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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 SOURCESFossil 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
View all episodes
By Kelly Parks🎉 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 SOURCESFossil 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