The three long vertical strokes that run top-to-bottom are the 川 river radical and the entry's filing point. They depict the parallel currents of a stream; together with the three dots they picture islets dividing the water flow.
ideograph
州zhōu
land-in-the-river; islet markers
The three dots between the river-strokes are abstract markers indicating land masses in the current. They are not a standalone CJK piece; treat as island indicators that turn a plain 川 into an inhabited 州 - the original sense of a region or prefecture.
