Pottery zeng
Collection serial no.: CS-SKW-2015-PT403
Description: Pottery zeng
Dimensions: Fragment height 149.55mm, fragment weight 600.6g, wall thickness 4.5mm, diameter of hole on bottom 23.3mm.
Material: Brown, nearly clay pottery.
Condition: Nearly intact. Rim is incomplete, and there is some damage to the belly. It has been reconstructed.
A zeng is a type of ancient cooking vessel. There is a hole in the bottom to allow the flow of steam. Based on relevant reconstructed specimens in this museum, pottery zeng of the Fantzuyuan Culture have the following features: short neck, open mouth, lifted shoulders and long belly, gradually narrowing at the base. In the center is a round hole. (Refer to similar exhibited specimens: reconstructed pottery zeng (1998 Qingshui Zhongshe Site). Due to the presence of a hole in the center of the bottom, this is considered to have been a zeng. During use, it was placed in a pottery jar filled with water that was heated from the bottom. The steam rose up through the hole to cook the food placed on a rack inside the zeng. Among the prehistoric pottery have been discovered a zeng with multiple holes in the base and movable pottery comb (sieve with multiple holes, similar to a steamer rack) in the central belly of a jar.
This artifact was excavated from TP3 test pit, Fantzuyuan Culture cultural layer, trash pit.
