The Yangshao culture (仰韶文化, pinyin: 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 culture is named after the Yangshao site, the first excavated site of this culture, which was discovered in 1921 in Yangshao town, Mianchi County, Sanmenxia, western Henan Province by the Swedish geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson (1874–1960).[1] The culture flourished mainly in the provinces of Henan, Shaanxi and Shanxi.
Red oval is the late Cishan 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.[5]
The main food of the Yangshao people was millet, with some sites using foxtail millet and others proso millet, though some evidence of rice has been found. The exact nature of 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.[6] 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.[7]
The Yangshao people kept pigs and dogs. Sheep, goats, and cattle are found much more rarely.[8] Much of their meat came from hunting and fishing with stone tools.[7] Their stone tools were polished and highly specialized. They may also have practiced an early form of sericulture.[8]
Crafts
Human faced fish decoration bowl, 5000–4000 BC, Banpo village, Shaanxi
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. Excavations found that children were buried in painted pottery jars.
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.
Houses were built by digging a rounded rectangular pit around one metre 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.[6]
Social structure
Although early reports suggested a matriarchal culture,[9] 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.[10][11]
The discovery of a dragon statue dating back to the fifth millennium BC in the Yangshao culture makes it the world's oldest known dragon depiction,[12] and the Han Chinese continue to worship dragons to this day.
Archaeological sites
Museum near the original site in Yangshao
Yangshao, in Mianchi County, Sanmenxia, western Henan, the place which gave the culture its name, has a museum next to the archaeological site.[13] 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,[14] but such interpretations are not widely accepted.[15]
Phases
The Yangshao culture is conventionally divided into three phases:
The early period or Banpo phase, c. 5000–4000 BC) is represented by the Banpo, Jiangzhai, Beishouling and Dadiwan sites in the Wei River valley in Shaanxi.[16]
The middle period or Miaodigou phase, c. 4000–3500 BC) saw an expansion of the culture in all directions, and the development of hierarchies of settlements in some areas, such as western Henan.[17]
The late period (c. 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).[18]
The Majiayao culture (c. 3300–2000 BC) to the west is now considered a separate culture that developed from the middle Yangshao culture through an intermediate Shilingxia phase.[19]
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
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yangshao culture.
^Zhang, Menghan; Yan, Shi; Pan, Wuyun; Jin, Li (24 April 2019). "Phylogenetic evidence for Sino-Tibetan origin in northern China in the Late Neolithic". Nature. 569 (7754): 112–115. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1153-z. PMID 31019300. S2CID 129946000.
^Bradley, David (27–28 October 2018). "Subgrouping of the Sino-Tibetan languages". 10th International Conference on Evolutionary Linguistics, Nanjing University.
^LaPolla, Randy (2019). "The origin and spread of the Sino-Tibetan language family". Nature. 569 (7754): 45–47. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01214-6. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 31036967.
^Roy, Kartik C.; Tisdell, C. A.; Blomqvist, Hans C. (1999). Economic development and women in the world community. Greenwood. p. 27. ISBN978-0-275-96631-7.
^Linduff, Katheryn M.; Yan Sun (2004). Gender and Chinese Archaeology. AltaMira Press. pp. 16–19, 244. ISBN978-0-7591-0409-9.
^Jiao, Tianlong (2001). "Gender Studies in Chinese Neolithic Archaeology". In Arnold, Bettina; Wicker, Nancy L (eds.). Gender and the Archaeology of Death. AltaMira Press. pp. 53–55. ISBN978-0-7591-0137-1.
^Woon, Wee Lee (1987). Chinese Writing: Its Origin and Evolution. Joint Publishing, Hong Kong.
^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. ISBN978-1-55729-071-7.
Fiskesjö, Magnus; Chen, Xingcan (2004), China Before China: Johan Gunnar Andersson, Ding Wenjiang, and the Discovery of China's Prehistory, Stockholm: Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, ISBN978-91-970616-3-6.
Li, Xinwei (2013), "The later Neolithic in the central Yellow River valley, c.4000–3000 BC", in Underhill, Anne P. (ed.), A Companion to Chinese Archaeology, John Wiley & Sons, pp. 213–235, ISBN978-1-118-32578-0.
Liu, Li; Chen, Xingcan (2012), The Archaeology of China: From the Late Paleolithic to the Early Bronze Age, Cambridge University Press, ISBN978-0-521-64310-8.
