Kiln Cluster of Shang and Zhou Dynasties on Mao’er Mountain

FUZHOU, April 27 (Fujian Daily) – The kiln cluster of Shang and Zhou Dynasties on Mao’er Mountain, located in Xiayang Village, Xianyang Town, Pucheng County, covers an area of about 1 million square meters. By 2006, a total area of 2,250 square meters was excavated, and nine pottery kilns from the early Shang Dynasty, two Neolithic tombs, 21 tombs from the Shang Dynasty, and such ruins as ash pits and a large number of relics like stoneware, pottery, and shards were discovered.

The two sloped elongated kilns (dragon kilns) excavated in the site are well preserved in structure, similar to those from the Shang Dynasty unearthed in Lijia Hill, Shangyu of Zhejiang Province. The difference is the former ones are older, embodying certain primitiveness, and are the primitive dragon kilns from the early Shang Dynasty first discovered in China. The kiln site shows concentrated distribution, large scale, and diverse kiln types, with stratigraphic successions and breaking, providing valuable physical information for the study on the origin and development of early kilns in China, especially dragon kilns. The kiln cluster has won the title of “Top Ten New National Archaeological Discoveries of 2005”. It was included in the 7th group of major monuments protected at the national level in 2013 and was selected as one of the first group of provincial archaeological site parks in 2019.