Painted jars
Roughly 30,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers began making figurines and other small objects out of clay. Another ten millennia went by before the new technology was applied to making useful containers. The earliest known potsherds (fragments of vessels) come from a cave in Jiangxi Province, China, and are radiocarbon dated between 19,000 and 20,000 years ago.reference The earliest pottery was made from sheets of clay, molded on baskets and eventually old pots, and was baked in open fires at low temperatures.
The term "Neolithic period" refers to the period after farming began but before the general adoption of metal tools. In China, farming began 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, so pottery was invented well before the start of the Neolithic period. Still, pottery use didn't become widespread until after about 7000 B.C. The end of the Chinese Neolithic came about 2000 B.C., when bronze came into widespread use.
By clicking on the photos that follow, you will reach new pages with examples of Chinese Neolithic pottery. We have arranged the pots by general form rather than by culture or age, in part so you can appreciate how specific forms were made over many centuries.
Painted jars
Two-handled cups
Double ram effigy
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