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ChinaEast Asia:
Prepared by:
Gregg Alfonso G. AbbangMA Anthropology
Southeast China tropical climate with high levels of precipitation and humidity
rugged, with rivers dissecting deep valleys as they run from the inland plains through coastal mountains to the sea
dense woodlands and tropical rainforests
Southeast China Early Neolithic (9000-5500 B.P.)
earliest agriculturalists in the world the presence of hoes and what appear to be digging stick
weights makes gardening likely for most Early Neolithic communities, especially in the coastal region
first in the region to make ceramics (thick, grit-tempered wares, fired at low temperature)
Hunting was done with spears armed with bone, chipped stone(used also for cutting and scraping tools), or slate points.
ground stone adzes & axes = wood working polished scythes, hoes & grinding slabs = producing, collecting,
processing plant foods Caves were a primary settlement location for these peoples,
but open coastal & riverine sites are also found. community = 30 to 50 people, semisedentary lifestyle, both
egalitarian & acephalous
Southeast China Late Neolithic (9000-5500 B.P.)
first in East Asia to develop sedentary agricultural communities developed into a subsistence regime that has persisted in some
areas to the modern era community = 50 to 100 people, lived in small, circular wattle-
and-daub houses, but evidence is not well preserved and no clear housing or community patters are known
relatively simple tool kit distinctive complex stamped ceramics (some of these show
enough regularity and sophistication in their manufacture) Craft Specialization in stone and jade work items of daily use = chipped & polished stone tools, shell &
bone implements, and woven items & cordage some evidence of social stratification Shixia site (Guangdong province) = 2 distinct types of burials
(secondary inhumations placed in large graves & simple pit inhumations
NorthernChina climate is variable, with cold & dry winters and hot & wet
summers most of the rain is falling in the summer much of the area is covered in grasslands, but alluvial valleys
and other areas contain hardwood forests
Peiligang (8500-6200 B.P.)
the first agriculturalists in the region raised millet, pigs, and chickens in the rich alluvial plains of the
Yellow River valley and expanded agriculture out into the North China plains
houses were typically small, round, and semisubterranean with plastered floors containing a hearth and associated storage pits
technology was simple = ground stone tools, axes, hoes, serrated scythes, & distinctive rectangular mortars with four legs
Microlithic Industry (microliths as cutting & scraping tools) Ceramics were handmade and fired in low-temperature kilns Red and brown slipped wares were common (two-handled,
narrow-necked jars and deep, tripod-footed bowls)
A red pot with two small "ear“ handles, from the Peiligang
culture
Stone roller and quern
Hongshan (7000-4500 B.P.)
raised wheat, millet, pigs, sheep and cattle first in the region to use plows lived in agricultural villages scattered across the landscape villages = 50 to 100 small, semisubterranean dwellings (densely
concentrated in one area and surrounded by a ditch) ceremonial mound centers and burial rounds These centers included large stone-mounded tombs, stone-
faced platforms, and stone circles. combinations of square and round constructions reflects the
later division between earth (square) and heaven (round), pointing to rituals where humans attempted to create or strengthen bonds between heaven and earth
Some of the stone-mounded tombs constructed were elaborate, suggesting an elite class of individuals was present.
Early Xiajiadian (4500-3600 B.P.)
three-tiered settlement hierarchy was established agriculturalists who raised millet and other crops in the rich
loess plateau of Northern China pigs, sheep, goat and cattle tool kit = ground stone hoes, axes, and grinding stones, flint
blades and microliths, and ceramics ceramics = brown, sand-tempered wares made on a fast wheel
and decorated with net or cord impressions (flat-bottomed or had legs)
Craft specialists also produced the numerous jade, shell, and semiprecious stone beads, pendants, rings, bracelets, and other personal ornaments that are often found in their graves.
Political centers with complex fortification systems in the Early Xiajiadian point to conflict, and conflict may have brought political centralization in the region to an end
Dadianzi
Late Xiajiadian (3600-2500 B.P.)
lived in small villages lacking defensive works and with no evidence of settlement hierarchy
social differentiation does appear to have continued have begun to emphasize animal husbandry although
agricultural villages do exist along major rivers agricultural villages = both surface and semisubterranean
dwellings made of mud brick or tamped earth Millet remained to be the staple food Animal husbandry was very important as well also common are horse remains and tack = herding economy Bronze also became common and local bronze workers
produced both tools such as axes, chisels, and horse fittings, as well as weapons like daggers and arrowheads
Mixed agricultural and pastoral economy (with society held together by wealthy elites)
Central China dominated by the two great East Asian rivers, the Yellow and
the Yangtzee includes the mountainous regions of western Szechwan and
eastern Hsikang, which are dissected by deep valleys and fast flowing rivers, and to the east, a vast coastal basin surrounded by mountains and dissected by the Yangtzee, Min, T’o, and Chia-ling rivers.
