Chronicles of Primitive Civilization’s Growth

Chapter 10: Curing Meat and Firing Pottery

Luo Chong prepared to arrange for the lame man to fire pottery, but firing pottery was not such a simple matter. It required a lot of preparation, so he had no choice but to assign some other tasks to the lame man first.

The fish caught yesterday were not yet dried, and there was no salt. With this weather, they would rot in no time. So Luo Chong taught the lame man the method of smoking meat. He instructed him to clear the bushes around the open area near the cave and use those wet bushes to smoke the fish.

Meat that has been smoked can be stored for years without rotting. Even in modern times, some ethnic minorities in mountainous areas still use this ancient method.

After demonstrating once for the lame man, Luo Chong left him alone and started digging a pit in front of the cave. Digging soil with branches and stones was quite laborious, but it was still better than using hands. Moreover, the soil here was very soft. If used for planting crops, it would definitely be good land, unfortunately, there were no seeds available.

Digging the pit was for building a kiln. The kiln was not large, divided into three layers: two underground and one above ground. The bottom layer was for ash removal and air intake, the middle layer for adding firewood, and the top layer for placing pottery. In fact, this was similar to the field smokeless stove taught in the military, just larger.

The pit dug at the bottom was round. Adding water and dry grass inside to form mud, the soil from digging the pit was used to build the kiln directly on top of the pit, utilizing local materials. The addition of grass made the kiln less prone to cracking.

The kiln was about one meter square and approximately 1.2 meters high, with a round opening on the top for easy temperature accumulation. There was a sieve made of clay at the bottom, which was a soil disc with many holes. The hearth and air inlet were isolated by stone strips and bone sticks.

It took three or four hours to build just this kiln, mainly because going back and forth to the river with a stone basin to fetch water and make mud was too labor-intensive. It was better to hurry up and fire the pottery, otherwise, fetching water would be too troublesome.

The wet kiln could not be used immediately. Luo Chong called the two young companions who helped him catch fish yesterday to light the fire. They burned all three layers together, and also piled up another layer of firewood outside, so it would dry faster. By afternoon, it should be usable.

There was always a fire source inside the cave. The fire in the cave would never go out because they did not know how to start a fire. If the fire went out, they would have to walk a long way to borrow fire from other tribes, or even exchange items.

After arranging the manpower, Luo Chong personally went to select clay and mold jars. This task couldn’t be handed over to the lame man yet. Without seeing the finished product, it was impossible for him to give up grinding stone basins. However, if the finished product turned out well, even if you didn’t let him do it, he would grab the opportunity to do it.

There was plenty of clay by the small river. Actually, the riverbank was full of clay. Even if the clay ran out, the soil frequently in contact with water would turn into clay, making it inexhaustible and endless.

Nature is like this. As long as you are good at discovering, everything is useful. It depends on whether you know how to use it. Soil can be used to burn bricks, sand can be used to burn glass. As long as your math, physics, chemistry is good, these are not problems. Of course, it’s also no problem for Luo Chong, a graduate of National Defense University, who has even made explosives by hand.

Finding a relatively smooth and flat large cobblestone by the river, using it as a workbench, the clay brought from the river was beaten and kneaded. First, a round mud cake was molded, then some mud strips were rolled and layered onto the mud cake. Finally, shaping was done, dipping hands in water to smooth the inner wall and outer surface, and repairing the seams to ensure there were no gaps. Then it could be left to dry.

A finished product was a small water jar, small at the bottom and wide at the top. The bottom diameter was about 35 centimeters, the jar mouth diameter about 40 centimeters, and the height around 50 centimeters. The jar walls were about one finger thick. Since there was no ruler, these data were approximate values and not entirely accurate. However, Luo Chong used a wooden stick to record the size of the jar, ensuring that the ones made later would be the same size.

Thus, four identical jars were made, placed beside the cave to dry, with the children who lit the fire watching them, not allowing anyone else to touch. Yet, there were many onlookers.

Several idle pregnant women and children were among the onlookers, with the lame man closest to the front. After lighting the fire, he had nothing else to do. When Luo Chong was building the kiln earlier, he observed but understood nothing. He wanted to study carefully; the big basins made by the new chief with soil looked deep, even larger than the stone basin originally in the cave. But it was unknown whether they could hold water.

It was still early, just past noon. Luo Chong went to the river again and molded four double-eared earthenware pots and pottery bowls, along with pot lids with handles on top. The pot was neither too big nor too small, with a diameter of about one foot, approximately 33 centimeters, and a depth of about one palm standing upright, roughly 20 centimeters. In modern times, it was already considered a large earthenware pot.

The bowls had deep openings and looked more like temple begging bowls. The bowl opening was as big as a palm. Not seeking beauty, only practicality, Luo Chong made a lot of these, about twenty or more, and eight soup spoons. He himself did not know how many finished products would eventually come out.

When the things were half-dry, they were placed beside the fire for curing meat to bake. By the time the afternoon was halfway through, the loading of the kiln began. Generally, firing pottery takes three to four hours. Starting now, the fire would be stopped by evening.

The two young companions and the lame man were all watching. The new chief had made so many earth basins in one day, but they wondered if they could be used. Among the three, the lame man was the most conflicted. He hoped the earth basins could be used, but also hoped they couldn’t, otherwise, the years he spent grinding stone basins would have been wasted.

Luo Chong was loading the kiln alone. Others couldn’t help, and they wouldn’t know how anyway. Loading the kiln also had its own techniques.

When firing pottery, it must be inverted in the kiln. This way, the contact area between the clay body and the flame is maximized, the temperature is uniform, and both inside and outside can be fired.

First, the four largest jars were inverted at the bottom. A kiln one meter square easily accommodated these. Then four double-eared earthenware pots were stacked on top. The remaining pot lids, bowls, and spoons were placed in the gaps between the jars and pots, filling the kiln completely. Hopefully, more finished products would come out.

A large fire was lit in the hearth below the kiln. The three-layered kiln room design was excellent, with the hearth in the middle and the air inlet below. The fierce flames passed through the sieve and surged into the square kiln room. Orange-red flames shot up high, and the upper opening of the kiln room was filled with raging flames. The upper kiln opening was covered with wet branches and mud, leaving only a small observation hole.

Luo Chong sat below the hearth, continuously fanning the wind with animal skins. Every now and then, he added some firewood. The autumn afternoon was scorching hot, and before he even felt cold, his sweat was dried again.

It continued until evening, when the clan members who went out returned one after another. The women had bountiful harvests, filling their backpacks with unnamed wild fruits, and their animal skin bags with plenty of pine cones and chestnuts. There were also large bundles of vines, apparently preparing to weave backpacks.

The men’s harvest today was also abundant, with two large birds, similar in size to turkeys, though unknown what kind they were, plus more than ten bird eggs, three snakes, and five large rats, probably marmots or similar rodents.

Adding the more than a hundred fish caught today, the entire tribe’s harvest was considerable. As long as the harvest exceeded the daily consumption, the rest could be stored.

Autumn was the season with the most food, and also the season for reproduction. Looking at those few pregnant women who were about to give birth, it seemed that the primitive people also followed the laws of nature, reproducing during the season with the most food, greatly increasing the survival rate of their offspring, following the same natural laws as most animals.

The fire in the kiln was fierce. Looking through the observation hole, the bowls at the top were already red-hot to the point of being white. It should be about right. If it continued to burn, the bowls might melt.

Now there was no need to add more firewood. Let it extinguish naturally, cool overnight, and the kiln could be opened tomorrow morning.