Neolithic China

Emergence of Civilizations / Anthro 341: Lecture 19

The emergence of civilization in China: Neolithic societies

ã Copyright Bruce Owen 1999

Regional and temporal setting

geographically isolated from the cases we have looked at so far
cities and complex society appeared distinctly later in time, although still very old
very large area
very variable geography and ecology
can be divided into 3 broad geographic and cultural areas

Yellow river area (also called Huang Ho, Hwang Ho, or Huanghe river)

for cultural purposes reaches to parts of the Yangtze river area
this is where civilization really got started in China

south China, which Wenke calls the "southern deciduous zone"

mostly important in the neolithic, when it was one of the early regions in which agriculture was adopted
we won't deal with this region much

northern forests and steppes

mostly important later on, after the periods we will look at
we won't deal with this region much, either

Yellow river environment

winding river cutting through plains of deep, rich loess ("luss") soil

loess is a kind of soil that is particularly good for farming
deposited by wind that picked up huge amounts of powder left behind by the retreating glaciers at the end of the Pleistocene, then dropped it
also found in much of the US midwest

as in Mesopotamia and the Indus, the river shifts course, floods, and carries a lot of sediment
produces a very fertile agricultural region dotted with lakes and marshes
in many areas, river flows in a broad valley floodplain

bounded by river terraces that were wooded

until around 4000 BC, coastal part of the Yellow river alluvium wasn't even there.

Shantung peninsula was an island
the silt from the Yellow river gradually filled the open water between the island and the shore
first with wetlands, eventually solid farmland
but the areas where civilization emerged were pretty far inland, even before this

gradation of environment

to northwest, more steppe (plains of open grassland)
to southeast, more forest
but diverse, varied, and fluctuating over time

and overall, wetter and warmer than today's semiarid climate
a more pleasant, greener environment than any we have looked at so far

South China environment

also alluvial plains
hotter, humid, good for intensive wet rice agriculture

such a large region had many different cultural traditions

which are divided into periods on the basis of local developments
so there is no single, clear framework that really describes the whole area well
The textbook, the reader, and what I say in class all organize this material slightly differently
The version I present in class is based on K.C. Chang's work, the same one that provided us with the "wasteful" definition of civilization

Paleolithic 11,000 - 8000 BC

clear evidence of foraging people by 11,000 BC
i.e. Yellow river area was populated by foragers pretty quickly after the Pleistocene
not like the Mesopotamian or Indus drainages, where no significant number of people moved in until they adopted agriculture

Early Farmers 8000-6500 BC (Neolithic)

climate and rich, varied vegetation were ideal for early domestication

plant diversity is often thought to be associated with initial domestication

Sites with very early evidence of plant domestication include

Spirit Cave in northwestern Thailand
Several south China sites

these suggest pig domestication, possibly incipient agriculture of various basically wild plants (beans, peas, bottle gourds, olive, cucumber, etc.), and pottery by 7000 BC or earlier

P'ei-li-kang cultures, 6500-5000 BC (still Neolithic)

in the Yellow river area
four distinct regional cultures
basically small village farmers
apparently swidden agriculture (shifting, slash-and-burn)

NOT the first agriculturalists, since it was already well developed

subsistence

a completely different agricultural tradition from what we have seen so far
based on millet, a grain (not rice, as you might suppose)
evidence of agriculture

grain itself: millet (two types)
sickles (one-piece) for harvesting grain or grasses
axes for clearing trees off land
mortars and pestles (manos and metates) for grinding grain

also other plants

oil cabbage
nuts: walnut, hazelnut, acorn
"Chinese jujube date"

domesticated animals

pigs, dogs, chickens

wild animals

deer of various types

settlements

mostly settled along rivers
mostly small sites, 1-2 ha
sites not occupied too long, only 50 cm to 1 m thick
apparently there were many of these sites, relatively densely packed

but not all contemporaneous, so site density is a bit misleading

mostly round houses 2-3 m diameter

plastered floors
sunk into the ground

many storage pits among the houses

some still contained grain! (millet)

burials

most (?) have ceramics
some also have stone axes or "mortars and pestles" (4-legged metates with manos)
a few have small turquoise ornaments
that is, a little bit of wealth variation even in early neolithic times

ceramics

crude, utilitarian, some stamps, cordmarks, rocker stamping, combing, etc.

