Yangshao culture

{{Short description|5000–3000 BC Chinese archaeological culture}}

{{Infobox archaeological culture

|name = Yangshao culture

|map = Yangshao_map.svg

|mapalt =

|altnames =

|horizon =

|region = Middle reaches of Yellow River

|period = Neolithic

|dates = {{circa|5000|3000 BC}}

|typesite =

|majorsites = Shuanghuaishu, Banpo, Jiangzhai

|extra =

|precededby = Peiligang culture, Baijia culture, Dadiwan culture, Cishan culture

|followedby = Majiayao (3300–2000 BC)
Longshan culture (3000-1900 BC)
Shimao culture (2300-1800 BE)

| module = {{Infobox Chinese

| child = yes

| c = 仰韶文化

| p = Yǎngsháo wénhuà

}}

}}

The Yangshao culture ({{lang-zh|c=仰韶文化|p=Yǎngsháo wénhuà}}) was a Neolithic culture that existed extensively along the middle reaches of the Yellow River in China from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC. The Yangshao culture saw social and technological development in the region, with advancements in agriculture, architecture, and crafts.

The culture is named after the Yangshao site, the first excavated site of this culture, which was discovered in 1921 in the town of Yangshao in western Henan by the Swedish geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson (1874–1960).{{Cite web |url=http://henan.chinadaily.com.cn/sanmenxia/2013-08/12/content_16888241.htm |title=Yangshao Culture Museum |access-date=2018-04-13 |archive-date=2018-04-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413125334/http://henan.chinadaily.com.cn/sanmenxia/2013-08/12/content_16888241.htm |url-status=dead }} The culture flourished mainly in Henan, as well as the neighboring provinces of Shaanxi and Shanxi.

Recent research indicates a common origin and spread of the Sino-Tibetan languages with the Cishan, Yangshao and/or Majiayao cultures.{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Menghan |last2=Yan |first2=Shi |last3=Pan |first3=Wuyun | author-link3=Pan Wuyun |last4=Jin |first4=Li |title=Phylogenetic evidence for Sino-Tibetan origin in northern China in the Late Neolithic |journal=Nature |date=24 April 2019 |volume=569 |issue=7754 |pages=112–115 |doi=10.1038/s41586-019-1153-z|pmid=31019300 |bibcode=2019Natur.569..112Z |s2cid=129946000 }}{{cite journal |last1=Bradley |first1=David |author-link1=David Bradley (linguist) |title=Subgrouping of the Sino-Tibetan languages |journal=10th International Conference on Evolutionary Linguistics, Nanjing University |date=27–28 October 2018}}{{cite journal |last1=LaPolla |first1=Randy |author-link1=Randy LaPolla |title=The origin and spread of the Sino-Tibetan language family |journal=Nature |date=2019 |volume=569 |issue=7754 |pages=45–47 |doi=10.1038/d41586-019-01214-6 |pmid=31036967 |language=en |issn=0028-0836|doi-access=free |bibcode=2019Natur.569...45L }}{{sfnp|Sagart|Jacques|Lai|Ryder|2019|pp=10319–10320}}

Origins

After the discovery of the Yangshao site in 1921, Johan Gunnar Andersson hypothesized, based on his analysis of the pottery patterns, that the Yangshao culture was originated from Anau and Trypillian cultures, from Central Asia and Southwest Europe. His hypothesis is considered weak, as the similarity of the pottery patterns are now considered coincidental, and in 1954, it was estimated the Yangshao culture was more than 1,000 years older than the Anau culture.{{Sfn |Shen|Rui|2024|pp=4-5}}

Later, Chinese archeologists, such as Yin Da, Shi Zhangru and Guo Baojun argued that the Yangshao culture was developed by the indigenous population from the Yellow River and transitioned to other cultures. Liang Siyong discovered a three-layer stratigraphy at the Hougang site, confirming the transaction from the Yangshao culture to the Longshan and Shang cultures.{{Sfn |Zhu|2025}} It is now understood that the Yangshao culture had a big impact in the pottery culture Central Plains region, being transmitted from east to west. Some examples are the Shandong Longshan culture, considered to be it's eastern branch, and the Majiayao culture, considered to be it's western branch.{{Sfn |Shen|Rui|2024|p=6}}

