Chapter 231: The Kiln Site Is Right Underneath Here

Hejin City, Xiahua.

The climate in the mountainous area is quite cool; although it is already the Qingming Festival season, the sunny slopes are only just beginning to show green, and the Archaeology Team members are all wearing cotton-padded clothes.

The motorcade stopped by the roadside, and inside the recreational vehicle specifically used as an office, a group of people gathered together to study the surveying and mapping charts.

"Within the territory of Xiahua, the silty ceramic clay mine belt is widely distributed, and the terrain is polarized: the east is the Longmen Mountain, a branch of the Luliang Mountains, which is mountainous and hilly, while the west is the Yellow River tidal flat area, which is extremely flat. If there is a porcelain kiln, the possibility of it being in the west is greater..."

"Correct. First, the terrain is flat, making transportation convenient. Second, it is adjacent to the Longmen Ferry, providing convenient traffic. Most importantly, it leans against the Yellow River, making it convenient to draw water..."

"There is one more point: the eastern mountainous area is all mines. Field Research Institute Tian, Team Leader Gao, look, in such a tiny place, there are eleven coal mines alone. In addition, there are three pyrite mines, two limonite mines, as well as ceramic clay, refractory clay, limestone... With so many mines, and so concentrated, if there were a kiln site, it would be impossible for no accumulation layers to have been unearthed during mining..."

Liu Ming spoke eloquently, and Deputy Bureau Chief Xu of the county Cultural Relics Bureau kept echoing him; the two had very consistent opinions: head west.

Tian Jie did not make a sound, and Gao Zhangyi did not make a sound either; the two looked at Lin Sicheng, meaning for him to make the decision.

The few locals who came to assist, however, were a bit unable to understand: for professional matters, shouldn't they be left to professional people to handle?

No matter how one thinks about it, someone who does Artifact Restoration and Artifact Research has nothing to do with field archaeology...

"Let's head east first!" Lin Sicheng pointed at the map, "Go to Laoyaotou Village first!"

Liu Ming took a glance: that place had already reached the northernmost part of Hejin County, separated from Xiangning County by only one mountain ridge; flipping over it would be Xipo Village of Xipo Town.

The name does indeed contain the character "kiln," but that is only because pottery vats were fired there.

The most important thing is that the surroundings are all mountains, and there are extremely many mines: two coal mines and one iron mine surround the village in the middle.

Not to mention whether it would be easy to transport porcelain out under ancient transportation conditions, just considering the high content of iron and coal in the ceramic clay, how much effort would it take to remove the impurities and fire white porcelain?

Liu Ming was just about to say something, and the words had already reached his lips, when Deputy Bureau Chief Xu on the side gave him a wink.

That's right, just fulfill the duty of reminding them. Speak less, look more...

The others naturally had no objections, especially Tian Jie and Gao Zhangyi. Never mind heading east or west, even if Lin Sicheng said to go down into the Yellow River to explore, they would have to find a way to get a few sets of underwater archaeology equipment.

With a few shouts, the group got into the vehicles, and the motorcade drove grandly into the country road.

Inside the recreational vehicle, Lin Sicheng explained patiently:

"Just as Museum Curator Liu and Bureau Chief Xu said: Laoyaotou is located in a mountainous area with inconvenient transportation. The key is that the ceramic clay has a high impurity content, making the difficulty of firing white porcelain too high; as for any Fine White Porcelain, that is not even worth thinking about... Therefore, the kiln site for Luanbai Jade cannot be here!"

"Then why not follow their suggestion and search along the banks of the Yellow River? The reason is simple: the ceramic clay composition does not match. Previously, Senior Brother Tian Jie analyzed it, and in these past few days, Professor Shang Yan has also analyzed it, and the results are all consistent: whether it is fine porcelain or coarse porcelain, white porcelain or Black Porcelain, Song Porcelain or Ming Porcelain, the collected samples are all Calcium-based Glaze."

