Ceramics are objects made from clay that have been shaped and then hardened by heating them to very high temperatures in a special oven called a kiln. The word also refers to the art and craft of making these objects.

When you work with ceramics, you start with soft, wet clay that you can mold like Play-Doh. You might shape it on a spinning wheel to make a bowl or cup, or sculpt it by hand into a figurine or decorative piece. Once you're happy with the shape, the clay needs to dry completely. Then comes the crucial step: firing it in a kiln at temperatures often exceeding 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. This intense heat causes chemical changes that transform the soft clay into hard, permanent ceramic.

People have been making ceramics for over 20,000 years. Ancient civilizations created ceramic pots to store food and water, tiles to cover floors and walls, and sculptures to honor their gods. Today we still use ceramics for dishes, mugs, and vases, but also for more surprising things: the heat-resistant tiles on spacecraft, the brackets for braces, and even parts of computers all rely on ceramic materials.

The beauty of ceramics is that once fired, they last almost forever. Archaeologists can study ceramic pots from thousands of years ago because unlike wood or fabric, ceramics don't rot or decay.