The seemingly abstract zigzag designs on the burial storage jar are a stylized version of a human-like stick figure. The neck of the jar in this case represents the head. Built from coils of clay, the vessel relates in shape to the earlier Pan-shan (2600-2300 b.c.) jars shown here, but its proportions are more elongated and its surface is matt and unburnished. Related Ma-chang (2200-2000 b.c.) type jars have been excavated in Kansu and Ch'ing-hai provinces in northwest China.