Yangshao culture

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. 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. 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 its eastern branch, and the Majiayao culture, its western. ==Phases==

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. The Yangshao culture is conventionally divided into three phases: • The Early Yangshao period or Banpo phase (–4000 BC) is represented by the Banpo, Jiangzhai, Beishouling and Dadiwan sites in the Wei River valley in Shaanxi. • The Middle Yangshao period or Miaodigou phase (–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. • The Late Yangshao period (–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). The Majiayao culture (E) to the west is now considered a separate culture that developed from the middle Yangshao culture through an intermediate Shilingxia phase. ==Economy==

Subsistence The main food of the Yangshao people was millet, with some sites using foxtail millet and others proso millet. The Yangshao people cultivated and consumed rice, though to a lesser extent than millet. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. ==Structures==

, 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==

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. 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. Another interpretation is that the Yangshao culture had a parallel with a segmentary lineage system. Recent studies have demonstrated that the people of the Yangshao culture were patrilineal. 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. A Marxist analysis of the Yangshao site suggests that the inhabitants practiced punaluan marriage. 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. ==Archaeological sites==

Yangshao, in Mianchi County, Sanmenxia, western Henan, the place which gave the culture its name, has a museum next to the archaeological site. 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, but such interpretations are not widely accepted. ==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 ago (2700-2300 BC); 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. 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 in Xishuipo, supposedly the earliest depiction of a dragon in ancient China, Yangshao culture ==See also==