History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c15.1

v1.c15.1

The invention of pottery is a most important landmark in man's march from barbarism to civilization. Although the earliest occurrence of pottery is generally attributed to the Neolithic period when man first began to enjoy the luxury of settled life, recent evidence from West Asia shows that pottery came to be made by man in the later stage of the Neolithic, and that there is an aceramic stage preceding the use of pottery. In the primary Neolithic, vessels of stone and wood were used as containers as is testified by the evidence from West Asia. On the basis of radio-carbon determinations the beginnings of pottery manufacture (Melaart, p. 62) can now be assigned, with reasonable amount of certitude, to about 7000 B.C. It may also be stated that still earlier occurrence of pottery is now reported from Japan where the peasants of the Jomon culture used pottery vessels some ten thousand years ago.