Underhill, Anne P. (2002), Craft Production and Social Change in Northern China, Springer, ISBN978-0-306-46771-4.
Zhu, Yanping (2013), "The early Neolithic in the central Yellow River valley, c.7000–4000 BC", in Underhill, Anne P. (ed.), A Companion to Chinese Archaeology, John Wiley & Sons, pp. 172–193, ISBN978-1-118-32578-0.
Sagart, Laurent; Jacques, Guillaume; Lai, Yunfan; Ryder, Robin; Thouzeau, Valentin; Greenhill, Simon J.; List, Johann-Mattis (2019), "Dated language phylogenies shed light on the history of Sino-Tibetan", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116 (21): 10317–10322, doi:10.1073/pnas.1817972116, PMC6534992, PMID 31061123.
"Origin of Sino-Tibetan language family revealed by new research". ScienceDaily (Press release). May 6, 2019.
yangshao, culture, 仰韶文化, pinyin, yǎngsháo, wénhuà, neolithic, culture, that, existed, extensively, along, middle, reaches, yellow, river, china, from, around, 5000, 3000, culture, named, after, yangshao, site, first, excavated, site, this, culture, which, disc. The Yangshao culture 仰韶文化 pinyin Yǎngshao wenhua 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 culture is named after the Yangshao site the first excavated site of this culture which was discovered in 1921 in Yangshao town Mianchi County Sanmenxia western Henan Province by the Swedish geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson 1874 1960 1 The culture flourished mainly in the provinces of Henan Shaanxi and Shanxi Yangshao cultureGeographical rangeMiddle reaches of Yellow RiverPeriodNeolithicDatesc 5000 c 3000 BCMajor sitesShuanghuaishu Banpo JiangzhaiPreceded byPeiligang culture Dadiwan culture Cishan cultureFollowed byLongshan cultureChinese nameChinese仰韶文化TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinYǎngshao wenhuaRecent research indicates a common origin of the Sino Tibetan languages with the Cishan Yangshao and or the Majiayao cultures 2 3 4 5 Red oval is the late Cishan 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 5 Contents 1 Economy 1 1 Subsistence 1 2 Crafts 2 Houses 3 Social structure 4 Archaeological sites 5 Phases 6 Artifacts 7 See also 8 ReferencesEconomy EditSubsistence Edit The main food of the Yangshao people was millet with some sites using foxtail millet and others proso millet though some evidence of rice has been found The exact nature of 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 6 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 7 The Yangshao people kept pigs and dogs Sheep goats and cattle are found much more rarely 8 Much of their meat came from hunting and fishing with stone tools 7 Their stone tools were polished and highly specialized They may also have practiced an early form of sericulture 8 Crafts Edit Human faced fish decoration bowl 5000 4000 BC Banpo village Shaanxi 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 Excavations found that children were buried in painted pottery jars 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 Houses Edit A model of Jiangzhai a Yangshao village Houses were built by digging a rounded rectangular pit around one metre 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 6 Social structure EditAlthough early reports suggested a matriarchal culture 9 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 10 11 The discovery of a dragon statue dating back to the fifth millennium BC in the Yangshao culture makes it the world s oldest known dragon depiction 12 and the Han Chinese continue to worship dragons to this day Archaeological sites Edit Museum near the original site in Yangshao Yangshao in Mianchi County Sanmenxia western Henan the place which gave the culture its name has a museum next to the archaeological site 13 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 14 but such interpretations are not widely accepted 15 Phases EditThe Yangshao culture is conventionally divided into three phases The early period or Banpo phase c 5000 4000 BC is represented by the Banpo Jiangzhai Beishouling and Dadiwan sites in the Wei River valley in Shaanxi 16 The middle period or Miaodigou phase c 4000 3500 BC saw an expansion of the culture in all directions and the development of hierarchies of settlements in some areas such as western Henan 17 The late period c 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 18 The Majiayao culture c 3300 2000 BC to the west is now considered a separate culture