South Chinese area was also developing its agriculture, based on rice, roots, tubers

Regional Neolithic 5000-3000 BC

By 5000 BC, several distinct cultures around China

northern Chinese cultures all based on millet (includes the Yellow River region)
southern Chinese cultures all based on rice (which we won't look at much here)

the Regional Neolithic was a very long period (2000 years!)

the period in which neolithic society began to get complex
spanning 'Ubaid, Uruk, and Jemdet Nasr in Mesopotamia
so there was a lot of change between the beginning and the end of the Regional Neolithic

Yang-shao culture (5000-3000 BC)

the most widespread and best known of the Regional Neolithic cultures
middle Yellow River valley
clearly developed from P'ei-li-kang, even maintaining its internal regional variations
subsistence

agriculture

the main source of food
evidence of farming

hoes, spades, possible digging sticks
grain impressions in ceramics
grinding stones: preparation of flour for bread or mush

crops

millet (two types, foxtail and broom-corn)
hemp, probably for fibers (clothing, as Wenke says)

probably slash and burn, since sites seem to show repeated but short occupations

hunted a wide range of wild animals

macaques, rats, badgers, foxes, rabbit...
bears, boars, deer
horse, antelope, rhinoceros (!), leopard (!)
fish: lots of hooks, weights, fish gorges found
turtles, snails

gathered wild plants

nuts: hazelnut, pine, chestnut, etc.
i.e. forest foraging

domesticated animals

dogs and pigs common, chickens
cattle, sheep, and goats rare
silkworms! (a half-cut cocoon found!)

Yang-shao settlements

densely distributed on lower river terraces

for access to rivers as well as higher terraces and mountains

apparently relatively short, shifting, repeated settlements (appropriate for slash and burn agriculture)
three Yang-shao villages are well known from broad areal excavations
all three were 5-6 ha

that is pretty good-sized; remember Jericho at 5 ha

fully or partially surrounded by a ditch 1.5 m (5-6 feet) wide and deep

given as 5-6 meters, but clearly in error, based on site map

fairly permanent houses

various different shapes
plastered floors, benches, walls
often wood and branch structures thickly plastered with clay, which was then often hardened in place with fire, making a durable wall

this is a technology you have not heard about anywhere else...

houses surrounded by storage pits

this is storage by households, not centralized

one site (Chiang-chai) had over 100 houses, over 200 hearths, and over 300 storage pits

so the population would probably have been several hundred people

houses arranged in groups around a central, open plaza

Chiang-chai, the 100-house site, had five such groups of houses
each group had one larger house
groups of houses may represent kin groups? clans and lineages?

a bit later, Chiang-chai had a 20 m long (65 feet) longhouse in the center of the town (12.5 m wide)

a bit longer than the lecture hall is deep
ceremonial?
communal activities ("meeting hall")?
home of an important person?

all have a pottery-making area on one side of the village

one contained six kilns
suggesting some craft specialization already

all have a cemetery area located south of the village

minor variation in goods, but with occasional notably rich burials

one had 8,577 bone beads, 12 stone beads, several red ceramic vessels
another has a 3-4 year old child, buried in a plank-lined pit with 79 vessels and stone artifacts, plus quantities of millet
numerous other ways in which the burials varied:

some contained one body, others contained many
some were primary (the body was buried intact, shortly after death), while others were secondary (the body was either allowed to decay to bones before burial, or was dug up and reburied as bones after it decayed)
some burial pits were lined with a zone of rocks, etc.

i.e. burial evidence of some status differentiation already, including presumably heritable status

before cities, large populations, even permanent agriculture
relatively early in the cultural development of China, compared to our other cases
and an enduring tradition in Chinese society

like the houses, the graves were grouped into clusters, each with the full range of types of burials
Chiang-chai's cemetery had 3 sectors

maybe these groups of graves also represent kin groups, like the house clusters?

one site (Yuan-chün-maio) had 57 burials in 6 rows

buried in two parallel sequences at the same time

rows 1 and 4, then 2 and 5, then 3 and 6

suggests two descent groups?

with their own areas in the cemetery and burial rituals
both using the cemetery at the same time

Social organization

Maybe by hierarchical kin groups, as later in China?

the traditional arrangement, maybe already present in Regional Neolithic:

settlements divided into two or more clans
each of the clans has a status hierarchy within it, determined by descent, with one top-ranking family, with a top-ranking head of the family
the clans themselves are ranked, so that the head of one clan has a more respected position than the head of a lower-ranked one

this might be suggested by the grouped burials and house clusters

Specialization

Probably some, maybe part time
pottery specialists

indicated by kiln areas
ceramics were hand formed, some by coiling, but some rims apparently finished on a "turntable" (tournette); a few small vessels may have been made on a tournette or even fast wheel
ceramics with incised marks suggest specialized producers?

maker's marks? owner's marks?
possible forerunners to writing symbols?
in one area, 139 signs

metalworking

a bronze knife, cast in a two-part mold, dates 3000-2500 BC (i.e. terminal Yang-shao); this is the earliest known Chinese bronze, but not a major industry

silk production, hemp textile production may have been done by specialists

Barnes mentions three late regional variants of the "Regional Neolithic Period" and gives some interesting details:

