Study on Firing Technique of Celadon Wares Excavated from Caocun Kiln in Linzhang, Hebei Province

Current research on ancient porcelain in Hebei province is focused mainly on samples of Sui, Tang, Song and Jin Dynasty, while porcelain of the Northern Dynasties attracts little attention. This paper reports a method using X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) analysis, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), lithofacies analysis, water absorption test and dilatometer were to study the celadon wares excavated from the Caocun Kiln. In two samples, the contents of CaO were found to be 17.86% and 14.1%, with sintering temperatures of 1150.1℃ and 1185.2℃. In the remaining samples, the contents of PbO were no less than 42%, the water absorptions of partial samples were less than 5%, and mullite was found in the X-ray diffraction pattern. In conclusion, both celadon porcelain and lead-glaze pottery were found in the excavated artifact, which provides evidence to support the hypothesis that the Caocun kiln was one of the earliest kilns, manufacturing celadon porcelain in the north of China. The lead-glaze potteries were secondary sintered based on the sintering temperature of more than 1000℃, which was much higher than that for lead-glaze pottery. This new production technique may pave the way for tricolored glazed pottery at the Tang Dynasty. Conducting experiments such as these is helpful in the understanding of the development process of porcelains in North China.