An escudilla is a shallow hemispherical bowl, with a large diameter, without handles or a lip or rim. This beautiful vessel, whose simple form, thin walls and painting in false negative demonstrate the technical mastery of the potter who created it, was used to bring to life the image of the underworld held by shaft tomb people, according to their cultural concepts. On the outer surface they painted two stylized, almost abstract, serpents; their triangular heads meet and touch in the center of the composition, while their bodies curve in opposite directions and together draw a large "S".

These serpentine beings inhabit the ocean that surrounds the entire earth and constitute the bottom layer of the structure of the cosmos; this is the primordial sea, the source of all creation, which the serpents represent. Among other Mesoamerican peoples, serpents predominantly symbolize bodies of water and streams, while the nature of the nether world is conceived as aquatic; accordingly, the worldview of the shaft tomb culture is consistent and strengthens the testimonies of a singular cultural tradition and thought in this cultural super area.

The interpretation is also based on the color, linear motifs and shape of the recipient that stands before us. The serpents are highlighted in red over a black background indicating a dark realm, thus the artist captured with efficient eloquence that night and darkness are other key qualities attributed to the underworld. Its aquatic character is alluded to by the zigzag line painted on one of the bands that wraps around the composition.

Finally, I think the hemispherical shape of the bowl is not fortuitous, but instead participates directly in the image: it refers to a spherical representation of the cosmos, which specifically reveals the bottom section; the fact that the motifs were placed on the outer surface and that the wearing in the paint indicates that the vessel was ed on a base, emphasize that it is a representation of the underworld. It is highly likely that this work of art, symbolic of the marine underworld, was placed in an underground space, a shaft and chamber tomb; an architectural enclosure which, as stated earlier, is the space of the dead and has feminine qualities, the place of primordial creation.