"While I would agree that industrialization would be unnecessary in tiny communities, potters would still have needed to dry and fire their posts. Forget efficient economies of scale at the firing stage. I would have assumed that the impediment was more the mental leap from the concept of building pots from coils to the notion of shaping a rotating lump by pulling upward."
Response:
"If this was the case why, after the Roman abandonment of Britain, do potters give up the potters' wheel as a making method? Pottery production still continues although on a much smaller scale. The issue is more one of training and space, vs returns. Fast wheel pottery takes several years to master, it's a serious piece of kit to construct, maintain and store and generally demands much more finely prepared clay. Clay that does not lend itself so well to open or clamp firing, both of which are better achieved with a coarser clay. Fine wheel thrown clay is far easier to fire in a kiln, another piece of equipment that needs to be built and maintained. Again, open firing can be achieved with almost any fuel, kilns on the other hand demand carefully prepared wood, gorse or brash. All time consuming and simply not worth it for domestic scale production."