Phases

The Yangshao culture is conventionally divided into three phases:

  • The Early Yangshao period or Banpo phase ({{Circa|5000}}–4000 BC) is represented by the Banpo, Jiangzhai, Beishouling and Dadiwan sites in the Wei River valley in Shaanxi.{{sfnp|Liu|Chen|2012|pp=190–191}}
  • The Middle Yangshao period or Miaodigou phase ({{Circa|4000}}–3500 BC) saw an expansion of the culture and population in all directions, and the development of hierarchies of settlements in some areas, such as western Henan.{{sfnp|Liu|Chen|2012|pp=191–193}}Liu, Li. The Chinese Neolithic: Trajectories to Early States. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511489624.
  • The Late Yangshao period ({{Circa|3500}}–3000 BC) saw a greater spread of settlement hierarchies. The first wall of rammed earth in China was built around the settlement of Xishan (25 ha) in central Henan (near modern Zhengzhou).{{sfnp|Liu|Chen|2012|pp=193–194}}

The Majiayao culture ({{Circa|3300|2000 BC}}E) to the west is now considered a separate culture that developed from the middle Yangshao culture through an intermediate Shilingxia phase.{{sfnp|Liu|Chen|2012|p=232}}File:The origin and spread of the Sino-Tibetan language family.png and the early Yangshao cultures. After applying the linguistic comparative method to the database of comparative linguistic data developed by Laurent Sagart in 2019 to identify sound correspondences and establish cognates, phylogenetic methods are used to infer relationships among these languages and estimate the age of their origin and homeland.{{sfnp|Sagart|Jacques|Lai|Ryder|2019|pp=10319–10320}}]]

Economy

= Subsistence =

The main food of the Yangshao people was millet, with some sites using foxtail millet and others proso millet.{{Cite book |last=Pollard |first=Elizabeth |title=Worlds Together Worlds Apart |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-393-91847-2 |pages=69–70}} The Yangshao people cultivated and consumed rice, though to a lesser extent than millet.Wang, Can, Houyuan Lu, Wanfa Gu, Naiqin Wu, Jianping Zhang, Xinxin Zuo, Fengjiang Li, et al. “The Development of Yangshao Agriculture and Its Interaction with Social Dynamics in the Middle Yellow River Region, China.” Holocene (Sevenoaks) 29, no. 1 (2019): 173–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683618804640.Lei, Shuai, Wanfa Gu, Qian Wu, Yingjun Xin, and Yi Guo. “Early Childhood Nurturing Strategies in Groups of the Yellow River’s Middle Reaches from the Late Yangshao Culture (3500–2800 BCE): A Stable Isotope Perspective.” International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 33, no. 5 (2023): 920–37. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3254. The exact nature of early Yangshao agriculture, small-scale slash-and-burn cultivation versus intensive agriculture in permanent fields, is currently a matter of debate. Once the soil was exhausted, residents picked up their belongings, moved to new lands, and constructed new villages. During the late Yangshao period, the region became a fully settled farming society, with an economy centered on growing crops and raising animals.

During the Yangshao period, advancements in farming techniques and crop cultivation led to improvements in agricultural productivity. Dryland agriculture was of importance to the Yangshao culture starting in the middle Yangshao culture period. The introduction of mixed farming across more sites played a crucial role in shifting subsistence practices away from gathering. As a result, agriculture became the dominant means of sustenance, ultimately laying the foundation for the development of an agricultural society in the Central Plain.

Archaeological research indicates that beer brewing and communal feasting were integral aspects of Yangshao culture. Evidence suggests that Yangshao people produced beer primarily using common millet and rice, while foxtail millet was notably absent from the brewing process. These brewing practices, along with associated social gatherings, indicate that rice may have been a valuable resource to larger Yangshao settlements.

The Yangshao people kept pigs and dogs. Sheep, goats, and cattle are found much more rarely.{{sfnp|Chang|1986|p=113}} Reared domestic pigs were the main source of meat for the Yangshao people, while a small amount of hunted animals were also included in their diet. They may also have practiced an early form of sericulture.{{sfnp|Chang|1986|p=113}}

[[File:Distant dialogue exhibition of Dadiwan site, 2017-03-04 05.jpg|thumb|upright|Human head-shaped mouth colored pottery bottle.

