Silt, sand or mud, what ever it may take to make clay, it's gooey mass and mess at the beginning, still leads to some of man's spectacular art. After the first few squeezes, man put clay to work.

At least two thousand years before his pottery, man was applying his art to clay.

As with fire, clay became the tool for early man to cook his food. While not a micro wave or glasstop range, meet clay the oven.

Here are a few of early man of North Americas stove parts. The clay balls.