"And the areas along the Yellow River are eroded by the alkaline Yellow River water all year round, so what is fired would inevitably be a Calcium-Alkaline Glaze... Therefore, the kiln site could be anywhere, except it cannot be along the banks of the Yellow River..."

"Let's talk about Laoyaotou again. This is the only place within the entire Hejin City territory with a clear indication and documented records of having fired ceramic utensils. Then the question arises: since transportation is so inconvenient, after the founding of the country, why did the commune still set up a vat kiln here?"

"According to my speculation: before the founding of the country, porcelain was already fired here. Perhaps even earlier, in the Qing Dynasty, or even the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the possibility of an ancient kiln site existing at Laoyaotou is very high. If we can find a kiln site here, we can use this to trace the source and conduct trial surveys in the surrounding areas..."

"But the data shows that this place only fired pottery vats after the founding of the country, which is why it is called Laoyaotou!" Shang Yan held the document, "Other than that, there are no records at all regarding firing porcelain or pottery!"

"Just because it isn't recorded in historical materials doesn't mean it didn't exist. Professor Shang, at least I can be certain: Laoyaotou not only fired vats, but also fired Black Porcelain!"

Lin Sicheng replied, opened the specimen box, and several people craned their necks to take a look: inside were all broken vessels, either Black Porcelain or brown-glazed porcelain, indicating that the ceramic clay had an extremely high iron content.

The body texture was very coarse, the color was very deep, and one could clearly see iron sulfide particles and coal slag. The key was, there were actually fragments of porcelain vats?

"These were all collected from local Hejin areas. The porcelain vats were produced in the sixties and seventies, while the Black Porcelain was produced in the late Qing and early Republic of China, but the fetal clay composition is consistent, so it can basically be concluded that they came from the same production area."

"Afterwards, the data team checked the county annals and industrial archives. After the founding of the country, many vat factories were built in Hejin County, but only the fetal clay of Laoyaotou is consistent with the specimens. Based on this point, at least it can be concluded that Black Porcelain was fired here in the late Qing and early Republic of China period..."

Tian Jie looked at the map again: "The trial surveys in the surrounding areas you mentioned just now, where does 'surrounding' refer to?"

"South of Longmen Mountain, the Guzhen area!"

Lin Sicheng tapped on Laoyaotou, then pointed to the location circled in a red frame in the middle:

"Laoyaotou is all mountains, but further south, the area reaching Guzhen is a plain. Although there are mines, they are not that dense. There is only one point: the scope of ancient Guzhen was extremely large, including Shanggu, Xiagu, Donggu, Xigu... which are the northern halves of the two towns of Fancun and Senglou today."

"More than twenty kilometers from east to west, and nearly fifteen kilometers from north to south. Surveying within such a large area is undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack. Therefore, we must first find an anchor point, and then according to clues, narrow down the exploration range..."

"What clues?"

"Water!" Lin Sicheng pointed to the yellow line in the middle, "This is the G209 National Highway. On one side of the national highway, there is a river called Zhemayu. It originates from the middle of Xiangning County, winds south, and flows through Xipo, Laoyaotou, Shanggu, and Zhonggu. After entering Fancun, it flows west into the Yellow River..."

"And the reason why the porcelain kilns, pottery kilns, and purple clay kilns of ancient Xipo Town were so concentrated is, first, because of the extremely rich ceramic clay and pottery clay resources in the Xipo and Guzhen areas, and second, because of this river..."

The crowd suddenly realized and nodded continuously: according to Lin Sicheng's speculation, the so-called anchor point is Laoyaotou, and then they should survey south along the Zhemayu River.

In this way, the scope of the kiln site can basically be further narrowed down. It is roughly that area marked on the map north of Fancun and Senglou.

Of course, the premise is that there is indeed a porcelain kiln at Laoyaotou.

Wang Qi Zhi said half-jokingly: "It better be there, otherwise we'll be laughed at by the locals until our teeth fall out!"

Suddenly, the vehicle erupted in laughter.

According to the understanding of Museum Curator Liu and the others: for an archaeological survey, not listening to the suggestions of the Field Research Institute and the Archaeology Team, but listening to the wild commands of someone who does porcelain restoration—isn't this just messing around?

