Yangshao culture

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}}]]

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}}

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.

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.

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 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

| perrow = 2

| total_width = 400

| caption_align = center

| align = center

| direction = horizontal

| 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}}

}}

File:Jiangzhai settlement model.jpg

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.

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

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.

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}}

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.

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}}

{{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}}.

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

{{commons category|Yangshao culture}}

• List of Neolithic cultures of China
• Dawenkou culture
• Hemudu culture
• Majiayao culture
• Majiabang culture
• Hongshan culture
• Beifudi
• Xishuipo

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{citation

| title = The Archaeology of Ancient China

| given = Kwang-chih | surname = Chang | author-link = Kwang-chih Chang

| publisher = Yale University Press | edition = 4th | year = 1986

| isbn = 978-0-300-03782-1

| postscript = .

}}

• {{citation

| surname1 = Fiskesjö | given1 = Magnus | surname2 = Chen | given2 = Xingcan

| title = China Before China: Johan Gunnar Andersson, Ding Wenjiang, and the Discovery of China's Prehistory

| publisher = Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities | location = Stockholm | year = 2004

| isbn = 978-91-970616-3-6

| postscript = .

}}

• {{citation

| chapter = The later Neolithic in the central Yellow River valley, c.4000–3000 BC | pages = 213–235

| surname = Li | given = Xinwei

| title = A Companion to Chinese Archaeology

| editor-given = Anne P. | editor-surname = Underhill

| publisher = John Wiley & Sons | year = 2013

| isbn = 978-1-118-32578-0

| postscript = .

}}

• {{citation

| title = The Archaeology of China: From the Late Paleolithic to the Early Bronze Age

| surname1 = Liu | given1 = Li |author-link=Liu Li (archaeologist) | surname2 = Chen | given2 = Xingcan

| publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2012

| isbn = 978-0-521-64310-8

| postscript = .

}}

• {{citation

| title = Craft Production and Social Change in Northern China

| given = Anne P.

| surname = Underhill

| publisher = Springer

| year = 2002

| isbn = 978-0-306-46771-4

| postscript = .

| url-access = registration

| url = https://archive.org/details/craftproductions0000unde

}}

• {{citation

| chapter = The early Neolithic in the central Yellow River valley, c.7000–4000 BC | pages = 172–193

| surname = Zhu | given = Yanping

| title = A Companion to Chinese Archaeology

| editor-given = Anne P. | editor-surname = Underhill

| publisher = John Wiley & Sons | year = 2013

| isbn = 978-1-118-32578-0

| postscript = .

}}

• {{citation

| surname1 = Sagart | given1 = Laurent| author1-link =Laurent Sagart

| surname2 = Jacques | given2 = Guillaume | author2-link = Guillaume Jacques

| surname3 = Lai | given3 = Yunfan

| 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}}

{{refend}}

{{Neolithic cultures of China}}

{{Prehistoric technology}}

{{coord|36|18|N|109|06|E|region:CN_type:country_source:kolossus-dewiki|display=title}}

{{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