Not sure if it was for cooking or for baking clay, but it sure was an object that we are still familiar with in modern time, even though it is 5,300 years old.
National Treasure 国宝
Pottery Stove (Earth Kiln For Firing Pottery) 陶灶
Pottery | Hemudu culture in the Neolithic Age (about 7,000-5,300 BP) | Excavated from the Hemudu site, 1973-1977 | Zhejiang Provincial Museum Collection. 陶器｜新石器时代河姆渡文化（距今7000-5300年）｜通长55厘米、口宽37厘米、通高25厘米｜1973-1977年河姆渡遗址出土｜浙江省博物馆藏
A pottery earth kiln (or primitive kiln) is a simple, often temporary, insulated chamber built from earth, clay, or rocks, used to fire clay objects to hardness by containing heat from a wood or fuel fire. These kilns, like a pit kiln or convection kiln, offer advantages like stable temperatures, good insulation (compared to an open fire), and control over fuel, allowing for even heating and potentially higher temperatures than just a fire pit, transforming clay into functional pottery through intense heat.
However in a recent visit, it was paired with a pottery cauldron placed on the stove, which does not match the description on the information card. According to online information1, the stove was found with carbon traces indicating that stove was used before and not a pristine piece of funerary good.
Looking into the stove, it looks as if the cauldron is levitating, but there’s no visible lever or fulcrum point. But if you look from front, you can see how the stove is held together by two protruding fulcrum points.
Pottery Polygonal Rim Cauldron 多角沿敛口釜
Pottery | Hemudu culture in the Neolithic Age (about 7,000-5,300 BP) | Excavated from the Hemudu site, 1973-1977 | Zhejiang Provincial Museum Collection. 陶器｜新石器时代河姆渡文化（距今7000-5300年）｜高22.0、口径22.4厘米｜1973-1977年河姆渡遗址出土｜浙江省博物馆藏
The stove is designated as a national treasure that cannot be exhibited outside of China, but the cauldron isn’t in the same category. Hemudu culture produced thick, porous pottery that was typically black and made with charcoal powder.
It looks like how the modern day Kamameshi 釜飯 is cooked. Even the cauldron looks like the clay kama 釜 (same Kanji as the Chinese cauldron), with the rim holding the cauldron above the fire.
About Hemudu Culture
The Hemudu site is located in Hemudu Town 河姆渡镇, Yuyao City in Zhejiang Province, with an area of 40,000 sqm. After two archaeological excavations, a large number of wooden stilt buildings, ash pits, tombs, and other relics were excavated. The Hemudu site is particularly famous for evidence of early rice cultivation and sophisticated wooden stilt-style architecture using mortise-and-tenon joints.
Relics, such as pottery, stone, jade, bone tools and wooden tools were unearthed. Its discovery is of irreplaceable value for understanding and restoring the natural environment and historic and cultural development of the southeast coastal areas in China 7,000 to 6,000 years ago.2
The discovery of artefacts like these at the Hemudu site provided vital material for studying the origins of Chinese civilisation and proved that a developed primitive culture existed in the Yangtze River region as early as 7,000 years ago.
Photos taken by author at Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Mar 2024, unless otherwise indicated.
About Chinese Treasure Series
中華國寶系列 Chinese Treasure series feature specific artefacts and relics from museums all around the world that are historically significant to be considered a National Treasure. The series covers the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation from Neolithic periods before the Xia dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC) to modern day.
Footnotes :
- Special Archaeological Exhibition Commemorating 50th Anniversary of Hemudu Culture Discovery Opens at National Museum of China
english.beijing.gov.cn, 2023-11-09. https://english.beijing.gov.cn/latest/news/202311/t20231109_3298090.html, accessed 6 January 2026 ↩︎ - 河姆渡遗址 HEMUDU SITE
位于浙江省余姚市河姆渡镇，1973年发现；经过两次考古发掘，发现大片干栏式木构建筑、灰坑和墓葬；出土陶、石、玉、骨、木、牙、角等各类器物六千余件，以及丰富的动植物遗存。它的发现。为认识中国东南沿海地区六七千年前的自然环境与历史演变具有重要价值。
Museum information card, Mar 2024 ↩︎
0 comments on “National Treasure – Pottery Stove with Pottery Cauldron (Neolithic – Hemudu)”