Page 61 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

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Painted pottery pen basin during the preceding phases of Banpo pottery.
They are seen in the earlier strata at Dadiwan and
3
Diam. 51 (19 A) at sites to the east throughout Shaanxi province.
Neolithic Period, Late Banpo Culture
The derivation of this design is apparent in the
(c. 4000-3500 BCE)
trailing finlike forms and in the motif of the verti-
From Dadiwan, Qin'an, Gansu Province
cally placed crescent and bowed line, which origi-
Gansu Provincial Museum, Lanzhou nates from the older imagery of the fish's gill (fig. i).
The head of the fish and its pectoral fins have been
The exceptionally large size of this pen 1 suggests eliminated. The allusion to the fish has receded in
that it may have been used for ceremonial func- importance in these more fully evolved designs, and
tions, perhaps, for ritual ablutions. The vessel was the emphasis has shifted to the purely aesthetic
unearthed from the same site as a flask (cat. 3), qualities of the painted configurations themselves.
within the confines of one of the square dwelling By late Banpo times, the hitherto discrete images
foundations (F i) at the settlement. There, a smaller have been altogether transformed by a more cursive
basin, decorated in patterns similar to those on style of painting. LF-H
the flask, was also found, indicating that the flask
and the present vessel are closely contemporary. 2 1 Excavated in 1979 (F i); published: Gansu 1983^ color pi.
1:3; Zhang 1990!}, cat. no. 48; color pi. 6.
The decoration on the outer wall of the basin, 2 Gansu 1983^ pi. 3:4.
rendered in black crescent-shapes and fine parallel
lines against the red surface, has much in common
with the patterns repeated in the three registers on
the flask. But unlike the patterns on the flask, those
on the basin retain a direct reference to the repre-
sentations of fish that were fairly common motifs
FIG. i. Fish design on a
pottery pen from Dadiwan,
Qin'an, Gansu province;
Late Banpo culture. After
Gansu 1983^ 30, fig. 19:2.

60 LATE P R E H I S T O R I C CHIN A