Abstract
This is a report concerning the determination of the original firing temperature of the Japanese prehistoric pottery, so called Jomon-Doki. In 1935, KONDO, KAWASHIMA and TANAHASHI measured the amount of alumina extracted from several Jomon vessels by a dilute hydrochloric acid after reheating them at various high temperature, and they concluded that their firing temperature may have been 700-800°C, or below. Recently in 1957, YAMADA and KONDO, applying the differential thermal analysis to prehistoric earthenwares from Hokkaido, measured their firing temperature as below 885°C.
From 1949 to 1951, the author had a chance to try some experiments concerning the physical properties of Jomon pottery, at the Laboratory of Ceramic Engineering, Tokyo University of Engineering (director-Prof. Dr. Chihiro KAWASHIMA). In this article, the author deals mainly with the thermal properties of Jomon pottery using on the results obtained then.