Dated 4000-3500 BCE, Yangshao culture. Excavated in Dadiwan, Gansu.{{cite web |last1=李 |first1=永平 |title=如何从人头形器口彩陶瓶中窥见东西方初识的影子?东西问·镇馆之宝 |url=https://wwj.gansu.gov.cn/wwj/c105438/202401/173838693.shtml}}]]

The Yangshao people gradually introduced rice into young children's diets alongside foxtail millet and broomcorn millet. This practice was used for both weaning and post-weaning transitional foods, leading to variations in early childhood nutrition and distinct feeding practices among the Yangshao.

= Tools =

The Yangshao would hunt and fish with stone tools. Their stone tools were polished and highly specialized.{{sfnp|Chang|1986|p=113}}

During the Yangshao period, the development of stone axe types flourished in the Guanzhong Plain. By the late Yangshao period, stone axes began to show specialized functions, with some used for woodworking and others for chopping. Differences in raw materials suggest these tools were produced and used by different groups.Ma, Chiying. “A Typology of Polished Stone Axes in the Middle Yellow River and Their Impact on Early Complex Societies.” Archaeological Research in Asia 38 (2024): 100519-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2024.100519.

Shihushan stone knives, produced during the Yangshao period, are rectangular and simply made, often with side notches. Usually crafted from fine sandstone, these tools were likely used to process soft materials like plants, and sometimes for cutting grains.LIU, LI, XINGCAN CHEN, and PING JI. “Understanding Household Subsistence Activities in Neolithic Inner Mongolia, China: Functional Analyses of Stone Tools.” Journal of Anthropological Research 72, no. 2 (2016): 226–47. https://doi.org/10.1086/686298.

=Crafts=

The Yangshao culture crafted pottery: Yangshao artisans created fine white, red, and black painted pottery with human facial, animal, and geometric designs. Unlike the later Longshan culture, the Yangshao culture did not use pottery wheels in pottery-making. Pottery style emerging from the Yangshao culture spread westward to the Majiayao culture, and then further to Xinjiang and Central Asia.{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Kai |title=The Spread and Integration of Painted pottery Art along the Silk Road |journal=Region - Educational Research and Reviews |date=4 February 2021 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=18 |doi=10.32629/RERR.V3I1.242 |s2cid=234007445 |quote=The early cultural exchanges between the East and the West are mainly reflected in several aspects: first, in the late Neolithic period of painted pottery culture, the Yangshao culture (5000-3000 BC) from the Central Plains spreadwestward, which had a great impact on Majiayao culture (3000-2000 BC), and then continued to spread to Xinjiang and Central Asia through the transition of Hexi corridor|doi-access=free }}

Pottery production during the Yangshao period saw development at an increased pace, leading to the creation of unique ceramic forms. One example is the jiandiping amphora, recognized by its narrow opening, cone-shaped base, and varied rim styles. The amphorae may have been used to ferment grain to create alcoholic beverages, although research also suggests that amphorae were rather used to filter impurities in alcoholic beverages.Song, Linlin, and Marcella Festa. “A New Perspective on Vessels Usage in the Yangshao Culture: Were Amphorae Brine Purification Devices?” Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 16, no. 11 (2024): 176-. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-024-02086-2. The pottery patterns changed with time. In the beginning of the Yangshao culture, there was a preference for fish patterns, but it later changed to more abstract, streamlined, and geometric patterns in the middle period and monochromic fashion in the late period.{{Sfn |Feng|2013|p=27}}

The Yangshao culture produced silk to a small degree and wove hemp. Men wore loin clothes and tied their hair in a top knot. Women wrapped a length of cloth around themselves and tied their hair in a bun.

