The Hohokam people, who lived in present-day south central Arizona, had developed a significant pottery tradition by about 500 CE. Hohokam ceramics are easily recognized by their buff‑colored clay and dark red painting. Fluid brushwork, spontaneous in effect yet precisely controlled, depicts both highly stylized life forms and a variety of geometric motifs. Designs are usually organized in concentric circular bands or repeated to create an allover pattern.

Excerpt from

Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Jar with zigzag pattern (1988.105.FA)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 54.