Technological Features of Early Ceramics of the Northeastern China

This article investigates the materials from recent excavations of the Neolithic sites in the Northeastern China, where the pottery dated back to more than 10,000 years BP was discovered. The author considered two early Neolithic sites in the Nenjiang River basin in the territory of modern Jilin province, Houtaomuga (its earliest layer), Shuangta, as well as the later one, Changtuozi-3. The comparison with the traditions of the archaeological cultures of the adjacent territories of the Russian Far East could make it possible to clarify the distribution of ancient pottery in the region. The most credible similarities come from the cultures of Amur River valley, the Osipovka and Gromatukha, Novopetrovka, Mariinskoye cultures. The earliest materials of the Houtaomuga Phase 1 generally fit into the gap between these cultures and the later North Chinese ones. The following conclusions were made as a result of the investigations: 1. The main unifying feature for all these ceramic traditions is the addition of organic materials (grounded grass and, less often, crushed shell); 2. The most typical forms of the early Neolithic in this region are flat-bottomed cylindrical or truncated-conical pots; 3. The ceramics was constructed by slab construction methods or a mold base; 4. Similar ornament motives were made with a comb stamp and various combinations of comb patterns; 5. Typical features for later ceramics are ornamentation with molded rolls, sometimes dissected or decorated with impressions. The early ceramics of the two regions is rather similar and obviously differs greatly from the pointed or round-bottomed pottery examples from Transbaikal, the Japanese archipelago, and southern China. The highlighted common features indicate a certain continuity of the traditions of ceramic production in the region.