Cosmetic palette

The decorative palettes of the late 4th millennium BCE appear to have lost this function and became commemorative, ornamental, and possibly ceremonial.

The fish zoomorphic palette often had an upper-centrally formed hole, presumably for suspension, and thus display.

The first palettes used in the Badarian Period and in Naqada I were usually plain, rhomboidal or rectangular in shape, without any further decoration.

On these examples there is more focus on symbolism and display, rather than a purely functional object for grinding pigments.

The importance of symbolism eventually outweighs the functional aspect with the more elite examples found in the Naqada III period, but there is also a reversion to non-zoomorphic designs among non-elite individuals.