After about 300 AD, the introducton of the potter's wheel and high-firing kilns enabled Korean potters to produce thin-bodied, complex ceramic vessels in an atonishing variety of shapes. These variations in part reflect the emergence of a number of different states within the Korean peninsula. Tall pedestal vessels were characteristic of the states of Kaya and Silla, in the south-east region, and seem to have been used in funerals. Enormous numbers have been excavated from royal tombs in and around the Silla capital, Kyongju, along with storage jars and eating utensils. After Buddhism reached southern Korea, burial practices changed and the need for large supplies of utensils for use in the afterlife disappeared. By about AD 650, simple covered urns were produced to contain the cremated remains of believers.

Silla's tombs (about 57 BC - AD 668) usually consisted of a chamber protected by a layer of large stones, a design that guarded against robbers and ensured the survival until modern times of plentiful examples of ancient ceramics. Sculptural pieces exist in the form of ducks, horse riders, boats and chariots. More rarely, small human and animal figurines were attached to the neck of a vessel. Here, the decoration comprises incised geometric patterns and raised horizontal bands on the vessel walls, above two rows of triangular piercing on the upper section of the A-shaped base. Probably, the pedestal stand supported a round-bottomed container which has since been lost. Similar forms are found in early Japanese pottery, demonstrating the cultural connectionsthat have long existed between the two countries.