CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

2/a
27
Two painted pottery pen basins
a. Height 18.2 (7'A), diam. at mouth 46.5 (iSYs)
b. Height 21 (S 1 /*), diam. at mouth 31.5 (i2 3 / 8 )
Late Neolithic Period, Taosi Longshan Culture
(c. 2500-2000 BCE)
From Taosi, Xiangfen, Shanxi Province
The Institute of Archaeology, CASS, Beijing
The final two vessels from Taosi introduce painted
designs unlike any seen before on Neolithic Chinese
ceramics. These additions to the common fare reflect
a prosperous society able to indulge the demands of
a sophisticated elite clientele with a taste for innovation
and a wider range of decorative modes.
The first vessel (a) 1 comes from a large, highstatus
burial, which was located next to the one
that contained the pan decorated with the figure
of a coiled serpent (cat. 25). 2 The pattern on the
outside of the basin consists of juxtaposed, diagonally
oriented units alternating in black and white,
each the mirror-reverse of the one adjacent. They
interlock with the pink ground like pieces of a
jigsaw puzzle. The effect of these patterns is made
more dramatic by the fact that the remaining surface
— the interior, rim, and base — are all painted
black. The unusual size of the basin suggests that
it may have been intended for a ceremony at which
a large number of people were present. A pen of
the same shape but of slightly smaller diameter
was recovered from another large, richly furnished
grave discovered at the cemetery (M mi). 3
The pattern on the second vessel (b) 4 consists
of adjacent sets of ribbonlike bands, again oriented
113 | TAOSI LONCSHAN CULTURE