Yangshao customs, the initial Neolithic culture in the centre area of Yellow River Delta, had been found in the Henan Province around 1921. Based on the resources, Yangshao Culture appeared around 5000 B.C. to 3000 B.C., spread over the current areas of Gansu Province and Henan Province.
The 1st Neolithic customs present in China was the Yangshao culture ÑöÉØ (5000-3000 BC), discovers extend from the Yellow River plain in the eastern side into Gansu in the west. Almost all ceramics are usually of red colour and decorated with various black styles, geometric designs, but additionally figures of creatures. The Yangshao people utilized shaman chiefs which were buried flanked by dragon and tiger figures formed with clam covers. Really well-known are the discoveries of the Yangshao town of Banpo close to Xi'an.
♦ Discovery
The remnants of Yuanmou Man were discovered on May 1, 1965, by the geologist Fang Qian, who was working for the Geological Mechanics Research Institute. Based on the palaeomagnetic dating of the rock they were found in, it was initially estimated that the fossils were about 1.7 Ma BP and thus represented the earliest fossils of human ancestors found in China and East Asia. It was once thought to be possibly predated by "Wushan Man", but that has turned out to be a stem-orangutan (Ponginae).
♦ Phases
Among the numerous overlapping phases of the Yangshao culture, the most prominent phases, typified by differing styles of pottery, include:
► Banpo phase, approximately 4800 B.C.E. to 4200 B.C.E., central plain. Nearly 10,000 square meters of the settlement at Banpo, on the Wei River in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, was excavated in the 1950s by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and was the first large-scale excavation of the People's Republic of China. Forty-six houses were excavated, most of which are circular. Many of the houses were semi-subterranean with the floor typically a meter below the ground surface. The houses were supported by timber poles and had steeply pitched thatched roofs. The settlement is surrounded by a moat, with the graves and pottery kilns located outside of the moat perimeter. A cemetery includes 174 adult burials. Within Banpo's residential area, 73 urn burials were discovered, all of which were children placed within small conical jars.
► Miaodigou phase, circa 4000 B.C.E. to 3000 B.C.E., successor to Banpo
► Majiayao phase, approximately 3300 B.C.E. to 2000 B.C.E., in Gansu, Qinghai The earliest discoveries of copper and bronze objects in China occur at Majiayao sites.
► Banshan phase, approximately 2700 B.C.E. to 2300 B.C.E., successor to Majiayao
► Machang phase, approximately 2400 B.C.E. to 2000 B.C.E.
♦ Pottery
Yangshao cordmarked amphora, Banpo phase, 4800 BCE, Shaanxi.The Yangshao culture is well-known for its painted 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. Excavations found that children were buried in painted pottery jars.
♦ Archaeological sites
The archaeological site of Banpo village, near Xi'an, is one of the best-known ditch-enclosed settlements of the Yangshao culture. Another major settlement called Jiangzhai (姜寨) was excavated out to its limits, and archaeologists found that it was completely surrounded by a ring-ditch. Both Banpo and Jiangzhai also yielded controversial incised marks on pottery which a few have interpreted as numerals or perhaps precursors to the Chinese script. However, such conclusions may be premature.
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