Funerary Model: Compound with Rams and Herdsman

Unlike domestic wares, clay burial models – low-fired and hence more porous and fragile – were unsuitable for daily use. They were simulacra, special artifacts that looked like articles for the living but without their function. The great number of granaries, wells and animals and their pens found in Eastern Han tombs reflect an agrarian society, providing invaluable clues on this ancient world and its relationship with the natural realm.