Neolithic Pottery

Below are four of the 94 pieces of pottery from this tomb. Pottery found in Dawenkou tombs varied greatly in shape and size. Keep the shapes of these pottery pieces in mind when you look at later bronzes.

Much of Neolithic pottery is decorated with geometric designs. Although these designs appear purely abstract, some of them may be derived from forms in nature.
Can you imagine what kinds of organic forms might have inspired the decoration on this vessel? How does the decoration and color scheme complement the shape of the pottery?

SOME THOUGHTS: Some have speculated that the triangles might have evolved from the shape of fish fins and fish tails. The circular forms may be inspired by eyes.

How do you think this pottery was made?

ANSWER: This piece was probably made on a wheel, in contrast to earlier handmade pottery. Invention of the pottery wheel, first used shortly after 3000 B.C. by the Dawenkou and Longshan cultures, meant that potters could make thin-walled, evenly formed vessels with greater speed.

Height: 17.2cm

SOURCE: Zhonguo zhongda kaogu faxian (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1990), p. 55.

Below are two more pots from this tomb:

Height: 13.4cm

SOURCE: Zhonguo zhongda kaogu faxian (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1990), p. 56.

Height: 28.3cm

SOURCE: Zhongguo meishu quanji v. 1 (Beijing: Renmin meishu chubanshe, 1988), p. 14.

What animal is the piece below meant to represent? What was the significance of this animal?

HINT: Think about some of the animal parts that are found in Tomb 10.

Ceramic vessel Height: 22cm Length: 25cm

SOURCE: Zhongguo meishu quanji v. 1 (Beijing: Renmin meishu chubanshe, 1988), p. 14.

Detail

SOURCE: Zhongguo meishu quanji v. 1 (Beijing: Renmin meishu chubanshe, 1988), p. 14.

ANSWER: Probably a pig, a staple of the Neolithic economy. The Dawenkou people cultivated millet and domesticated pigs and other livestock. Heads and jaws of pigs were frequently buried with the dead as symbols of wealth.