Yangshao culture (Miaodigou, Xiyincun) first developed in the Loess plateau in the Holocene period.
[1]
The culture was present from 5000 to 3000 BCE, extending from the Middle Yellow River Valley to modern Qinghai and Gansu.
[2]
Yangshao sites are mainly found in the Guanzhong region in Shaanxi, eastern Gansu, western Shanxi, southern Hebei and Henan.
[3]
Yangshao subsisted on wild foods and domesticated millet. Men most likely hunted, and men and women farmed and produced goods.
[4]
Yangshao villages were often surrounded by a ditch, and contained groups of semi-subterranean round or square houses constructed using the wattle and daub method, a graveyard and a public courtyard.
[5]
Homes contained hearths for cooking and wide benches.
[6]
Yangshao culture is characterized by the presence of painted black and red pottery featuring animals and geometric designs.
[3]
Pottery, jewelry and stone, bone and ceramic tools have been excavated from Yangshao period graves.
[6]
Population and political organization
In the early Yangshao phase, settlements did not have any detectable hierarchies. In the later phase, structures in the settlements began to vary in size, suggesting the existence of settlement hierarchies.
[5]
In many villages, a large structure is surrounded by smaller dwellings.
[6]
However, grave goods in Yangshao burials suggest a more egalitarian society.
[6]
More information is needed on settlement hierarchy and community organization in the Yangshao period. The population of Yangshao settlements varied- smaller settlements had 70 to 80 members while larger settlements housed a few hundred.
[1]
[1]: (Lee 2001, 335) Lee, Yun Kuen. 2001. “Yangshao.” In East Asia and Oceania (Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 3), edited by Peter Peregrine and Melvin Ember. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. 333-339. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/BUI9EC3T
[2]: (Tanner 2009, 20) Tanner, Harold Miles. 2009. China: A History. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/46QCS68G
[3]: (Lee 2001, 333) Lee, Yun Kuen. 2001. “Yangshao.” In East Asia and Oceania (Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 3), edited by Peter Peregrine and Melvin Ember. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. 333-339. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/BUI9EC3T
[4]: (Lee 2001, 336) Lee, Yun Kuen. 2001. “Yangshao.” In East Asia and Oceania (Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 3), edited by Peter Peregrine and Melvin Ember. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. 333-339. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/BUI9EC3T
[5]: (Lee 2001, 334) Lee, Yun Kuen. 2001. “Yangshao.” In East Asia and Oceania (Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 3), edited by Peter Peregrine and Melvin Ember. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. 333-339. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/BUI9EC3T
[6]: (Von Falkenhausen 1994, 55) Von Falkenhausen. Lothar. 1994. “Rediscovering the Past.” In China: Ancient Culture, Modern Land, edited by Robert E. Murowchick. Norman Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KKWA9MT3
| China |
| Longshan |
| 1,000,000 km2 |
| Preceding: Peiligang (cn_peiligang) [None] | |
| Succeeding: Longshan (cn_longshan) [continuity] |
| quasi-polity |
| [200 to 500] people |
| [10,000 to 30,000] people |
| inferred absent |
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| Year Range | Yangshao (cn_yangshao) was in: |
|---|---|
| (5000 BCE 3001 BCE) | Middle Yellow River Valley |
"While Yan’s classic definition of the Big Yangshao model is still influential, more and more archaeologists are inclined to name the local archaeological remains as independent cultures, each having its own local cultural tradition and developmental sequence (Zhang Zhongpei and Qiao 1992; Henan Sheng 1994; Wang 2010)." [1] This implies that each polity probably had its capital.
