What was the pottery used for?

It is no coincidence that the use of pottery began in earnest at the same time as agriculture appeared. Arable farming and cattle-breeding meant that people needed pots for storing cereals and dairy products. Pottery vessels were also used at the end of the Mesolithic period, but they were a little cruder and less varied. In the Neolithic period several types of vessel were made. The shapes and decorations must have had both a symbolic and a practical significance. Some pottery vessels are not decorated at all and were probably everyday pots used in the household. Other vessels are richly decorated; many were placed outside the Neolithic barrows – probably as sacrificial vessels.