Page 60 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

of triangles pointing outward. The pattern, which
seems to take its inspiration from a woven fabric,
is of special interest because it is among the earli-
est examples of Neolithic painted decoration.
The tradition of painted wares associated with
the Banpo tradition (cats. 2-4) was preceded by
another, almost equally widespread tradition of
unpainted ceramics that lasted more than a millen-
nium. The earliest evidence of painted decoration
occurs at the end of this pre-Banpo phase in the
form of a single band painted around the outer
surface of small bowls beneath the mouth. Other
patterns present from the beginning of the Banpo
phase that may derive from woven materials include
simple rows of zigzag lines, alternately painted and
left in reserve. 3
On the interiors of somewhat later bowls from
the Xi'an site of Banpocun in eastern Shaanxi
province, geometricized human faces with fishlike
appendages sometimes appear with the images
offish or with small diamond-shaped fields filled
with intersecting lines, which probably represent
4
fishing nets. It is unlikely, however, that the pat-
tern on the present vessel had such a specific
connotation. LF-H

1 Excavated in 1958 (M 98:3); published: Zhongguo 198313,
100, fig. 82: 3; color pi. 2: i; Yang 1991, i, no. 7; Wenwu
jinghua 1993, pi. 14, fig. 2; Zhang 1990!^, cat. no. 1501.
2 This water container was recovered from a grave (M 98)
in the middle stratum at Beishouling, identified as
belonging to the early period in the Banpo culture.
A second, undecorated vessel of the same type was un-
earthed from M 5 at the same site, but the stratigraphical
position of this burial was uncertain. A third example,
again without decoration, comes from an early Banpo
burial (M 295) at Longgangsi, near Nancheng, south of
Beishouling (Zhongguo 1983^ 161; pi. 52: i; Shaanxi 1990,
123, fig. 87: 6; 167, fig. 109: 3; pi. 85:5).
3 Compare Zhongguo 1983^ pi. 45: 2-3.
4 Zhongguo 1963, pis. 114 -115.

59 YANGSHAO CULTURE: BANPO