That is because they do not know that this young man who does porcelain restoration knows a bit too much.

Lin Sicheng did not mind: let them laugh; it is hard to say about Song Kiln or Jin Kiln, but there is definitely a Qing Kiln. Even if it is not in Laoyaotou Village, it is definitely nearby, and it basically cannot jump out of this area.

Firing porcelain requires not only clay but also water; just follow the Zhemayu River, follow the ancient riverbed sites that existed, and sooner or later, they will be able to find it...

After driving for about an hour, the motorcade arrived at Laoyaotou Village.

There are extremely many mountains, endless, with no end in sight.

The terraces are like stone stairs, rising level by level. Above the mountain tops, a few residential houses are sparsely located.

"Laoyaotou originally belonged to Xipo Town, Xiangning County. At that time, there were many mountains and forests, so there were many people, nearly five or six hundred households. After merging into Hejin in the seventies of the last century, the village kept opening coal mines; the land became less every year, and the people became fewer every year."

"According to last year's statistics, there are only twenty households left in the whole village, basically all elderly people, with a resident population of less than fifty..."

Deputy Bureau Chief Xu introduced it carefully, and Lin Sicheng looked out into the distance.

There are indeed many mountains; as far as the eye can see, there is nothing but mountains.

There are also many mines; the flow of vehicles is like a dragon, and smoke and dust are everywhere. On a beautiful sunny day, it feels as if one's eyes are covered with a layer of frosted glass.

Below the mountain, on the bank of the ancient riverbed, two vat and tile kiln sites remain.

After taking a rough look, the motorcade went down the mountain and drove to the side of the kiln site.

They are all earth-wood structures; one is relatively intact, with the kiln shed and kiln roof still there. The other has collapsed on the outside, and one can barely make out the outline.

Gao Zhangyi called out, led the team members, and walked over with the instruments.

"Director Tian, Team Leader Gao, watch your safety!"

"Don't worry!"

After giving these instructions, Lin Sicheng began to walk along the ancient riverbed.

This walk lasted for more than ten days.

Tian Jie and Gao Zhangyi had also been surveying for over ten days.

Two days ago, they had set up simple protection for the two earth kilns and then started surveying. After half a month of continuous work, the only results were a few broken porcelain jars and some rotten earthenware pots.

Other than that, there was nothing else.

The area was only so big, and there was no need to survey too deeply. There were only two possible conclusions: either it was not here, or there was no such thing as a so-called porcelain kiln.

Liu Ming and Xu Chengyan stood on the top of the slope, watching the Archaeology Team wandering around outside the kilns.

"Museum Curator Liu, what are they doing?"

"They say they are looking for black porcelain shards!"

"If they can't find them in the kilns, can they find them outside?" Xu Chengyan looked strange. "Besides, aren't they looking for a Fine White Porcelain kiln?"

Liu Ming also found it hard to understand. He just felt that these people were hitting here and there without a plan.

"The porcelain clay here has many impurities and a dark color, so the possibility of firing Black Porcelain isn't zero, but I recall that no historical records mention it?"

Xu Chengyan nodded: "Indeed, there are none!"

If there were no records, it meant nothing had been fired here, regardless of whether it was White Porcelain or Black Porcelain.

Then weren't these people just messing around blindly?

The two raised their binoculars again and looked into the distance.

About two kilometers away, on the terrace of the east bank of the ancient riverbed, Lin Sicheng was pacing around several pits.

These should have been ponds before; how they were formed was unknown, but they had been dry for many years, and the bottoms of the pits were overgrown with wild grass.

After walking back and forth several times, he took a probe and thrust it downward. After probing for a while, he pulled it out to examine the soil layers.

After pondering for a while, Lin Sicheng climbed back onto the bank and looked around the surroundings.

"What is he looking for now?"

"Don't know!"