{{multiple image

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| image1 = Banpo bowl.jpg

| image2 = Banpo motif (B&W).png

| footer = Bowl of the Banpo culture (first stage of the Yangshao culture), with geometrial human face motif and fish, 4500–3500 BC, Shaanxi.{{cite web |title=Painted Pottery Basin with Fish and Human Face Design, National Museum of China |url=https://en.chnmuseum.cn/collections_577/collection_highlights_608/archaeological_discoveries_609/201911/t20191121_172534.html |website=en.chnmuseum.cn |publisher=National Museum of China}}{{cite book |last1=Valenstein |first1=Suzanne G. |last2=N.Y.) |first2=Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York |title=A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics |date=1989 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-0-8109-1170-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wnVwuJvo4YgC&pg=PA5 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Major |first1=John S. |last2=Cook |first2=Constance A. |title=Ancient China: A History |date=22 September 2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-50365-1 |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vh8xDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT60 |language=en}}

}}

Structures

File:Jiangzhai settlement model.jpg

File:Jiangzhai settlement model, Yangshao culture, Lintong, Shaanxi.jpg, a Yangshao village]]

During the early Yangshao culture, a variety of architectural styles emerged, reflecting the development of construction techniques. Housing structures were categorized into five main types: small and medium round houses, small and medium square or rectangular houses, and large square dwellings. These buildings were constructed either as semi-subterranean homes, which provided insulation, or as ground-level structures. Based on evidence such as the presence of communal storage pits and the performance of shared tasks within public structures, it is likely that certain elements of production and distribution were managed collectively. These large public buildings may have served as hubs for community-based activities.

Middle Yangshao settlements such as Jiangzhi contain raised-floor buildings that may have been used for the storage of surplus grains. Grinding stones for making flour were also found.

In the late Yangshao period, architecture underwent significant changes. Square ground-level houses became the most common form, and longhouses with multiple rooms began to appear. Some homes featured floors covered with a layer of lime. Organizational features first seen in the middle Yangshao period persisted, including large settlements associated with public buildings resembling palaces. This period also saw the emergence of the first walled-town site in the Yellow River valley.

Excavations at various Yangshao sites have uncovered large structures that appear to have served as public ritual spaces rather than homes for elites. It was not until the late Longshan culture that substantial palace-like residences for elites were built at locations such as Guchengzhai and Taosi, indicating the early stages of residential separation between social classes.

Residential homes were typically built by digging a rounded rectangular pit around one meter deep. Then they were rammed, and a lattice of wattle was woven over it. Then it was plastered with mud. The floor was also rammed down.

Next, a few short wattle poles would be placed around the top of the pit, and more wattle would be woven to it. It was plastered with mud, and a framework of poles would be placed to make a cone shape for the roof. Poles would be added to support the roof. It was then thatched with millet stalks. There was little furniture; a shallow fireplace in the middle with a stool, a bench along the wall, and a bed of cloth. Food and items were placed or hung against the walls. A pen would be built outside for animals.

Yangshao villages typically covered ten to fourteen acres and were composed of houses around a central square.

Social structure

{{multiple image

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| image1 = Beishouling head 北首岭遗址陶人面像.jpg

| caption1 = Beishouling pottery head, 5000-3000 BCE. Baoji, Shaanxi

| image2 = Pottery human head, excavated in Liujiahe (柳家河), Ankang city, Shaanxi. 5000-3000 BCE. Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology.jpg

| caption2 = Liujiahe pottery head, 5000-3000 BCE, Ankang city, Shaanxi

| footer =

}}

Archaeological evidence suggests that the social organization of the Yangshao culture underwent significant changes over time. In the early Yangshao period, society was primarily structured around clans connected by blood ties. However, as private ownership emerged in the later Yangshao period, these clan-based communities gradually gave way to smaller, independent family units. The development of monogamous, self-sufficient households led to distinct economic practices, with each family managing its own production methods and resources.

Although early reports suggested a matriarchal culture,{{cite book

|last1 = Roy |first1 = Kartik C.

|last2 = Tisdell |first2 = C. A.

|last3 = Blomqvist |first3 = Hans C.

|title=Economic development and women in the world community

|year=1999

|publisher=Greenwood

|isbn=978-0-275-96631-7

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwoVk0ar1M8C&q=Yangshao+culture+matriarchal&pg=PA27

|page=27

}} others argue that it was a society in transition from matriarchy to patriarchy, while still others believe it to have been patriarchal. The debate hinges on differing interpretations of burial practices.{{cite book|last=Linduff|first=Katheryn M.|title=Gender and Chinese Archaeology|year=2004|publisher=AltaMira Press|isbn=978-0-7591-0409-9|author2=Yan Sun |pages=16–19, 244}}{{cite book|last=Jiao |first=Tianlong |editor1-first=Bettina |editor1-last=Arnold |editor2-first=Nancy L |editor2-last=Wicker |title=Gender and the Archaeology of Death|year=2001 |publisher=AltaMira Press |isbn=978-0-7591-0137-1 |pages=53–55 |chapter=Gender Studies in Chinese Neolithic Archaeology}} Another interpretation is that the Yangshao culture had a parallel with a segmentary lineage system.{{Sfn |Feng|2013|p=29}} New archeological sites, specially in the Xipo site, revealed very large houses and tombs with rich furnishes. This suggest the late Yangshao culture was an early form of chiefdom.{{Sfn |Feng|2013|pp=29-30}}

