15 · TREASURE · before ca. 9400 cal BCE

Early pottery

Early pottery assemblage from Ounjougou

These fragments are one of the early pieces of evidence for pottery making in Africa.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Visual proposal for Early pottery assemblage from Ounjougou, Ravin de la Mouche and the Ounjougou sequence, Bandiagara Plateau, Mali — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

Fragments in stratigraphic context provide some of the early evidence for pottery production in Africa.

Technology associated with new Holocene conditions and intensive use of plant resources. Limitation: it does not establish a Mandé identity or a continuous cultural lineage extending to Ghana or Mali.

Evidence and interpretation

ARQ. Fragments in stratigraphic context provide some of the early evidence for pottery production in Africa. What this does not establish: a Mandé identity or a continuous cultural lineage extending to Ghana or Mali.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: before ca. 9400 cal BCE
Location: Ravin de la Mouche and the Ounjougou sequence, Bandiagara Plateau, Mali
Material: archaeological assemblage
Context: Research material associated with excavation seasons in Mali; no transfer is proposed until the inventory and repository are confirmed. Custody: Mali’s heritage authorities and the Ounjougou archaeological project/University of Geneva; the exact repository of each fragment must be verified before any loan or reproduction.
Curatorial reading: The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Dossier axis: technology
Research record: MANDE · EVI-01
Documentary coverage: 1 museum source, heritage, primary corpus or research for this stop.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

THE CURRENT OBJECT

Its date is not sufficiently established to place it on the timeline. We keep it here, separate from the dated objects.

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before ca. 9400 cal BCE

Early pottery

Mande Worlds

‘Before ca. 9400 cal BCE’ is a chronological limit, not a closed date range.

Current record

Clay32 dated objects

1 / 32In the centre: Dolní Věstonice I

Also connected, without a comparable date (7)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

A White Wall on the DanubeCeltic worlds · 6th century BCE
Blue that does not yieldMaya worlds · Documented use from the Classic, c. 300–1500 CE
Cyrus speaks as king of BabylonAchaemenid Persia · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE
Made in GaramaGaramantes · I millennium BCE–I millennium CE
Piece-mold castingAncient China · c. 1600–1046 BCE
The unfinished gestureBatwa / Twa histories · 1947
Vessels without a languageBantu-speaking worlds · Urewe, broad regional range ca. 800 BCE–650 CE

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Ceramics

Current object, without a comparable date: Early pottery.

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Vessels

Current object, without a comparable date: Early pottery.

Before Sumer · mid-6th–5th millennium BCE · Sumer
Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or · Early Neolithic · VI–V millennia BCE · Prehistory
Before Egypt · ca. 4400–3800 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Before Nubia · V–IV millennium BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Before Gojoseon · Middle Neolithic, c. 4000 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Bevel-rimmed bowl · ca. 3500–3000 BCE · Sumer
Uruk Vase · ca. 3300–3000 BCE · Sumer
Before Yayoi · Middle Jōmon, ca. 3000 BCE · Yayoi Japan
Vasiliki · ca. 2500–2200 BCE · Greek worlds
Before the Greeks · c. 2400–2200 BCE · Greek worlds
Before Ancient China · c. 2500–2000 BCE · Ancient China
Longshan · c. 2500–2000 BCE · Ancient China
Kerma vessel · c. 1802–1640 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Grave Circle A and Chrysolakkos · 18th–16th centuries BCE · Greek worlds
Before Vedic India · c. 1900–1300 BCE · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Jue · c. sixteenth century BCE · Ancient China
Pithos · c. 1450–1375 BCE · Greek worlds
Tutankhamun's grave goods · death towards 1323 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Stag Vessel · 14th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Valchitran · second half of the 14th century–beginning of the 13th century BCE, according to NAIM; other publications use wider intervals from the Late Bronze. · Thracians
Liding · 12th–11th centuries BCE · Ancient China
Before the Iberias · Final Bronze, c. 1000 BCE · Iberians
Grey bowl from Hastinapura · c. 1100–800 BCE in the classical sequence of Hastinapura · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Before Etruscans and Rome · ca. 850–800 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The urn under the helmet · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi · c. 800 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Regolini-Galassi tomb · ca. 675–650 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The great Greek krater of Vix · ≈530–500 BCE · Greek worlds
Scorțaru cauldron · 6th–5th centuries BCE · Thracians
Vix Tomb · c. 500 BCE · Celtic worlds
Orpheus among the Thracians · circa 440 BCE; attributed to the London Painter E 497. · Thracians
Twenty-six voiceless signs · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
Rogozen · mainly 5th–4th centuries BCE; The set has a history of accumulation, not a single manufacturing date. · Thracians
Grave goods of Baza and Toya · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
The Attic krater that took on a new life in Cástulo · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
The silver amphora of Chertomlyk · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
The Kul-Oba vase · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
Faces of the Steppe · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Scythians and Saka
Poroina Mare Rhyton · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Thracians
Borovo · 4th century BC C.; 350–300 BCE in the ISAW catalog. · Thracians
Leipzig Fish Plate · Last third 4th–early 3rd century BCE · Greek worlds
Golyamata Kosmatka · End of the 4th century – beginning of the 3rd century BCE; ritual burial at the beginning of the III according to Iskra. · Thracians
Panagyurishte · late 4th century – early 3rd century BCE, towards 300 BCE · Thracians
Dove of the Amarejo · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Mairena Hoard · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Vase from Chão de Lamas · Piece: III–II centuries BCE · concealment ≈110–76 BCE · Iberians
Vas dels Guerrers · 3rd–early 2nd century BCE · Iberians
Warriors' Vase · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Iberians
The dismantled cauldron · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Celtic worlds
Kalathos of Alcorisa · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Iberians
Patera from Perotito · Second half of the 2nd–beginnings of the 1st century BCE · Iberians
Urewe vessel · regional range c. 800 BCE–650 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds
Two rows of coffins · Mainly Middle Yayoi, 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Yayoi Japan
Ceramics that continued · Last third of the 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
Roman glass oinochoe · Late 1st century BCE–early 1st century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Gladiators Cup of Chavagnes · 25–75 CE · Etruscans and Rome
Egyptian oil lamp with a fish, held in Laon · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Ancient Egypt
Laon lamp with fish · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Etruscans and Rome
Water in a shell · 1816–1826 · San histories

