Mary Allen
Clay is a material found in certain locations on the earth. Clay is moist and easy to knead and shape. After drying, it can be burned in an oven, which makes it hard. This is how ceramics are made, which is the majority of our crockery. Roof tiles, bricks, tiles, sinks, and toilet bowls are also made of clay or ceramic.
Clay consists of tiny components. They are about the size of the flour that we use in the kitchen or in the bakery. Nature has worn these parts out of different rocks, for example through rain, wind, or the movement of the glaciers.
An important component of loam is clay. This includes the finest sand and other fine materials. For professionals, loam and clay are not exactly the same. In colloquial language, however, the two expressions are usually used in the same way.
Many animals build their burrows in clay. Among them are many insects and spiders, but also snails and the sand martin. Clay wasps even build their nests largely out of clay.
For humans, clay is the oldest building material next to the wood. The whole building was made of mud. Their bricks were not fired, just dried. Many walls were woven from rods and covered with clay, for example in the half-timbered houses. Bricks and roof tiles were made from baked clay.