A Marxist analysis of the Yangshao site suggests that the inhabitants practiced punaluan marriage.{{Sfn |Feng|2013|pp=27-28}}

In the Yangshao culture, it was a common mortuary practice to place deceased children in funerary urns and bury them near the foundations of houses. All the children buried were girls.{{Sfn |Feng|2013|pp=27-28}}

The discovery of a Chinese dragon statue dating back to the fifth millennium BC in the Yangshao culture makes it the world's oldest known dragon depiction,.{{cite book|author=Howard Giskin and Bettye S. Walsh|title=An introduction to Chinese culture through the family|publisher=State University of New York Press|year=2001|isbn=0-7914-5047-3|page=126}}

A few Yangshao pottery heads, including one found in Liujiahe in Ankang, southern Shaanxi, "clearly show Caucasian characteristics", with "a long and large nose, deep eyes and narrow face". These archaeological finds suggest that during the prehistorical period different ethnic groups from west and east may have interacted in the region of the Wei River valley.{{cite book |last1=Liu |first1=Li |title=The Chinese Neolithic: Trajectories to Early States |date=6 January 2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-44170-4 |page=90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lhT0Z4L4g-kC&pg=PA90 |language=en |quote=A clay mask of a human head, 10 cm in height, was found at Liujiahe in Ankang, southern Shaanxi (Shaanxi Institute 1998: 5), and dates to the Miaodigou phase of the middle Yangshao period (Wang Weilin 2002, personal communication). This realistically rendered sculpture has a long and large nose, deep eyes and narrow face. Each ear has a small hole, perhaps for wearing earrings. Another hole is placed on top of the head, probably for inserting a headdress. The back of this mask is concave in shape and two additional small holes are situated on the sides of the rear head, suggesting that the mask may have been attached to another object (Figure 4.11: 1). These two human heads clearly show Caucasian characteristics. (...) Most examples of Caucasoid figures as described above have been found in Fufeng near the Wei River, although their dates stretch from 4000 BC to 1000 BC. The Wei River valley is a region in which ethnic groups from west and east made contact with each other throughout history, thus it is entirely possible that such contacts had already taken place in prehistory.}}

Archaeological sites

{{Continental Asia in 5000 BCE|right|{{center|Yangshao culture and contemporary cultures and polities {{c.|5000 BC}}}}|{{Location map~|Continental Asia|lat=37|long=110.5|position=left|mark=Orange dot (semi-transparent).png|marksize=25}}}}

Yangshao, in Mianchi County, Sanmenxia, western Henan, the place which gave the culture its name, has a museum next to the archaeological site.{{Cite web|url=http://henan.chinadaily.com.cn/sanmenxia/2013-08/12/content_16888241.htm|title=Yangshao Culture Museum|last=黄沛|website=henan.chinadaily.com.cn|access-date=2018-04-13|archive-date=2018-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413125334/http://henan.chinadaily.com.cn/sanmenxia/2013-08/12/content_16888241.htm|url-status=dead}} The archaeological site of the village of Banpo near Xi'an is one of the best-known ditch-enclosed settlements of the Yangshao. Another major settlement called Jiangzhai was excavated out to its limits, and archaeologists found that it was completely surrounded by a ring-ditch. Both Banpo and Jiangzhai also yielded incised marks on pottery which a few have interpreted as numerals or perhaps precursors to Chinese characters,Woon, Wee Lee (1987). Chinese Writing: Its Origin and Evolution. Joint Publishing, Hong Kong.

but such interpretations are not widely accepted.Qiu Xigui (2000). Chinese Writing. Translation of 文字學概論 by Mattos and Jerry Norman. Early China Special Monograph Series No. 4. Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. {{ISBN|978-1-55729-071-7}}.

