The respected Comrade
"We should unearth larger numbers of valuable historical sites and relics, thus enriching the storehouse of the nation's cultural heritage."
New kiln sites, the first of the Neolithic Age in the DPRK, was excavated in the area of Pyodae site in Honam-ri, Samsok District, Pyongyang, between the late June and the early July 2003.
Pyodae Village, Honam-ri, where Pyodae site is located, is on the bank of the Taedong River.
The Taedong River meanders around the east and south of the site and in the west the Songmun stream flows down the north and south to join the Taedong River. The north is surrounded with some hills, including Wangsan and Pyodaesan.
Pyodae site is situated in the area that is 1,500m long from the north to the south and 1,000m wide from the east to the west. There is also Namgyong site of ancient times 3 km away from the southwest and the mural tomb of the Koguryo period 1 km away from the northwest.
Excavation of Pyodae site was conducted at seven places between May 1994 and October 2002.
Two kiln sites of the Neolithic Age were discovered at the place No. 7 in the northeast during the excavation of Pyodae site.
The first is called as Pyodae kiln site No.1 and the second as Pyodae kiln site No.2.
Pyodae kiln site No.1 was unearthed at the depths below 25-30cm from the earth surface. It is a plano-kiln in which a burning room, a floor heater and a kiln are located underground in a line. All of them except the ceiling remained originally.
The whole length of the kiln site is 3m and 1.1m wide, and the remained wall is 50 to 60cm high.
The burning room is a rectangular pit which is 1.6m long and 1.1m wide and its wall is plastered with mud. It is thought that there might be a fuel hole here, judging from the burning trace which is 40 to 50cm wide in the upper part of the well.
The kiln is round in the plane edge and the wall is built slanting to the floor with a layer of cut plain rocks that are 10 to 20cm wide. The upper part of these plain rocks is almost horizontal with the width of 10 to 20 cm, which has the burning traces here and there. It is believed that there was a domed roof on the stone wall. The outer diameter is 110cm and the inner one 90cm.
A partition of plain rocks is built between the burning room and the kiln, and the floor heater is installed under it. The floor heater is 20cm long and wide respectively and 7 cm high, the shape of which looks like a half-moon. The bottom is plastered with the thin layer of mud.
It can be seen that Pyodae kiln site No.1 was an air-tight kiln, judging from its structural form.
Many pieces of pottery and stone tools have been unearthed in and out of the kiln.
It is proved that the site was built in the Neolithic Age from its structural form and a variety of pottery such as bowls with fir leaf pattern, oblique line pattern and fretted pattern.
Pyodae kiln site No.2 is situated only 2.5m away from Pyodae kiln site No.1. The site came into view at the depths below 120cm from the earth surface, which was a long elliptic type of plano-kiln with one room.
The long axis of the kiln lies in the direction of north-south, the size of which is about 150cm long from the north to the south, and the widest part of the bottom is 80cm and the wall 75 to 85cm high.
The kiln site No.2 is an even stove installed underground like the kiln site No.1, almost similar in plane appearance, direction of long axis, wall in the kiln and state of floor. In addition, the pieces of pottery there are the same as the ones from the kiln site No.1 in terms of original mud and pattern.
But No.2 is much smaller and simpler than No.1 because it has no burning room and kiln, without partition and floor heater.
This shows that the former was built earlier than the latter.
Both of them are the kilns of the Neolithic Age which have been excavated in the DPRK for the first time and Pyodae kiln site No.2 is the oldest one in the country so far.
In the past, some scholars gave a denial to the existence of pottery kiln site of the Neolithic Age in the country and even in the case when it was discussed, they believed that it came into use a long time later under the influence of neighboring countries
To say nothing of the kiln sites of the Neolithic Age, those of the ancient period had not been discovered in the country, so Pyodae kiln sites are of great significance on an academic basis.
The kiln sites of the Neolithic Age unearthed first from Pyodae site clearly substantiate that Korean ancestors had mass-produced pottery with unique carving patterns by using their own peculiar techniques and methods of pottery manufacture since the first period of pottery invention.
Also, it is possible to discuss with substantial materials that the DPRK is one of the most developed countries in the world in making pottery by using air-tight kilns and Pyongyang area played the leading and central role in the manufacture and dissemination of pottery.
Indeed, the newly excavation of Pyodae kiln sites of the Neolithic Age is a significant event to make the world know about the time-honored history and developed culture of Pyongyang.
