19. Bowl with Cattle Decoration

This bowl was made by beating clay while expertly turning it in a pit with a hand or foot. It was burnished to a polish, and was probably used for a liquid commodity. Tempered with dung or ash, it used a similar technology as earlier A-Group wares. The surface was decorated with incised outlines of animals, and the background was filled with impressions from a rocker stamp. The stylization is typical of C-Group art. The cattle represent an orderly, domestic herd belonging to the world of humans. They are hornless or dehorned, with just a bump on their foreheads. Being the main source of meat, blood, milk, and skins, bovines were fundamental to the survival of C-Group pastoral communities. They revitalized the deceased and enhanced their social status. This bowl was found between two graves, with a bucranium: pottery or bucrania were usually placed outside the burial pits, reflecting perhaps a community ritual after the funeral.