Artifacts

Image:CMOC Treasures of Ancient China exhibit - pottery ding.jpg|Ding, decorated with a string pattern

Image:YangshaoCordmarkedAmphoraBanpoPhase4800BCEShaanxi.jpg|Cordmarked amphora; 4800 BC (Banpo phase); Guimet Museum (Paris)

Large water bottle. Late Yangshao-Early Majiayao. Museum Rietberg.jpg|Large water vessel of the late Yangshao culture or early Majiayao; from Shaanxi, Shanxi or Gansu province; 4th millennium BC; Rietberg Museum (Zürich, Switzerland)

WLA haa Amphora China Neolithic 2.jpg|Red amphora with carrying handles; circa 5000 - 3000 BC; Honolulu Museum of Art (USA)

Shijia hu.jpg|Pot; painted earthenware; in the Shijia style; Shaanxi History Museum

Shijia pot with animal face or mask.1975.jpg|Pot; painted earthenware; height: 27.8 cm; in the Shijia style; Shaanxi History Museum

半山类型圆点纹彩陶壶.jpg|Dotted pottery pot, semi-mountain type; dating from 4700 to 4300 years; Gansu Provincial Museum

National Museum of China 2014.02.01 14-44-45.jpg|Painted pottery basin; 5000-3000 BC; National Museum of China

Pots,_Yangshao_culture,_neolithic_China,_c._2600-2300_BC,_ceramic_-_Östasiatiska_museet,_Stockholm_-_DSC09657.JPG|Pots, Yangshao culture; Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities (Östasiatiska museet), Stockholm.

File:Bowl with ring handles. Earthenware painted with red and black mineral pigment. Yangshao Culture, Gansu Province. Neolithic period, 2600-2300 BCE. From the Garner Collection. Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|An earthenware bowl painted with red and black mineral pigment with ring handles, Gansu Province, Neolithic period, Yangshao culture, from the Garner Collection, in the Victoria and Albert Museum

File:Pottery pot with human and fish design from Neolithic age (9000 to 2000 BC). Found in Shaanxi province. Beijing Capital Museum.jpg|Pottery pot with human and fish design, Shaanxi province.

File:Miaodigou urn,Yangshao culture.jpg|Coloured pottery pot depicting a stork, a fish, and a stone axe. Yangshao culture, Miaodigou phase (3900-3000 BC). Part of the List of Chinese cultural relics forbidden to be exhibited abroad.{{Cite web | url=http://www.wenbao.net/html/whyichan/64th/2caihuitaohong.htm | title=彩绘鹳鱼石斧图陶缸 | publisher=The Chinese Cultural Heritage Protection Web Site | access-date=2023-05-29 | archive-date=2019-09-07 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190907025818/http://www.wenbao.net/html/whyichan/64th/2caihuitaohong.htm | url-status=dead }}

File:Openwork Design ―Neolithic Period, Miaodigou Culture, 4,000-3,000 BCE.jpg|Miaodigou Culture mask, 3500 BC

File:Puyang Dragon Burial.jpg|Puyang Dragon Burial, with the earliest depiction of a Dragon in China, Yangshao culture

See also

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| surname4 = Ryder | given4 = Robin

| surname5 = Thouzeau | given5 = Valentin

| surname6 = Greenhill | given6 = Simon J.| author6-link = Simon Greenhill

| surname7 = List | given7 = Johann-Mattis| author7-link = Johann-Mattis List

| title = Dated language phylogenies shed light on the history of Sino-Tibetan

| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

| volume = 116 | issue = 21 | pages = 10317–10322 | year = 2019

| doi = 10.1073/pnas.1817972116 | doi-access = free | pmid = 31061123 | pmc = 6534992

| postscript = .

}}

  • {{cite press release |date=May 6, 2019 |title=Origin of Sino-Tibetan language family revealed by new research |website=ScienceDaily |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190506151822.htm}}

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{{Neolithic cultures of China}}

{{Prehistoric technology}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yangshao Culture}}

Category:5th-millennium BC establishments

Category:3rd-millennium BC disestablishments

Category:Neolithic cultures of China

Category:History of Henan

Category:History of Shaanxi

Category:History of Shanxi

Category:History of Xi'an

Category:Archaeological cultures of East Asia