Monograph No. 93

NARAYAMA EXCAVATION REPORT Ⅱ －INVESTIGATIONS OF THE UTAHIME-NISHI SUE POTTERY KILNS－

Abstract

　This report is the archaeological report of the Utahime-Nishi Sue ware kiln site at the locations of Nos. and 12 in N arayama hill. Around forty years have passed since the first excavation of the site. The situation of Sue ware production in the seventh century has not fully revealed yet, since only a small number of the kiln sites in this period have ever been researched. Therefore this report will provide new information on this study.

　In this site the features of three Sue kilns have been discovered, then decided to be preserved in situ. Therefore the excavation was conducted only to clarify the extents of the kiln bodies and ash piles, and limited sub-trenches were opened.

　At the location of No. 11, only one kiln (Kiln 1) feature was found. This implies that only one kiln had been operated at this location. At Kiln 1, a distribution of burnt soil was observed in the range of 3 meters in the north-south direction and 15 meters in the east-west direction. This suggests the original size of the kiln. The kiln body was hardly found; however, we estimate that the kiln had a semisubterranean structure. Ash pile was found in the east side of the kiln, that was a triangular shape in plan measuring 15 meters in the north-south direction and 12 meters in the east-west direction with 0.2 meters thick.

　At the location of No. 12, two kiln features were found (Kilns 1 and 2). Kiln l was positioned in the east-west direction, measuring 1.9 meters in the north-south direction and 6.5 meters in the east-west direction, with an angle of slope of 20 degrees. This was smaller than Kiln l at the location of No. in size. A limited sub-trench was opened on the body of Kiln l, and burnt floor of the kiln was found below the natural soil. This implies that the kiln had a semisubterranean structure. Kiln 2 was located on the east side of Kiln l. Like Kiln 1, this was positioned in the east-west direction, and its size and shape were almost the same as Kiln l. The kiln bodies were hardly found at Kilns 1 and 2. The ash piles from Kilns l and 2 were connected each other, distributed in the range of 8 meters in the north-south direction and 5.1 meters in the east-west direction with 0.3 to 1.6 meters thick. Not only sherds of Sue ware but also fragments of kiln bodies were observed in the ash piles. This implies that the kiln bodies had been repaired more than one time at this location. It is contrasting that no fragment of the kiln body was found at Kiln l at the location of No. 11. This may reflect the difference of duration of the kiln operation.

　Comparing the thickness of the ash piles of these kilns, it was thicker at the location No 12 than at the location No 11. Recently a new kiln, that is Kiln 3, was discovered on the west side of Kilns l and 2 at the location of No. 12. It was revealed that some sherds from Kiln 3 and other sherds form the ash piles of Kilns l and 2 were able to be jointed together. This suggests that a part of the ash piles were also derived from Kiln 3.

　The collection of Sue ware from Kiln 1 at the location No. 11 includes lids of dish types G and B, dishes types G and A, dishes type B, cups, long and short pedestal dishes, plates, bowls, flat jugs, jars, lids of jar, brimmed pots, steaming vessels, and miscellaneous wares including ring-shaped pottery and pagoda-shaped pottery.The collection of Sue ware from Kilns 1 and 2 at the location No. 12 includes lids of dish types G and B, dishes types G and A, plates, bowls, wine servers, flat jugs, flask-like bottles, jars, brimmed pots, pots, and pedestals. Most of them were recovered from the ash piles. Most of these examples are fallen into the category of Asuka Type III in terms of morphological characteristics, and quite a few examples not belonging to Asuka Type III were found there. This situation implies that the kilns of the Utahime-Nishi site had been operated in a short period of Asuka Type III, that is the later part of the seventh century.

　Among the collections of Sue ware from the kiln ash piles, dishes and their lids occupied a dominant portion. Here we tried to set a new typological classification based on the collections. The dishes were classified into four types (Types I, II, III and IV) and subdivided into six types furthermore, in terms of the form of the bottom. Type I corresponds to the conventional dish type G, Types II and III correspond to the conventional dish type A, Type IV corresponds to the conventional dish type B respectively. The conventional dish type A is subdivided into two types, since its form varies a great deal; the examples of Type II are related to dish type G and lid of dish type H, and the examples of Type III are separated from the counterparts of Type II. In addition, we pointed out that some examples of dish type A had lids, since the total number of lids recovered from the site were larger than that of dish types B and G, and some lids can be fit with some of dish type A. Our findings may shift the previous understanding that dish type A had no lids. The lids of the dishes were classified into four types (Types A, B, C and D) and subdivided into six types furthermore, in terms of their shapes, knob forms, and profiles, and presence or absence of step. We considered that the lid Type A was derived from bronze dish like an example recovered from the Kazekaeshi Inariyama tumulus in Ibaraki prefecture. We also considered that lid of dish type B resembles the reversed form of dish type H. These collections have some implication for understanding the derivation and emergence of dish types A and G.

　At Kiln 1 at the location of No. 11 some miscellaneous wares including ring-shaped pottery and pagoda-shaped pottery were produced. The ring-shaped pottery includes ring-shaped bottles. These examples were made from a body of clay originally in a box shape. This technique is different from that of ring-shaped bottles before the early seventh century. The dispersal of the ring-shaped bottles was almost simultaneous as the introduction of the new making technique of the ring-shaped bottles to the Utahime-Nishi kiln site. This implies that the introduction of new technique enabled mass production of the minor ware previously made in some limited areas. This has an implication to understand the change of Sue ware production in the late seventh century. The pagoda-shaped pottery may have had some association to Buddhism. Comparing to the example of porcelain pagoda stored in Shoso-in in the Todai-ji temple, we considered that the examples recovered from the Utahime-Nishi kiln site were modeled after a Satchu pagoda which has a central axis with layers of roofs, and are different from stoneware miniature pagoda modeled after wooden pagoda. This is an important finding since it was clarified that the pagoda-shaped pottery existed prior to the appearance of stoneware miniature pagoda.

　The collection from the Utahime-Nishi kiln site are fallen into the category of Asuka Type III, in terms of the facts that dishes type H were absent, dishes type B were present, lids of dishes both with and without step were present, and dishes type A were present. It has been considered that in the period of Asuka Type III the production system of Sue ware had drastically been changed by the influence from that of Korean Peninsular. The Utahime-Nishi kiln site was a production site that was operated during this revolutionary period in the early ancient times.

　Although some new types of Sue wares characterizing Asuka Type III were produced, the making techniques of the previous period had still continued in use in this workshop. The techniques were not influenced by those of the Suemura kiln complex, but influenced by those of the kilns in Tokai region to some extent. A distinctive feature of the Utahime-Nishi kiln site is that the production system was different from that of Suemura, a major kiln workshop providing Sue ware products to Asuka region. In order to clarify the situation of Sue ware production in the seventh century when new kilns were established in various parts of the country, a research to identify the derivation and regional characteristics of the production system must be necessary.

　Another distinctive feature of the Utahime-Nishi kiln site is that the products associated with Buddhism existed, such as pagoda-shaped pottery. It is probable that pagoda-shaped pottery were made for Buddhist temples, especially for relatively small temples, since they were only substitute goods for Satchu pagodas. This suggests that the kilns of Utahime-Nishi were operated only for the purpose of constructions of some temples. It is probable that the distribution area of the products from Utahime-Nishi was limited in the southern Yamashiro region, in terms of the quantity of production and the situation of other kiln sites nearby.