Just as they were suspicious, Xu Chengyan's walkie-talkie rang: "Bureau Chief Xu, Bureau Chief Xu, may I ask, during the Republic of China, was there a Coal Mine opened here?"

More than just the Republic of China?

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, coal mining had already begun in the Lao Yaotou area, and it had continued until now.

"Yes, Teacher Lin!"

"Can you find any relevant information?"

How could one check this?

Xu Chengyan frowned and was about to speak when Liu Ming waved his hand and took the walkie-talkie:

"Teacher Lin, earlier information might be hard to check, but after 1930, it should have been the 35th Army of Fu Zuoyi... to be precise: it was jointly opened by Fu Zuoyi and Dong Qiwu..."

Huh, wasn't Fu Zuoyi from Yuncheng?

Dong Qiwu was even closer, from Guzhen, Hejin County, and his hometown was only a dozen kilometers away from here...

Lin Sicheng felt a surge of energy: "Museum Curator Liu, I must ask another question: during the Republic of China, did any mining accidents occur at Lao Yaotou, such as collapses or anything like that?"

No... you are looking for a kiln, so just look for the kiln; why ask about mining accidents?

"I really don't know about that..."

Just after saying half a sentence, Liu Ming paused: Was Lin Sicheng suspecting that the porcelain kiln was buried under those few large pits?

Sure enough!

Lin Sicheng's voice rang out from the walkie-talkie again: "Director Tian, Team Leader Gao, come to my location, I have made a discovery..."

The Archaeology Team stopped on the spot, several groups got into their pickup trucks, and then, kicking up a dragon of dust, they drove over.

Wang Qi Zhi and Shang Yan also got out of their RV and chased after them in the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

As soon as they arrived, Lin Sicheng held something out: "This is what I just probed out, everyone take a look!"

The probe was hollow; when drilled down and pulled back up, the tube would be filled with soil. By looking at the soil stratification, one could infer whether there had been human activity in this place.

A group of people gathered in a circle, took a look, and then were all stunned in unison:

They had probed about a meter deep; the top layer was basically all silty fine soil, with few gravels and small particles.

They were all experts and could tell at a glance: this was a natural accumulation layer formed by natural factors such as flash floods and wind, with a technical term: an intermittent layer.

It was not thick, about thirty centimeters.

Then, going downward, the soil color became significantly darker, and the soil texture was harder.

This layer was called the subsoil layer: roughly the cultivated soil layer where humans frequently operated, which was the layer below the topsoil.

Further down, to the third layer, there were actually burnt coal cinders and Wood Ash?

The group looked at each other, as if they had seen a ghost?

What was this, a topsoil layer?

It was no wonder they were surprised: in a normal soil structure, the top layer should naturally be the cultivated soil layer where human activity was most frequent, also called the topsoil layer. It would inevitably contain human remains: such as coal cinders and Wood Ash in the probe, or even bricks, stones, and wood.

Further down would be the subsoil layer, which was occasionally deeply plowed or affected by human activity, but with less impact. This layer was relatively hard and had poor permeability, so it played a role in retaining water and fertilizer.

Finally, it should be the intermittent layer that was basically undisturbed by humans, which was the fine soil layer formed by years of natural accumulation at the very top.

Yet what Lin Sicheng had probed out was exactly the opposite: the cultivated soil layer was at the very bottom, and the intermittent layer was at the very top?

It couldn't be that people were living underground, could it?

That was complete nonsense.

Recalling the few questions Lin Sicheng asked Liu Ming and Xu Chengyan over the walkie-talkie just now, the group suddenly realized: a large-scale mining disaster or a natural disaster had occurred here.

For instance, an earthquake, a collapse, or a landslide; that is why this inverted and chaotic soil structure formed.

Looking at the surrounding pits again, nine times out of ten, they are mine collapses caused by excessive mining of Coal.

Whether there is a porcelain kiln site is unknown, but people definitely lived and were active here for a long period.

But Lin Sicheng was very certain that the kiln site was right beneath this: just for mining Coal, why would they need so much Wood Ash?

Unless they were firing porcelain...

(End of this chapter)