The sample had between 20% to 30% of a type of clay called smectite, which forms in the presence of water, Blake said.

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Over time, three major pottery types developed: earthenware, stoneware and porcelain, each distinguished by the type of clay used and the temperature at which it is fired.

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He was fiddling with a clay model of an early successor to the E-type when company founder Sir William Lyons walked by.

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This is thanks in part to the climate and in part to the soil, a mixture of limestone and clay and thousands of fossilized oyster shells (a wine snob could probably even name the type of oyster).

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He was introduced to a well-known traditional healer in Jakarta, who prescribed a course of treatment that included getting a massage, sitting on hot clay bricks wrapped in a towel, and drinking a solution made from papaya leaves and temu lawak (a type of root).

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