Tags: Lungshan | Neolithic | pottery

The Lungshan culture of Shantong was spread around the middle and east of Shantong Province, and the Huaibei area in Jiangsu Province, 4,500 to 4,000 years ago. Since the largest proportion of the pottery that has been unearthed there is black, this has become known as the “black pottery culture”. The goblets with wide handles were mostly unearthed at the Sanlihe site, at Jiao county in Shantong province. In places, the cup is only half a millimeter thick. It is unique in both its craftsmanship and style. The black pottery goblet with the wide handle that you are looking at now is less than a millimeter thick at its thinnest point. The body of the goblet is black and shiny, the trimming is neat, and the hollow part of the handle is very delicate. From archaeological information we know that society in the Lungshan culture period had a clear hierarchy, and a special craftsman was in charge of pottery making. This pottery was used by the upper classes and also served as a symbol of power and royalty.

National Museum of History