A tale of two wares: an unusual type of Late Neolithic vessels from Gansu Province, China

A group of pots found at Majiayao-period Neolithic sites in Gansu and Qinghai Provinces is very special. As they are made of two parts – one coarse ware with a rusticated surface and one fine ware with a burnished, painted surface – we named the phenomenon Double-Wares. This group was acknowledged by Bylin-Ahltin and Sommarström in their analysis of ceramics from the Andersson collections but not studied further. Double-Wares defy a central rule in pottery making, to strive for a homogenous paste to avoid diverse rates of shrinkage leading to cracks during drying and firing. In this study, sherds from 15 different vessels of this type have been analysed by thin-section analysis. The results show different combinations of clays and tempers as well as different ways of uniting the two wares devised to reduce the risk of cracks along the joint. It suggests that different potters made both fine and coarse ware as well as Double-Wares. All known examples of Double-Wares are settlement finds and most are fragments of large vessels from spouted basins to two-handled shouldered jars. More pots of this type have been found in recent excavations at Majiayao and may have come out at other sites as well, though they were not recognized as a special phenomenon by the excavators. Double-Wares demonstrate a close connection between fabric and design and that the joining of fine and coarse ware despite the practical problems must have been meaningful. Future research should aim at exploring the meaning behind this unusual phenomenon.