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A Kerma vessel deposited at Abydos · Second Intermediate Period · Ancient Egypt
A tradition that invents · collected in 1993 or 1995 · Batwa / Twa histories
A vase travels; the rite changes · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians
Liédena Flask · Roman period · individual chronology not published in the entry · Etruscans and Rome
Made in Garama · I millennium BCE–I millennium CE · Garamantes
Oil in a calabash · ca. 1947 · Batwa / Twa histories
The unfinished gesture · 1947 · Batwa / Twa histories
Travelling objects · Mainly Roman period · Garamantes
Urns from Adichanallur · Iron Age · samples towards 665 and 467 BCE · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Vessels without a language · Urewe, broad regional range ca. 800 BCE–650 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds

Food preparation

Current object, without a comparable date: Early pottery.

Grinding stone from Çakmaktepe · PPNA · ≈9600–8800 BCE, provisional proposal for the site · Prehistory
Bevel-rimmed bowl · ca. 3500–3000 BCE · Sumer
Liding · 12th–11th centuries BCE · Ancient China
Seeds of the oasis · 900–400 cal BCE · Garamantes

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Canal and field · IV–III millennium BCE · Sumer
Soma stones · Rigvedic strata; later ritual tradition · Vedic and later Indian worlds

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

What three fragments reveal

In Ravin de la Mouche, three fragments associated with the initial phase come from the base of unit HA1A. Their thickness ranges from 4.5 to 7 millimetres; one allows recognition of a hemispherical bowl about 21 centimetres in diameter. Microscopy identified quartz inclusions similar to those of local clays and sandstones, without clear signs of intentionally added temper. In contrast, the later fragments from Ravin du Hibou include comb decoration. Distinguishing these groups avoids attributing all observed technique to the oldest pottery.

Research · Ounjougou Project · The beginning of the Holocene at Ounjougou, Eric HuysecomAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Sources and references

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History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Early pottery

Dolní Věstonice I

Before Sumer

Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or

Before Egypt

Before Nubia

Before Gojoseon

Bevel-rimmed bowl

Susa accounting bulla

Jemdet Nasr

Account of malt and barley

Before Yayoi

Vasiliki

Before Ancient China

Longshan

Before the Hittites

Before Pre-Inca Cultures

Queen of the Night

Plimpton 322

Sumerian King List

Love song to Shu-Sin

Si.427 tablet

Phaistos Disc

Sumerian Flood of Nippur

Boğazköy Archive

Linear B

Alaksandu of Wilusa

Treaty with Egypt

Flood Tablet

Babylonian map of the world

Glazed brick guards

Rations for women and children

Urewe vessel

A closer look

What three fragments reveal

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?