭示了工匠和技术变革的策略，或跨越空间和时间的连续性。本文探讨了估计烧制温度的方法。实验表明，其他地区使用的技术，如逐步粘土氧化分析，对平原陶瓷和其他地区可能存在问题。制定了修订方案并与磁化率配对以产生更好的估计。结果表明出乎意料的低烧陶器数量 (<500°C)，所有温度均低于 750°C。也许北达科他州的平原林地和东北平原村陶工采用低温烧制，结合不太理想但富含有机物的沉积物，作为生产可用容器的策略。