Beyond the Storehouses and Pottery of Gaya

[Narration]
Can you see the large jars in the middle of the exhibition room?

[Tourist]
Wow! What’s inside them? They’re huge!

[Narration]
Ha-ha! Follow me and you will find out. Besides those jars, other artifacts pertaining to the lifestyle of Gaya people are displayed in this room. First, let’s see what there is.

[Tourist]
That sounds interesting.

[Narration]
Please walk inside along the path to the right of the jars.

Can you see the pottery vessel resembling a house on the right? This object was made to replicate the storage houses of Gaya. At that time, food was extremely valuable and directly guaranteed survival. The people of Gaya built storage houses above the ground both to keep the stores dry and to prevent intrusion by wild animals looking for food.

[Tourist]
Um, that was wise.

[Narration]
I agree. Now let’s turn around and look at the large jars. These seven jars were made for different purposes. The wide-mouthed jar in the middle was used for storing grains and food. In the corner, there’s a charcoal gray-colored jar with four lugs which was used for holding water or alcohol.

[Tourist]
Hmm… these are all very ordinary. I’ve seen similar objects in other museums.

[Narration]
Only those two are ordinary. The other five jars were used in a very different way. Can you guess how they were used?

[Tourist]
Hmm… Besides food… Were they used to store leather or farming tools?

[Narration]
No, they were used to bury the dead.

[Tourist]
The dead! Why did they bury the dead in food storage jars?

[Narration]
When bodies were simply buried under the ground, they were often dug up and ravaged by animals. The bodies were placed in these jars to protect them.

[Tourist]
I see. Anyway, the people of Gaya appear to have been very wise.

[Narration]
Do you think so? As we can see, the food storage facilities of Gaya are important factors in explaining the ways of life and death of the Gaya people.