Ancient pottery workshops unearthed in central China

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 ◆ Ancient pottery workshops unearthed in central China

Pottery workshops of the Han Kingdom, contemporaneous with Dongzhou Dynasty (770 - 256 BC), have been unearthed after being buried for 2,250 years in Xinzheng City, central China's Henan Province.

The workshops, consisting of groups of well-preserved kilns and buildings, were found in an area of 200 meters wide and 250 meters long in the east of the ancient Zhenghan City in Xinzheng, according to the province's archeological authority.

A well-developed pottery drainage network, believed to be one of the best-designed and most sophisticated drainage projects of its period, was unearthed.

Consisting of a main pipe and its branches, the network, partly open and partly underground, was built with pentagonal and round pipes and rectangular decorative bricks.

Washing and mud settling pools, water containers, kilns, tiles bearing seals, pottery depots and an avenue were also discovered.

Marks on most of the pottery reveal that it was produced on pottery wheels.

The pottery process could be divided into several stages - washing, kneading, casting, drying in the shade and firing, said experts.

Pottery was a vital industry in the kingdoms during the Dongzhou period. The discovery was helpful to the research of ancient pottery techniques and customs of the people in that region, according to experts.