He also said the application of the fire grate, or a shelf with the fire under it, enabled the pottery to be burned by the outer flame with a higher temperature, which further improved the exergy efficiency.

The design of a fire grate was common in later times of the Longshan culture some 4,000 years ago and dynasties of Shang (1600 BC-1046 BC) and Western Zhou (1046 BC-771 BC), but was rare during the Yangshao culture, Wei said.

The excavation started in 2019 when a railway line was designed to run through the nearby area and is jointly carried out by the provincial institute of cultural relics and archaeology, the Sanmenxia Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the Cultural Relics Protection and Management Institute of Lingbao City.

Most of the potteries excavated are red-colored, with a small number of brown and grey ones. The potteries are mostly addorned with rope-style decorative stripes, with some black- and colored-belt stripes and triangle stripes.

To date, an area of more than 4,600 square meters has been excavated, the largest excavation project for the ruins of the early stage of the Yangshao culture.