"Hu“ storage jar with motives of spirals, Neolithic age, Yangshao culture, ca 22th–20th century BC. Polychrome paint earthenware, height 40,4 cm. National Gallery of Prague, Vp 415.

Storage jar, Neolithic age, Yangshao culture, ca 2600–2300 BC. Polychrome paint earthenware, height 18,4 cm. National Gallery of Prague, Vp 416.

Storage jar, Neolithic age, Yangshao culture, 23rd–21st century BC. Polychrome paint earthenware, height 32 cm. National Gallery of Prague, Vp 2611.

Urns and vessels decorated with abstract or occasionally figural design were excavated from burial places and sites of the painted pottery cultures, generally termed Yangshao culture. A possible symbolic meaning of the spiral geometric decoration on such vessels and other motifs is unclear. Some of the vessels served as storage jars for everyday use, others were produced specifically for funerary purposes.