Shuikou Pottery Kiln

Shuikou Pottery Kiln

The Shuikou Pottery Kiln is located in Shuikou, Anren Village, Shizheng Town, Pingyuan County. It dates back to the Western Zhou Dynasty. In 1974, four kilns were discovered and excavated. These were circular vertical pit kilns, consisting of two levels: the upper level was the firing chamber, and the lower level was the firebox. One side of the firebox had a stoke hole, and in the middle was a kiln grate with holes that were larger at the top and smaller at the bottom, numbering between 3 to 11. The firing chamber had a circular or oval floor plan, with slightly arched walls. Both the kiln walls and the grate were constructed from a mixture of mud and then fired at high temperatures. Among them, Kiln No. 3 had a remaining height of 1.1 meters in the firing chamber, a central width of 1.85 meters, and a base width ranging from 1.66 to 1.54 meters. The firebox was 0.88 meters high, 1.62 meters wide, and 1.8 meters deep. Artifacts unearthed included concave-bottom jars, round-bottom jars, flat-bottom jars, as well as bowls, basins, cups, pots, paddles, and sockets. Most of the pottery items were fired at slightly higher temperatures, resulting in thin yet hard walls. The decorative patterns were predominantly geometric grids, followed by thundercloud motifs, combinations of thundercloud and grid patterns, vein patterns, and dot-circle designs. Some pottery pieces were painted with black or ochre designs that did not easily fade.

Anren Village: Meizhou City’s Pingyuan County Anren Village is situated in the northwest of Shizheng Town. The village administers 11 villager groups, with 392 registered households and a population of 1,700. The total area of the village is 7.81 square kilometers, and the cultivated land area covers 994 mu. The annual average temperature is 21.7°C, and the annual rainfall is approximately 1,637 millimeters, characterized by a subtropical monsoon climate. The main cash crop is rice, and the village’s featured economic income amounts to 1.2 million yuan. In the previous year, the total rural economic income of the village was 10.57 million yuan. In recent years, measures taken and achievements made in developing the local economy include: first, focusing on the cultivation of rice and the breeding of... More details about Anren Village++