A woman mixes small pieces of fired clay (grog) with clay body by stamping on it. Mixing grog with the clay body will help the pot withstand the firing and repeated thermal stress of cooking. In the village of Kalabougou near Segou, Mali, women of the numu blacksmiths population have worked for centuries as traditional potters. A 7-day fabrication cycle leads to the weekly Saturday afternoon firing of the kilns, in which large stacks of pots are covered with grass and set on fire.