that developed from the middle Yangshao culture through an intermediate Shilingxia phase 19 Artifacts EditCeramics Ding decorated with a string pattern Cordmarked amphora 4800 BC Banpo phase Guimet Museum Paris Large water vessel of the late Yangshao culture or early Majiayao from Shaanxi Shanxi or Gansu province 4th millennium BC Rietberg Museum Zurich Switzerland Red amphora with carrying handles circa 5000 3000 BC Honolulu Museum of Art USA Pot painted earthenware in the Shijia style Shaanxi History Museum Pot painted earthenware height 27 8 cm in the Shijia style Shaanxi History Museum Dotted pottery pot semi mountain type dating from 4700 to 4300 years Gansu Provincial Museum Painted pottery basin 5000 3000 BC National Museum of China Pots Yangshao culture Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities Ostasiatiska museet Stockholm 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 MuseumSee also Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yangshao culture List of Neolithic cultures of China Dawenkou culture Hemudu culture Majiayao culture Majiabang culture Hongshan culture Beifudi XishuipoReferences Edit Yangshao Culture Museum Zhang Menghan Yan Shi Pan Wuyun Jin Li 24 April 2019 Phylogenetic evidence for Sino Tibetan origin in northern China in the Late Neolithic Nature 569 7754 112 115 doi 10 1038 s41586 019 1153 z PMID 31019300 S2CID 129946000 Bradley David 27 28 October 2018 Subgrouping of the Sino Tibetan languages 10th International Conference on Evolutionary Linguistics Nanjing University LaPolla Randy 2019 The origin and spread of the Sino Tibetan language family Nature 569 7754 45 47 doi 10 1038 d41586 019 01214 6 ISSN 0028 0836 PMID 31036967 a b Sagart et al 2019 pp 10319 10320 a b Pollard Elizabeth 2015 Worlds Together Worlds Apart W W Norton amp Company pp 69 70 ISBN 978 0 393 91847 2 a b Chang 1986 p 112 a b Chang 1986 p 113 Roy Kartik C Tisdell C A Blomqvist Hans C 1999 Economic development and women in the world community Greenwood p 27 ISBN 978 0 275 96631 7 Linduff Katheryn M Yan Sun 2004 Gender and Chinese Archaeology AltaMira Press pp 16 19 244 ISBN 978 0 7591 0409 9 Jiao Tianlong 2001 Gender Studies in Chinese Neolithic Archaeology In Arnold Bettina Wicker Nancy L eds Gender and the Archaeology of Death AltaMira Press pp 53 55 ISBN 978 0 7591 0137 1 Howard Giskin and Bettye S Walsh 2001 An introduction to Chinese culture through the family State University of New York Press p 126 ISBN 0 7914 5047 3 黄沛 Yangshao Culture Museum henan chinadaily com cn Retrieved 2018 04 13 Woon Wee Lee 1987 Chinese Writing Its Origin and Evolution Joint Publishing Hong Kong 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 Liu amp Chen 2012 pp 190 191 Liu amp Chen 2012 pp 191 193 Liu amp Chen 2012 pp 193 194 Liu amp Chen 2012 p 232 Chang Kwang chih 1986 The Archaeology of Ancient China 4th ed Yale University Press ISBN 978 0 300 03782 1 Fiskesjo Magnus Chen Xingcan 2004 China Before China Johan Gunnar Andersson Ding Wenjiang and the Discovery of China s Prehistory Stockholm Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities ISBN 978 91 970616 3 6 Li Xinwei 2013 The later Neolithic in the central Yellow River valley c 4000 3000 BC in Underhill Anne P ed A Companion to Chinese Archaeology John Wiley amp Sons pp 213 235 ISBN 978 1 118 32578 0 Liu Li Chen Xingcan 2012 The Archaeology of China From the Late Paleolithic to the Early Bronze Age Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 64310 8 Underhill Anne P 2002 Craft Production and Social Change in Northern China Springer ISBN 978 0 306 46771 4 Zhu Yanping 2013 The early Neolithic in the central Yellow River valley c 7000 4000 BC in Underhill Anne P ed A Companion to Chinese Archaeology John Wiley amp Sons pp 172 193 ISBN 978 1 118 32578 0 Sagart Laurent Jacques Guillaume Lai Yunfan Ryder Robin Thouzeau Valentin Greenhill Simon J List Johann Mattis 2019 Dated language phylogenies shed light on the history of Sino Tibetan Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 116 21 10317 10322 doi 10 1073 pnas 1817972116 PMC 6534992 PMID 31061123 Origin of Sino Tibetan language family revealed by new research ScienceDaily Press release May 6 2019 Coordinates 36 18 N 109 06 E 36 300 N 109 100 E 36 300 109 100 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Yangshao culture amp oldid 1128957181, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
