The ceramics of old were made by coil, decorated with locally found mineral oxides and then fired in pits in the ground. Today some of the pottery of San Juan de Oriente is still made using the coil method, but most is done on a kick-wheel. The pieces are dried and decorated, then low-fired in beehive style adobe kilns using wood fires for fuel. Many of the pots are in the style of design they call "inciso", or incised, a traditional technique dating back more than 2500 years and many are still decorated with traditional Pre-Columbian designs. It is only recently that some of the potters have begun to supplement the traditional pre-Colombian motifs for more modern forms of expression.