5 – Earthenware from Kota Cina: A Typology

As regards quantity (149,000 sherds) and weight (1,400 kg), earthenware sherds represent respectively 74 percent and 67.5 percent of the category “fired clay objects (unglazed or glazed)” collected during the surveys and excavations carried out at Kota Cina between 2011 and 2016. They fall into three major categories. Coarse pottery, modeled and shaped with a paddle and/or from coils, constitutes the overwhelming majority (74 percent of the sherds). Most of these vessels were used for cooking activities (marmites, cooking pots), shallow bowls, dishes, basins, storage pots, jars, as well as kendis and oil lamps. Coarse pottery, at least partly wheel-made, constitutes the second group as regards quantities (21 percent of the sherds). This group includes the technical group B, characterised by relatively heavy wares, and technical group E, characterised by light wares. Most of these containers were used for cooking activities (marmites, cooking pots), shallow bowls, storage pots, as well as kendis and oil lamps. Wheel-made fine-tempered earthenware constitutes the last group represented by the technical group D (6 percent of the sherds). Most of these vessels are containers for liquid storage, such as kendis, as well as small-sized dishes and storage pots. With more than 80 types dating between the turn of the twelfth and early fourteenth centuries, this corpus offers a large variety of shapes