Yangshao Culture, distributed mainly in the Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, southern Hebei and eastern Gansu Provinces, is a culture belonging to the late Neolithic Age (2900 BC to 2100 BC). Extant from 5,000 BC to 3,000 BC, its name is derived from the first-known Yangshao Culture site - Yangshao Village in Yinchi County, Henan Province.
The famous three-layered cultural sites were discovered at Hougang, Gaolouzhuang, in Anyang, Henan Province. The Yangshao Culture site was unearthed at the bottom layer, the Longshan site in the middle and the Xiaotun site (belonging to the Shang civilization era) at the top, allowing archeologists to determine the date of Yangshao Culture and its relationship with Longshan Culture.
Nearly a thousand sites representing Yangshao Culture have been discovered over the Central Shaanxi Plain, mostly in Henan Province, the south of Shanxi Province, the north of Hebei Province, and up to Gansu Province, Qinghai Province and the Great Bend of the Yellow River. As Shanxi possesses the most Yangshao Culture sites, such as the Banpo Site in Xi’an which is hot tourist destination included in China vacation packages and Jiangzhai at Lintong County, it is regarded as the center of this culture.
Yangshao Culture gives priority to agriculture. The sites show that crops cultivated during the Yangshao Culture period were dry crops, mainly millet and broomcorn millet, hence the name “Millet Culture.” Livestock included pigs, dogs, chickens and oxen. Refined stone shovels (to turn over earth), legged sickles (to harvest crops), stone hammers, stone adzes, fishing lances, fishing hooks, net hanging objects, bows and arrows and stone balls were also in use at this time. The stone shovels and legged sickles of the late period were thin and polished all over. Arrowheads were made of bones, stones and horns and one type of arrowhead had inverted spikes, which made for a very effective killing tool.
Yangshao Culture also saw the introduction of primitive spinning and weaving, with mat patterns and cloth patterns used to decorate pottery artefacts. Bone awls, bone needles, spinning tools and weaving tools have also been discovered. Most of the spinning wheels are made of pottery, and the rest are made of stone.
The art of pottery is one of the achievements during this period. Red pottery ware including cooking vessels, bowls, cups, and jars were made by hand. Another characteristic of the pottery during this time is the painted patterns and animal lines. One of the pottery masterpieces is the famous basin with a human face and fish patterns at Banpo Village in Xian, Shaanxi Province.
The pottery of Yangshao Culture belongs to the primitive hand-made stage, with rather advanced texture, design, decoration and baking skills. The so-called painted pottery is the most famous, with the early artefacts featuring red clay and black paint. Some of the late painted pottery artefacts were dressed with a layer of clay, that is, a layer of light yellow, white and red clay on the surface before they were painted with color. Some of them already had double-color designs, including decorative patterns of fish, deer, frogs, birds, flowers and leaves, and were used for cooking, containing water, serving food and storage.
Villages were of different sizes. Comparatively large villages appeared during the Yangshao Culture period. Some large ones were of strict layouts such as Jiangzhai Village. The village is divided into dwelling places and grave area by dikes. Five architecture groups were scattered around a center square each of which had many houses.
Humans during this period belonged to different clans. They worked collectively and allotted treasures evenly. Women played a leading role both in manufacturing and in daily life.
If you want to know more info about Yangshao culture, you consult from China tour agents.
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