Pottery vessels (Xianrendong)
Cerámica utilitaria (vasijas de Xianrendong)
- Date
- c. 20 ka · confidence high
- Place
- Xianrendong Cave, Wannian, Jiangxi, China
- Credited to
- Homo sapiens (late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers)
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Fragments of clay vessels with soot marks, used to cook food, 10,000 years before agriculture. Pottery is the first synthetic material in everyday use.
Yuchanyan (Hunan, 18–17 ka) and Xianrendong (20 ka) compete; Jōmon pottery (Odai Yamamoto, 16.5 ka) and that of the Amur are probably independent inventions in East Asia.
What it led to
- Boiling and soups: soft food for the elderly and children, a diet of snails and greens
- Airtight storage of liquids and grain
- Controlled fermentation (beer, sauces)
- A ceramic tradition that spreads through Japan (Jōmon), Siberia and Korea
Built on
- Control of firec. 1 Ma
- Heat treatment of silcretec. 72 ka
- Ostrich eggshell water containersc. 60 ka
- Fire-making by percussionc. 50 ka
- Earth oven and clay-lined hearthsc. 32 ka
- Fired clay figurines (ceramic)c. 29 ka
- Basketryc. 27 ka
- Fired clay figurines (ceramic)
- Earth oven and clay-lined hearths
- Basketry
Made possible
- Incipient Jōmon potteryc. 16.5 ka
- Cereal fermentation (beer)c. 13 ka
- Tandoor (cylindrical clay oven)c. 2600 BCE
- Incipient Jōmon pottery
- Cereal fermentation (beer)