Firing technologies and the pottery kilns of Neolithic tribes of Yangtze river middle reaches

Pottery is the biggest section of the Neolithic material culture. Firing of finished vessels was carried out in pottery kilns, which had very complex construction. This investigation presents the analysis of all currently known material remains of middle and late Neolithic and early Bronze Age of the middle Yangtze River and some neighboring areas, so it includes more than 100 kilns on 30 sites of Daxi, Yangshao, Qujialing, Shijiahe, Erlitou cultures. The study shows that on the chronological interval from the middle Neolithic (5000-3000 BC) to the Early Bronze Age (ca. 2000 BC) in the region successively existed three main types of kilns - combined, inclined horizontal and vertical. The construction features of each type submitted were also investigated.