Distinquished by its large size, incised markings, and long slender shape, this magnificent water vessel was made in northwest China by Yang-shao potters. The potters built these streamlined, painted bottom vessels by hand using a pad and anvil to thin the walls and smooth the surfaces. Although used primarily to pull and store supplies of water from river pools, such jars were sometimes in burials and sometimes were used in neolithic funerary rituals.