Potters are at work in villages all along the Mekong River and its tributaries. Women potters make earthenware--porous pots used for cooking directly over a flame without shattering or for cooling drinking water by evaporation. Men make stoneware--nonporous jars valuable for long term storage. Mainland Southeast Asia is one of the few regions in the world where both kinds of pottery are still made and used in the context of everyday life.

A hypothetical village household along the Mekong may serve to demonstrate uses of earthenware and stoneware. Despite the rapid pace of modernization elsewhere, this home is not yet connected to electricity or running water. It is built of wooden boards, has an earthenware tile roof, and is raised high above the ground on a grid of posts. The enclosed second floor, reached by a staircase, provides living space, while the open area below, shaded and cool, serves for working (including women's weaving and earthenware production), visiting with neighbors, storing tools and household supplies, and sheltering farm animals.