[1]: (Li 2013, 215)
"The monograph on the excavations published in 1959 - the first archaeological report of the People’s Republic of China (IA,CASS 1959) - gives the middle Yangshao remains a new name - “the Miaodigou Type.” Some nostalgic archaeologists like to use the name “Xiyincun culture” to refer to the same remains (Zhang Zhongpei 1996), but Miaodigou Type or Miaodigou culture is still the most common name." [1] Miaodigou is an umbrella term for many other archaeological subcultures though: "However, although sharing Miaodigou-style painted designs and some typical vessels, local archaeological cultures in these areas also show their own characteristics. While Yan’s classic definition of the Big Yangshao model is still influential, more and more archaeologists are inclined to name the local archaeological remains as independent cultures, each having its own local cultural tradition and developmental sequence (Zhang Zhongpei and Qiao 1992; Henan Sheng 1994; Wang 2010). Some scholars suggest a core-periphery model for the relationship of the local cultures with the heartland area of the Miaodigou Type (Wang 2010)." [2]
[1]: (Li 2013, 213)
[2]: (Li 2013, 215)
"The monograph on the excavations published in 1959 - the first archaeological report of the People’s Republic of China (IA,CASS 1959) - gives the middle Yangshao remains a new name - “the Miaodigou Type.” Some nostalgic archaeologists like to use the name “Xiyincun culture” to refer to the same remains (Zhang Zhongpei 1996), but Miaodigou Type or Miaodigou culture is still the most common name." [1] Miaodigou is an umbrella term for many other archaeological subcultures though: "However, although sharing Miaodigou-style painted designs and some typical vessels, local archaeological cultures in these areas also show their own characteristics. While Yan’s classic definition of the Big Yangshao model is still influential, more and more archaeologists are inclined to name the local archaeological remains as independent cultures, each having its own local cultural tradition and developmental sequence (Zhang Zhongpei and Qiao 1992; Henan Sheng 1994; Wang 2010). Some scholars suggest a core-periphery model for the relationship of the local cultures with the heartland area of the Miaodigou Type (Wang 2010)." [2]
[1]: (Li 2013, 213)
[2]: (Li 2013, 215)
"When the chronologies of the various cultural types and systems are care- fully traced, it becomes apparent that by approximately 4000 B.C. some of the adjacent regional cultures had come into contact as an inevitable result of expansion and that a number of ceramic styles began to assume a sphere- wide instead of merely a region-wide distribution. For example, among pottery vessel types, the ding and the dou are found in every region, often in large numbers, suggesting the wide distribution of a style of cooking formerly prevailing only in the Dawenkou and Daxi cultures. The perforated slate rectangular and semilunar knives represent another horizon marker, as do some pottery and jade art motifs that, as pointed out earlier, may reflect deeper substratal commonalities than recent contact. With the definition of "interaction spheres," for the first time we can discuss the issue of the name "China." I suggest that from this point on, as the regions with which we are concerned came to be joined together in archaeological terms and exhibit increasing similarities, the interaction sphere may be referred to as "Chinese." " [1]
[1]: (Chang 1999, 58-59)
(Relationship): "Thus, when I say, for example, that the Yangshao tradition was followed by the Longshan tradition, it should not be taken to imply that the break between the two is clear and discrete, or that all people changed in exactly the same ways at precisely the same time. Nor should such a statement imply that there was a population replacement between the two traditions. More important, such a statement should not be taken to imply that the peoples of either tradition knew they were living in any sort of unity with other people who we, from our perspective today, suggest they shared a common archaeological tradition."
[1]
(Entity): "Such remains obviously indicate a society at a stage of development between that of the Yangshao culture, which until the 1950s was the only known Neolithic culture earlier than the Longshan, and the later Shang civilization."
[2]
[1]: (Peregrine and Ember 2001, xx)
[2]: (Chang 1999, 59)
"Discovered by the Swedish geologist J. G. Andersson in 1920 at Yangshao village in Mianchi county, Henan, this was the first Neolithic culture to be found in China and is still the best known. More than a thousand archaeological sites of this culture have been found distributed in the Yellow River valley from Zhengzhou in the east to the upper reaches in Gansu and Qinghai. Within this vast area, the culture can be divided into several phases on the basis of ceramic styles. All of these, however, are of reddish color and are painted with various designs in black or dark brown (Fig. 1.4). Major vessel types include the bowl, water bottle, jar, and urn. Tripods and bowls on ring stands are seen in the east only, possibly being forms introduced from the eastern coastal areas.The Yangshao was a culture of millet farmers, already planting both Setaria and Panicum millets. The people lived in lineage units regularly laid out in villages. [1]
[1]: (Chang 1999, 49-52)
Inhabitants. "Several extensively excavated settlement and burial sites reveal that the population size of a Yangshao community varied from several dozens (70-80) to a few hundreds. In some favorable farming regions, for instance, the Weishe basin, the density of Yangshao settlement sites exceed that of the modern village. Although some Yangshao sites may not be contemporary, their density is still impressive." [1]
[1]: (Lee in Peregrine and Ember 2001, 335)
levels.
Example in the Li Luo River Valley:1. Big villages. 75ha is the biggest in the Li Luo River Valley.
