A Noborigama, is a multi-chambered wood fired pottery kiln that is typically built into a hill as a succession of chambers. The lowest chamber is stoked first, an the hot air from the first few firing chambers passes through the upper chambers and pre-heats them, allowing the potter to utilize all of the excess heat that would dissipate from a regular kiln.

Noborigama is a more efficient form of Anagama or jagama (dragon kiln) that has been in use in China for thousands of years, and migrated to Korea, Japan and then to the US. More information, and good pictures can be found on the wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anagama

John Baymore has been operating an effecient Noborigama kiln at River Bend Pottery since 1981, and he has an excellent description on his web site: http://www.johnbaymore.com/Noborigama1.HTM Sneakers