The pottery of sa huynh culture

The pottery is one of the most important material to study about Sa Huynh Culture at many aspects, from the material life to the spirit life. From society classify to exchange culture… In this text, we mention somes lines about this important document.

The type of Sa Huynh pottery is very diversified and plentiful, consist of the main types follow:

Coffint: contain, used to bury the dead with the burial objects. As to the size, this is the coffin the biggest pottery thing in the Vietnam’s pre-history. As to the shape, the pottery coffin is separated into the forms: big jar and pot.

They are consisted the designs: the cylinder big jar, the egg big jar and jar/pot (the peach shape or the sphere shape). Correlatively with each type has individual format, according to each region, each graveyard zone. To follow with the normal pottery pot has the lid to agree with each type.

The pottery lid: there are two essential types, shortened cone one and the dish-cover form one.

The shortened cone lid is rather popular type in Sa Huynh relic, normally used to cover the cylinder burial jar. Itsname has some extent express about theirform. The lid has a flat top, circle, no decorative design, body is cupped down mouth, the outside face usually create the line carve design and combine with red colour.

The dish-cover form lid, or called the basin form lid with the flat top, body is bent and sphere form. This type has no aim for any coffin but according to each vestige, it has usages for each type.

Beside two types of lid, there are also mentioned above big jar-tomb, jar/pot-tomb which covered by the footed bowl, or the fruit tray (usually strike the support foot), or the bottom of another burial jar.

Cooking – pot: the container type used to cooking, with the sphere shape. The pot in Sa Huynh relics has big amount, diversity form in, with two functions: daily use and burial thing.

Vase: belong to the container with support foot, rather popular and it is sophisticated decorated by Sa Huynh’s inhabitant. This type display to the forms: the vase has curved body (typical in Sa Huynh culture) and non curved body one.

Tray/footed bowl: two types have the style are alike, with the upper part of the body has the cupped mouth or convex, the hollow bowel, the high support foot. These types usually decorated sophisticatedly, especially is fruit tray. However it’s difficult to split clearly two these types, but we accept temporary follow this criterion: the things have the big size, hollow and large bowel are fruit tray, and the small size ones are footed bowl. This type has many different styles or variants.

Oil-lamp: the type discovered in tomb, perhaps to relate about rites. As to the structure, the support foot vase or the footed tray, the mouth is cupped large or curved, inside embossed work empty “Oasis”.

Plumb spin thread: be attending in almost the places of excavation, with the falcon face types: lozenge, two shortened cones upturn each other, trapezium, sphere and near sphere.

Jewellry: although not popular but it is original factor, made the characteristic of Sa Huynh culture with the types: earrings, beads.

Together with the plentiful in types, the decoration on Sa Huynh pottery also diversified and make the style and specific characteristics. The most popular design is rope design, the most typical one is incised combine dot shell-incised, geometric motif or other complicated motif. Besides, Sa Huynh pottery also has combination of the colouring vein, dotting one (print the stick dot, print thatch stem), brush one, holed burst one…etc..

Raw materials: Although it’s depend on each region, each area with the individual soil construction but to follow the raw materials source also has many different qualities. But, Sa Huynh pottery is essential the coarse one, with the main composition is clay with sand and molluse cover, the plants waste or the crushed stone.

Technology: Sa Huynh’s inhabitant are skilled in process of producing pottery, from create the form, create the design to burn pottery.

Create the form: use the around-table technology, the roll band, the beat-table chock-ball (smooth press).

Create the design: with the rope design, beat, brush, incised, colouring, redcoloured, black coloured…etc..use the shell tools, double stick, tooth of a comb, roll rope.

Burning technology: follow to the many researching experimental results and determine the average temperature to burn Sa Huynh pottery during 600 degrees celcius to under 900 degrees celcius.

From the researching results on Sa Huynh Culture, the researchers had a general view about the pottery in this culture. Sa Huynh pottery play a decisive role in daily life with the diversity about style and decorative pattern. Sa Huynh pottery is crystallization of labour process, studying of the native inhabitants, is the products with a full beautiful looking and creation, and it’s Sa Huynh  that have made the individual character for this famous culture.

Source: Vietnam Nationnal Museum of History