East Asia in the prehistory (before 3500 BC). Before writing, the record is stone, bone and DNA. These articles cover human origins, the ice ages and the first farmers, up to the moment cities and script appear.
Xianrendong's sherds lie in layers dated 20,000 to 19,000 cal BP; Yuchanyan's cauldron dates 18,300 to 15,430 cal BP. Foragers in southern China made both.
Foragers at Odai Yamamoto in northern Japan fired plain pots about 13,000 BC and cooked fish in them; by 3900 BC Sannai-Maruyama ate chestnuts and fish.