The Yangshao culture (Chinese: 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 Yangshao culture saw social and technological development in the region, with advancements in agriculture, architecture, and crafts.
| Geographical range | Middle reaches of Yellow River | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | Neolithic | ||||||
| Dates | c. 5000 – c. 3000 BC | ||||||
| Major sites | Shuanghuaishu, Banpo, Jiangzhai | ||||||
| Preceded by | Peiligang culture, Baijia culture, Dadiwan culture, Cishan culture | ||||||
| Followed by | Majiayao (3300–2000 BC) Longshan culture (3000-1900 BC) Shimao culture (2300-1800 BE) | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Chinese | 仰韶文化 | ||||||
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The culture is named after the Yangshao site, the first excavated site of this culture, which was discovered in 1921 in the town of Yangshao in western Henan by the Swedish geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson (1874–1960). The culture flourished mainly in Henan, as well as the neighboring provinces of Shaanxi and Shanxi.
Recent research indicates a common origin and spread of the Sino-Tibetan languages with the Cishan, Yangshao and/or Majiayao cultures.
Origins
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
The Yangshao culture is conventionally divided into three phases:
- The Early Yangshao 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.
- The Middle Yangshao period or Miaodigou phase (c. 4000–3500 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 (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).
The Majiayao culture (c. 3300 – c. 2000 BCE) 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. During the late Yangshao period, the region became a fully settled farming society, with an economy centered on growing crops and raising animals.
During the Yangshao period, advancements in farming techniques and crop cultivation led to improvements in agricultural productivity. Dryland agriculture was of importance to the Yangshao culture starting in the middle Yangshao culture period. The introduction of mixed farming across more sites played a crucial role in shifting subsistence practices away from gathering. As a result, agriculture became the dominant means of sustenance, ultimately laying the foundation for the development of an agricultural society in the Central Plain.
Archaeological research indicates that beer brewing and communal feasting were integral aspects of Yangshao culture. Evidence suggests that Yangshao people produced beer primarily using common millet and rice, while foxtail millet was notably absent from the brewing process. These brewing practices, along with associated social gatherings, indicate that rice may have been a valuable resource to larger Yangshao settlements.
The Yangshao people kept pigs and dogs. Sheep, goats, and cattle are found much more rarely. Reared domestic pigs were the main source of meat for the Yangshao people, while a small amount of hunted animals were also included in their diet. They may also have practiced an early form of sericulture.
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.
Tools
The Yangshao would hunt and fish with stone tools. Their stone tools were polished and highly specialized.
During the Yangshao period, the development of stone axe types flourished in the Guanzhong Plain. By the late Yangshao period, stone axes began to show specialized functions, with some used for woodworking and others for chopping. Differences in raw materials suggest these tools were produced and used by different groups.
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.[citation needed]
Structures
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
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