Dawenkou culture, Hongshan culture, Liangzhu culture
You needn't be able to separate these

just realize that they also are going on during the Regional Neolithic
in other parts of China
the chronological bar chart shows how they overlap in time
these began during the later part of Yang-shao, and continued after the Yang-shao culture
looking at all these cultures together gives a broad idea of the trends and levels of social complexity that existed in the late Regional Neolithic and in the centuries that followed

Dawenkou culture = Ta-wen-k'ou (4300-2400 BC)

downriver from Yang-shao culture
and contemporary with it (Early 4300-3500; Middle 3500-2900; Late 2900-2400)

Late Ta-wen-k'ou runs into the following period

at the time, the Dawenkou culture was geographically separated from the Yangshao area by wetlands that have since filled in to form the Yellow River alluvium
like Yangshao, Dawenkou also probably derives from P'ei-li-kang
Dawenkou exemplified a trend towards more elaboration and variation in burial treatments

ledge burials
log chamber burials appear in later part of the period, with more grave goods than earlier burials
one cemetery site (Chengzi) was spatially segregated by grave wealth

62% had no grave goods, and were mostly buried in the eastern part
~32% had a moderate quantity of goods
5-7% had large pits, caskets, many grave goods

jade
turtle shell
ceramics
pig mandibles

these rich burials were concentrated in the northern part of the cemetery
some goods (jade, turtle shell) were probably imported
i.e. apparent emergence of elite, with special access to exotic goods, and socially segregated from the rest of society

Hongshan culture (3500-2000 BC), started in the Regional Neolithic, but continued well into the following period

several Hongshan sites were for special burials and probably ceremonial uses

they suggest more formal ceremonialism
elaborate, expensive burial practices suggest a marked upper class

Dongshanzui (Tung-shan-tsui) (A site of the Hongshan culture)

ritual structures dating to 3500 BC (late Regional Neolithic)
built of rock slabs
a possible walled plaza with some areas paved with stones
surrounded by sherds of painted clay cylinders
about 2 dozen clay human figurines, from 6 cm (under 3") high to half life size
jade animal pendants
kept clean, no domestic garbage

Hutougou (Hu-t'ou-kou) (Another site of the Hongshan culture)

burial of several people (in sequence) inside and outside of a circular stone wall
this is illustrated in the Barnes reading
rocks piled up to make the wall

under the rocks, painted potsherds were buried
and outside the "wall" was buried a row of 11 painted ceramic cylinders

one tomb was centered inside the round wall
another was a rectangular structure of stone with five chambers, each used for a burial
both tombs contained many jade animal pendants

Niuheliang (Another site of the Hongshan culture)

dates to about 3,500 BC
a mortuary center with 13 groups of burial mounds
main burial mound surrounded by lesser ones
inside the main burial mound were "conjoined vaulted tunnels"

with paintings on the interior walls
the main burial contained the head of an unfired clay life-sized figurine with jade eyes
plus fragments of larger statues and animal figurines
also some secondary burials

Liangzhu culture (3500-2200 BC)

although this culture is contemporary with the others, we will treat it as the earliest expression of the following period
so I won't discuss it here

So, what was going on in the Regional Neolithic period (5000-3000 BC)?

People living in semi-permanent farming settlements (think of Yangshao villages), practicing slash-and-burn agriculture

clearly no cities at this point

Possibly organized into hierarchical clan groups (shown in residences and burials)
Some social stratification implied by housing and burial variation
by the middle of the Regional Neolithic period, around 4000 BC:

Yellow river alluvium now mostly formed
different neolithic groups in the Yellow river region were interacting more
increasing mutual influences in pottery and other artifact styles
increasing homogenization of material culture over a large area
This is what the term "Regional" refers to: the trend towards increasing similarity over the whole, broad region

a pattern we have seen before in Egypt, Indus, Mesopotamia
what does it mean?

more travel, trade, exchange of ideas?
maybe more people interacting has something to do with the emergence of civilization?
or vice versa?

By the end of the Regional Neolithic, and into the first half of the following period (the Lungshan Horizon), there came to be:

marked wealth and status hierarchy

implied by rich burials in segregated areas of cemeteries
and apparent ritual importance of some dead individuals who were buried in special monuments, under big mounds, etc.

at least some craft specialization

implied by fancy burial goods

skilled craftspeople were supported to make them

analogous to Naqada II?
evidence of considerable investment in ceremonial activities

elaborate burial structures and symbolic goods in them (masks, figurines, "painted cylinders", etc.)
non-residential structures imply increasing formal ceremonialism, probably ritual specialists, etc.

But note that many of these trends mentioned by Barnes actually reach their peaks at the ends of each period, contemporary with the first half of our next major period, the Lung-shan horizon

So much of this evidence does not really represent the Regional Neolithic as a whole
but rather the culmination of its trends
technically falling in the next period, the Lung-shan horizon