The First Ceramicists - When Native Bees Taught Us About Clay

🎉 Featured in Ceramics Now Magazine! The article companion to this episode was just published at ceramicsnow.org The First Ceramicists: When Bees Taught Us About Clay is live now in Ceramics Now Magazine. Read it here: https://www.ceramicsnow.org/articles/the-first-ceramicists-ancient-clay-structures-built-by-bees/ Discover how ground-nesting bees have been master ceramicists for 100 million years—long before humans learned to work with clay. In this episode, Kelly Parks explores recently discovered 20,000-year-old fossilized bee nests found in a Dominican cave, revealing how native bees select materials, manage moisture, and engineer durable clay structures. Learn what Indigenous communities have always known about the bee-clay connection, plus practical tips for supporting ground-nesting pollinators in your garden. Perfect for nature lovers, gardeners, ceramic artists, and anyone curious about biomimicry and sustainable craft practices. KEY SOURCES Fossil bee nests in bone (Hispaniola) Viñola-López, L. W., Riegler, M., et al. (2025). Trace fossils within mammal remains reveal novel bee nesting behaviour. Royal Society Open Science, 12. Published December 17, 2025. — Cueva de Mono, southern Dominican Republic; nests named Osnidum almontei; first documented case of bees nesting in animal bone; likely halictid. Oldest known bee nests (Patagonia) Genise, J. F., Cantil, L. F., et al. (2020). 100 Ma sweat bee nests: Early and rapid co-diversification of crown bees and flowering plants. PLOS ONE, 15(1): e0227789. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0227789 — Castillo Formation, Argentina, radiometrically dated to 100.14 ± 0.32 Ma; ichnospecies Cellicalichnus krausei. Genise, J. F., Sciutto, J. C., Laza, J. H., González, M. G., & Bellosi, E. S. (2002). Fossil bee nests, coleopteran pupal chambers and tuffaceous palaeosols from the Late Cretaceous Laguna Palacios Formation, Central Patagonia (Argentina). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 177, 215–235. Companion article Parks, K. The First Ceramicists: Ancient Clay Structures Built by Bees. Ceramics Now Magazine. ceramicsnow.org Science journalism Field Museum, "These fossils were the perfect home for ancient baby bees" (December 16, 2025) Smithsonian Magazine, "Fossils Suggest That Some Ancient Burrowing Bees Made Their Homes in Rodent Skulls" (December 18, 2025) Scientific American, "Ancient bees burrowed inside bones, fossils reveal" National Geographic, "Oldest evidence of modern bees found in Argentina" #CeramicsNow #CeramicsNowMagazine #PublishedArtist #CeramicsCommunity #ArtPublication #NativeBees #Pollinators #GroundNestingBees #PollinatorConservation #SaveTheBees #Ceramics #Pottery #ClayArt #Biomimicry #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge #IndigenousWisdom #SustainableArt #NatureEducation #BeeFacts #Paquime #Ancients #Incas #Aztecs #Secretpollinators