在半坡遗址还发现了很多各式各样的陶器。根据它们的用途，可分为饮食器、炊器和储藏器。

半坡的陶器以红色为主。那时，陶轮还没有出现，半坡先民制陶主要采用泥条盘筑法。所谓泥条盘筑法，就是把泥搓成条，再一圈一圈地盘成器皿的形状，用骨刀刮平，再放到窑里烧制。

制陶区在半坡村的东边。这里发现了6座两种不同形式的陶窑：横穴式和竖穴式。横穴式建于早期，而竖穴式建于晚期。和横穴式陶窑相比，竖穴式陶窑更为先进。细看窑壁可以得知，烧窑时窑内的温度可达摄氏800度到1 000度。

半坡遗址出土的陶器不仅外形美观，而且图案繁多。大部分彩绘图案都与鱼有关。由于居住在河岸边，半坡先民主要靠捕鱼为生。捕鱼时和鱼打交道多了，自然就对鱼有了了解。除了鱼纹之外，还有鹿纹、山纹、麻织物纹等。大部分装饰位于陶器的上半部，而漂亮的印纹则在陶器的中部或底部。在出土的陶器上发现了113个刻画符号。人们认为这些符号可能就是最早的汉字形式甲骨文的前身。尖底瓶是半坡出土陶器的代表作，这种瓶子有两个优点：一是可以背在背上，便于携带；二是从河里往家里背水时，水不容易洒出来。

下面我们要进入他们的居住区和墓葬区，走进他们的生活。

In Banpo，a large number of differently shaped pottery utensils were discovered.According to their usage，they can be classified into several categories，such as food and water containers，cooking utensils，and utensils for storing things.

The pottery made by the Banpo people was mainly red in color.At that time，pottery was still made by the ring－building method.The potter's wheel did not exist then.With the so－called ringbuilding method，people rolled the clay into long pieces，coiled them up into different shapes of utensils，smoothed their surfaces with bone knives and then fired them in kilns.

The pottery making section is located in the eastern part of Banpo Village.In this area，six pottery kilns of two different types were disco－vered：horizontal and vertical.The horizontal kilns were used in the early stage，while the vertical ones were constructed in the later pe－riod of Banpo.Compared with the horizontal kilns，the vertical ones were more advanced in structure.An examination of the wall of the kilns shows that the temperature in the kiln could reach as high as 800 to 1 000 degrees Celsius.

The pottery utensils unearthed at Banpo were not only beautifully shaped，but also rich in their va riety of colorful designs.Most of the designs had to do with fish.Because they lived by the riverside，Banpo people ate many fish.As they often went fishing，they were well aware of the shape of fish. Besides designs of fish，there were also designs of deer，mountains，rivers，etc.In addition to paint ed designs，there were also impressions of nails，strings，mats，linen fabrics，etc.The decorative patterns of the designs are found mostly on the upper sections of the pottery utensils，while the beautiful impressions are found either at the bottom or on the body of the utensils.Some 113 carved and painted signs were found on pottery vessels.It was believed these signs were possibly the earliest Chinese script，the predecessor of the inscriptions on bones or tor toise shells of the Shang Dynasty.The tip－bottomed bottle is typical of the pottery unearthed at Banpo. It had two advantages for holding water.The first is that it was portable and easy to carry on a person's back，the second is that the water would not spill out when it was carried from the river to their home.

Next we will enter their living and burial sections，and learn about their life.