2. Smaller villages. 3 to 6 ha.
"There was significant differentiation in the size of middle and late phase Yangshao settlements. Settlement hierarchies have been identified from systematic survey and reconnaissance (Liu 1996; Liu and Chen 2000). In the Yi-Luo River valley,Yangshao sites range in size from less than one hectare to about 75 hectares, which formed a two-tiered settlement hierarchy (Liu 1996:254). There is a three- tiered hierarchy in the Lingbao region of western Henan. There is an unusually large settlement (about 90 hectares) called Beiyangping located between two tributaries, while most sites range in size from about 2 hectares to 36 hectares (Henan Institute of Cultural Relics et al. 1999; Henan Team et al. 1995)."
[1]
Example in the Yangping River Valley:1. Regional center. eg: Beiyangping, 90 ha.
2. Secondary central settlement. Eg: Xipo, 40 ha.3. Smaller villages. 2ha and bigger.
"A full-coverage survey was conducted in the Zhudingyuan 铸鼎原 area in central Lingbao in western Henan in 1999 to establish a database of prehistoric sites along two small tributaries of the Yellow river - the Yangping 阳平 river in the west and the Sha 沙 river in the east. A total of 31 sites, dating from the pre-Yangshao to late Longshan 龙山 periods were recorded. For the Miaodigou period, there was a sharp increase in the quantity of settlements (from 13 in the early Yangshao period to 19) and a marked increase in the size of settlements (from 44ha in the early Yangshao period to 189.3 ha). Even more significantly, a clear three-tiered settlement hierarchy appeared in the Miaodigou period. The Beiyangping site in the middle Yangping river valley is about 90 ha in size and obviously a regional center. The Xipo site previously mentioned, located in the upper Sha river valley, is 40ha in size and the secondary central settlement.
The full survey in the Yuanqu 垣曲 basin in southern Shanxi resulted in the same pattern. There also was a sharp increase in quantity of settlements (from eight in the early Yangshao to 20) and size (from 25.16ha in early Yangshao to 109.16) during the Miaodigou period. A three-tiered hierarchy of settlements occurred in the basin for the first time. The largest site, Beibaotou 北堡头, is 30 ha in size and might have been the regional center. The second largest site, Xiaozhao 小赵, is 15 ha in size and might have been a secondary center. The rank-size distribution is near a log-normal curve, indicating a well-integrated social system (Dai 2006: 19)."
[2]
"In the earlier phase, the settlement patterns exhibited strong egalitarian tendencies. No settlement hierarchy has been detected. In the later period, the variation of settlement size and structure increased; some settlements were built in masonry or earthen wall enclosures. Although systematic settlement system study is still lacking, it has been noted that some sites, in the dozens, clustered together, and the variation in site size suggests the emergence of settlement hierarchy."
[3]
"Many of these sites were occupied during the middle Yangshao phase as well, up to ca. 3500 B.C. Most sites range in size from ca. 3 to 6 hectares (Chang 1986:116-19), but Jiangzhai, an extensively excavated site, is ca. 18 hectares in size (Yan 1999:136)."
[4]
[1]: (Underhill and Habu 2008, 131-132)
[2]: (Li 2013, 218)
[3]: (Lee in Peregrine and Ember 2001, 334)
[4]: (Underhill and Habu 2008, 128)
levels.
1. Village leader"Decisions were made based on consensus in each level of organization. Leadership was both achieved and ad hoc."
[1]
"Two to five corporate groups made up a village settlement"
[1]
2. Corporate group leader"Decisions were made based on consensus in each level of organization. Leadership was both achieved and ad hoc."
[1]
"About a dozen households formed a corporate group"
[1]
"The Yangshao society was evidently regulated by egalitarian principles, comparable to the organization of a segmentary society like a tribe. The social organization was also heavily embedded with political functions. A two-level sequential hierarchy in community is expected. Decisions were made based on consensus in each level of organization. Leadership was both achieved and ad hoc. This observation has been confirmed by the strong egalitarian tendency documented in the burial treatment. Nevertheless, Yangshao society became increasingly internally differentiated. Simultaneous hierarchy might have emerged at the terminal period of Yangshao Culture."
[1]
[1]: (Lee in Peregrine and Ember 2001, 336)
No evidence for military so one could infer that regularly paid professional military officers were absent.
"Religious Practitioners. The human face and fish motifs on the painted bowls of the Banpo phase are generally interpreted as portraits or masks of a shaman."
[1]
Temples found at Hongshan sites
[2]
"Xishuipo grave M45 has often been taken to be a ’shaman’s’ grave."- Other scholars argue "it is more likely to have been the resting place of a sociopolitical leader."
