Cluster of five conjoined jars

The practice of joining ceramic cups of the same shape together in groups of two or three is seen as early as the neolithic period. The bronze four-cluster vessel of the Warring States, as seen in an example recovered from Anhui, became the model for similar ceramic vessels (ZGMS Quanji 1986 vol. V: pl. 214). This particular vessel features a cluster of five squat containers, each with a loop handle and a narrow leg. Enormous ceramic cluster jars of the Han period have emerged from the southern parts of Guangdong, and occasionally from neighboring Hunan and Guangxi. Plum seeds and the remains of other foodstuffs have been found inside these jars buried with the dead for use in the next life. Jars joined in clusters of two to five and incised with dense grooves have been found in concentration in archaeological excavations of early Western Han sites in Guangdong (Guangzhou Mus. 1981 vol. II: pl. 14).