From Soft, Red Pottery To Hard, Grayish-blue Pottery, Gaya Pottery

When people of the Neolithic Age settled down in one place and began farming, they needed vessels to store the grain they produced. Earthenware was invented and made with soil, an obviously common and widely available material. This primitive pottery was “high-tech” at the time.

Gaya pottery generally refers to the popular pottery manufactured in the Gimhae region from the 1st century B.C. to the 7th century A.D. These particular vessels were manufactured between the 4th and 6th centuries.

Take special notice of the color of the pottery. The pieces are mainly red and gray. The different colors were produced using different firing methods. The red pottery in the middle of the glass case was fired outside in an underground kiln. The material used was soft and brittle when moist, but able to withstand high temperatures, so these vessels made ideal cooking pots.

The gray pottery, however, was fired in a cave-shaped kiln at higher temperatures. The temperatures caused the clay particles to bind tightly together, which resulted in hard, durable products. Preventing the influx of oxygen elevated the iron content and increased the depth of color.

As demonstrated here, the earthenware of Gaya evolved due to the advancement of manufacturing techniques.