The basin itself consists of rolling hills and fertile but clayey soils.
climate = generally mild and wet, with hot, humid summersand cool winters
Yangshao (7000-4500 B.P.)
emergence of relatively large agricultural communities organized around a public courtyard, many with a defensive moat, which may have been built for flood control rather than to defend against invaders
most communities were located on the banks of small rivers houses were either circular and semisubterranean or
rectangular and above ground (often with plastered floors and plastered wattle-and-daub walls)
Internal organization of Yangshao villages: family, descent group & the village as a whole
Villages were autonomous and appear to have been egalitarian.
Descent group leaders probably served as village leaders as well.
Banpo & other sites show little variation in burial treatment
Artist’s sketch of Yangshao village scene
Banpo
Yangshao cordmarked amphora(Banpo phase, 4800 B.C.,
Shaanxi)
Dawenkou (6200-4500 B.P.)
lower Yellow River valley developed stable agricultural communities with substantial
houses Most sites were located with easy access to prime agricultural
soils and water. village = composed of dozen or more w-a-d houses ranging in
size from 10 to 40 sq. m. (single nuclear family) subsistence = millet & rice agriculture, domesticated pigs &
chicken, hunted & gathered foods trade in prestige goods (sometimes found in large quantities in
particular burials) such as ornaments of jade and ivory high status burials are all male = system of status based on
patrilineal descent
Late Dawenkou mortuary goods and burial custom
Majiabang (7000-5000 B.P.)
lower Yangtze River, south of Shanghai in a low salt-marsh area combined rice agriculture with pig & water buffalo husbandry first inhabitants lived in round pit houses but soon began to
construct rectangular above-ground structures built on tamped earth platforms
made a variety of ceramics, and these were found in abundance at the site
abundance of bone tools 30 burial sites (only 6 had grave goods) largely autonomous and egalitarian agricultural village with
perhaps some individual having greater access to goods than others
Daxi (7000-4500 B.P.)
created sedentary agriculture communities in the middle & upper Yangtze River valley
No villages and only a few houses have been excavated. houses = made of square or rectangular bamboo or wooden
frames covered with clay, which was then burnt or baked to a hard finish
economy = rice agriculture supplemented with fish and meat from domestic pigs & chickens
tools = hoes, axes, sickles, bone and shells ceramics were abundant (red wares predominated, largely
undecorated) had flat to round bases or ring feet One form unusually common among the Daxi people was a
cylindrical bottle.
Longshan (4500-3900 B.P.)
descent-based political leadership seems to have developed into a complex and centralized form
Shared forms of ceramics were found over a wide area suggesting that interregional interaction had increased markedly.
Eggshell ware = remarkably sophisticated, often found in burials, less than one millimeter thick
indications of the beginnings of copper or bronze work that again point to emergent of craft specialization
Longshan (4500-3900 B.P.)
Settlement appears to have been organized hierarchically, ranging from small agricultural villages to large, fortified political centers.
subsistence = combination of agriculture & animal husbandry marked differences among Longshan burials (quality and
quantity grave goods, size and construction material of graves) reflect the presence of ranked patrilineal descent groups presence of craft specialists, settlement hierarchies, and large,
walled communities all indicate that centralized polities, perhaps chiefdoms, were present
Some scholars have proposed that city-states developed in some regions, and that Longshan sites in western Henan and southern Shanxi are precursors of the Xia Dynasty, the earliest state-level society in China, described in later Zhou & Han texts.
Stone fortifications in northern Shaanxi. (A) Landscape (bottom right) and the stone wall of the Jinshanzhai site in Hengshan, early Longshan period. (B) Landscape of the Guanhugada site
in Wubu, middle-late Longshan period.
A B
Shang (3900-3100 B.P.)
witness the emergence of powerful states in the central Yellow River valley
Anyang = last capital of the Shang dynasty thousands of inscribed oracle bones (turtle shell or cattle
scapula) = divinations presence of sophisticated written script on Shang oracle bones divination was a primary occupation of Shang kings = served as
the mediator between the ancestral kings and the living world Shang royal tombs are among the most impressive in the
ancient world = wooden coffin, numerous bronzes & jade pieces, sacrificed palace guards, other elites & horses with chariots
Shang (3900-3100 B.P.)
Patrilineal descent groups were the basis of social organization and social status.
The royal lineage was at the head of the social, political, and religious order, but beneath them were lesser noble lineages of the king’s sons and minor lineages of more distant relations.
War was a constant concern for Shang kings, and this alone demonstrates that Shang was not an empire that controlled much of the Yellow River valley since they apparently had numerous rivals.
Xie Xie!