[2]
"Ritual structures (or ’temples’), which are found only in northeast China, along with the graves associated with these structures, might suggest that religious ideas and specialist practitioners (priests) were more important to the sociopolitical integration of societies in northwest China than in other parts of north China during the Early Neolithic period."
[3]
[1]: (Lee in Peregrine and Ember 2001, 336)
[2]: (Shelach-Levi, Gideon. 2015. The Archaeology of Early China: From Prehistory to the Han Dynasty, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 98)
[3]: (Shelach-Levi, Gideon. 2015. The Archaeology of Early China: From Prehistory to the Han Dynasty, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 100)
No evidence for military so one could infer that regularly paid professional military officers were absent.
"The layouts of settlement sites suggest that there were three levels of sociopolitical organization in a Yangshao community. The households were the building blocks of the community. About a dozen households formed a corporate group. Although the daily domestic activities were carried out in the household, the distribution of storage facilities suggests that the corporate group likely coordinated the management and distribution of the basic means of subsistence, particularly staple food." [1]
[1]: (Lee in Peregrine and Ember 2001, 336)
water wells known from later period so piped water very unlikely in this earlier period.
In the subsequent Longshan period: "There also was an early-period city road system. A survey by the geologist Li Rongquan 李荣权 showed that the small southern gully Xiaonan Gou 小南沟, the large southern gully Danan Gou 大南沟, and southern gully Nan Gou 南沟 were all roads used during the city’s occupation." [1] However, that "road was not entirely straight or as developed as roads in later Chinese cities" [1] so whether it was a beaten trail or a properly maintained "road" might be open to question. Given the question marks over the later period, this still earlier period we could infer absent.
[1]: (He 2013, 264)
largest city size is about 500 and it is unlikely they had developed road maintenance linking any port to other cities, as would be necessary for a port.
“仰韶墓随葬品上不存在悬殊的现象，不存在私有制.” Absence of personal articles in tombs shows that there was no concept of private ownership among the Yangshao. [1] -- might one group have exchanged items with another group? such as animal skins for weapons?
[1]: (Yang, 2012, 313) Yang, Yubin. 2012. 20世纪仰韶文化的重要发现与研究. 袁广阔主编出版社.
No data on whether the elite used relay stations to transmit messages faster. This might be considered unlikely as elsewhere relay stations evolved and were used in context of much larger states and bureaucracies where long distances needed to be traversed.
No literacy so there would have been nobody to use a general postal service, if such had existed.
Specialist messenger probably unlikely at this early time.
"Late Paleolithic Chinese roamed the grasslands of the great Northern Plain, gathering wild varieties of millet. Around 7000-6000 B.C.E. they began creating a village culture along the Yellow River, elevating their villages above the floodplain, often enclosing them with ditches or wooden palisades." [1]
[1]: (Adler and Pouwels 2018, 54-55) Philip J Adler. Randall L Pouwels. 2018. World Civilizations. Eighth Edition. Cengage Learning. Boston.
"Some late-phase sites were located on the strategic locations of piedmonts, significantly distant from rivers." [1]
[1]: (Lee in Peregrine and Ember 2001, 336) Peregrine, P. and M. Ember (eds.) 2001. East Asia and Oceania (Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 3). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. Note: Defensive or protection against flooding?
Defences against gunpowder weapons not necessary until the invention of gunpowder, a few thousand years after this period.
"The Yangshao (7000-4500 B.P.) tradition of the middle Yellow river valley witnessed the emergence of relatively large agricultural communities organized around a public courtyard, many with a defensive moat." [1] "A defensive moat was dug on the periphery of the dwelling area." [2]
[1]: (Peregrine and Ember 2000, xix)
[2]: (Lee in Peregrine and Ember 2001, 334) Peregrine, P. and M. Ember (eds.) 2001. East Asia and Oceania (Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 3). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
"Common stone tools included celts, adzes, chisels, shovels, knives, and arrowheads. Bone was the other common tool-making material for arrowheads, harpoons, and fishhooks." [1] Composite bow not known to have been developed at this early time.
[1]: (Lee in Peregrine and Ember 2001, 335) Peregrine, P. and M. Ember (eds.) 2001. East Asia and Oceania (Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 3). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Gunpowder not invented for another few thousand years.
Composite bow not known to have been developed at this early time.
No reference to evidence of swords yet encountered in sources.
Dogs not known to have been domesticated at this time.
we would expect the earliest defenses to not have been made of metal and so unlikely to have been preserved.
we would expect the earliest defenses to not have been made of metal and so unlikely to have been preserved.