A painted pottery jar Majiayao culture, Machang phase, c. 2200-2000 B.C. 馬家窰文化 馬廠類型 彩陶雙耳罐

Ronald W. Longsdorf, The Pottery Age: An Appreciation of Neolithic Ceramics from China, Circa 7000 BC - Circa 1000 BC, Hong Kong, 2020, pl. 22.

Ronald W. Longsdorf, 《陶誌：中國新石器時代陶器 約公元前7000年 – 前1000年》，香港，2020年，圖版22

The classic motif of circles painted with dots in the centre was found on wares as early as the Banpo phase of the Yangshao culture, see a painted pottery bottle from the Banpo phase illustrated in The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics. Vol. I Neolithic Age, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 21.

Such design was widely used in every phase of Majiayao pottery. It is generally believed to be a symbolic representation of pig nostrils, as domestication of animals was known a customary life style alongside farming in contemporary China. Extending from this, the horizontal borders dividing the dotted circles on the present jar is perhaps a simplified portrayal of domesticated pigs within fences. Compare two further examples of Machang jars painted with similar motifs, illustrated ibid., pls 90 and 109.