Another standout feature among the decorative patterns is the presence of marks recalling the scarification practised by various African groups living in the Chapada dos Guimarães mills. The reproduction of these symbols on ceramic suggests the upholding of a cosmological notion common among the societies of sub-Saharan Africa - that of ceramic as an anthropomorphic concept. In many of these societies, vessels were decorated in the same way as were human bodies, including painting, brushing and marking with the signs of scarification (David et al., 1988). This concept is based on myths of origin according to which human beings were created from ceramic vessels. It is this cosmology that justifies ceramic-making as an exclusively female occupation, given a woman's role in the conception and raising of children (Gosselain, 1999, p. 214).  
Variations in the Chapada dos Guimarães ceramics suggest that the process of creolization in the region was not linear, but, rather, segmented. Marked by the cultural influences of the groups that continued to arrive in the region up to 1850, the ceramics became more consistent only when an Afro-Brazilian generation came to dominate in demographic terms.  
The presence of scarification symbols has also been observed in other regions of Brazil, in both ceramic vessels and pipes; de Souza and Agostini (2012) analysed collections featuring such marks from south-east, north-east