The piece is exceptionally unbalanced for a vessel holding liquid and too fragile for everyday use. As such, commentary referencing this vessel infer that it was a ceremonial object.

The design around the cup is a series of stacked incised lines, the stem's node is comprised of stippled marks and the base concentric circles.

I must have presented this object in my art appreciation class hundreds of times but it struck me that while the decoration is simple, repeating linear patterns, there was greater meaning here that made it a ceremonial object beyond its physical appearance: the vessel as a whole suggested a plant and the concentric circles on the base suggested water, the collar a root, the node a seed pod, the cup with its stacked circles air or sky... Here simple lines created a representation of the world - water, earth, sky. Simple lines.

A mark does not have meaning in isolation, but it does contain significance. Thin vs thick, dark vs light, defines object vs space, depicts light or shadows, patterns or textures, foreground or background. Sometimes the line itself creates a narrative. How a drawing is made, constructed, is as important as the images depicted.