Northern Song Dynasty Kiln at Yaotou Mountain

Northern Song Dynasty Kiln at Yaotou Mountain

The Northern Song Dynasty Kiln at Yaotou Mountain is a cultural relic protection unit of Huizhou City.

The Yaotou Mountain Kiln is located on Yaotou Mountain in Dongping, Huizhou City, with the Dongjiang River to the north and the Xizhi River to the southwest. It dates back to the Northern Song Dynasty and was excavated in 1976. The accumulation of debris reaches a thickness of over 5 meters. One kiln was unearthed — a sloped, stepped dragon kiln — with a remaining length of 4.69 meters, a width of 2.76–3.16 meters, and a remaining height of 1.6 meters. The kiln chamber used double-corner bricks laid flat and aligned, while the kiln floor was compacted with yellowish-brown sandy soil. The stratified deposits inside the kiln were divided into seven layers, with 210 kilograms of copper coins unearthed from the second layer. Artifacts include kiln tools and porcelain. The kiln tools and production utensils consist of saggers, spacer discs, spacer rings, test pieces, mortar bowls, grinding mortars and rods, copper sheets, and more. The porcelain items comprise bowls, dishes, cups, saucers, cups, jars, pots, bottles, incense burners, lids, pillows, small dogs, and some sculptures. The glaze colors are mainly celadon, along with soybean-brown, dark brown-black, bluish-white, and a small amount of white. The surface decorations include stamped patterns, incised designs, sculpted figures, and perforations, with motifs such as interlocking chrysanthemums, interlocking peonies, scrolling vines, banana leaves, and raised lotus petal patterns. The latest copper coins unearthed date to the Southern Song Dynasty’s "Jianyan Tongbao," and Vietnamese "Thiên Phúc Trấn Bảo" coins were also found.

In 1978, the Huizhou Revolutionary Committee declared it a cultural relic protection unit.