Bowl with 'human-faced fish' motif

Bowl with 'human-faced fish' motif, pot with spiral pattern, jar depicting relief carved female figure- These are all painted pottery wares from the Neolithic Age along the upper and central reaches of the Yellow River in China, and mirror the life of Chinese people thousands of years ago.

Not only is the range of designs quite dazzling, but the wealth of shapes that were part of the painted pottery wares indicates their various functions.

Neolithic painted pottery is associated with a number of archaeological cultures from China's north-west, specifically those along the upper and central reaches of the Yellow River, including Yangshao culture and Majiayao culture. Yangshao culture (about 5,000–3,000 BC) takes its name from Yangshao Village in Minchi County, Henan Province, where the site was excavated and identified in 1921 by Johan Gunar Andersson. Majiayao culture (about 3,300-2,050 BC), which came shortly after Yangshao culture, takes its name from Majiayao village in Linzhao County, Gansu Province.

Painted pottery in Yangshao culture

Yangshao culture is distinctive and recognizable with two types of painted pottery, namely, Banpo and Miaodigou.

Banpo is an archaeological site located near Xi'an, Shaanxi Province and contains the remains of a Neolithic village dating back to 6,000 years ago. The classic Banpo painted pottery is a bowl with the ‘human-faced fish’ motif, and was unearthed in the 1950s. The basin, 16.5 cm in height with a diameter of 38.5 cm, is made of fine-mud red ceramics and has a design of a human face and fish body. It is uniformly red in color and decorated with black pigment.

Strikingly, the pattern of fish is everywhere at Banpo Village. According to archeologists, these patterns may have been used for decorating the utensils; but they may also have been used for sacrificial rites in the spring season to pray for a good harvest. If that were true, the Banpo pottery designs might be the earliest religious artwork in art history.