Longshan culture

Longhsan Culture ← ca. 3000 BCE–ca. 2000 BCE → Extent of Longshan Culture Capital Chengziya, Taosi Government Tribal History  - Established ca. 3000 BCE  - Disestablished ca. 2000 BCE Currency Cowries

The Longshan culture (simplified Chinese: 龙山文化; traditional Chinese: 龍山文化; pinyin: Lóngshān wénhuà; Wade-Giles: Lung-shan wen hua) was a late Neolithic culture in China, centered on the central and lower Yellow River and dated from about 3000 BC to 2000 BC. The Longshan culture is named after the town of Longshan in the east of the area under the administration of the city of Jinan, Shandong Province, where the first archaeological find (in 1928) and excavation (in 1930 and 1931) of this culture took place at the Chengziya Archaeological Site.

History

The distinctive feature of the Longshan culture was the high level of skill in pottery making, including the use of pottery wheels. The Longshan culture was noted for its highly polished black pottery (or egg-shell pottery). This type of thin-walled and polished black pottery has also been discovered in the Yangzi River valley and as far as the southeastern coast of China proper.^[1] It is a clear indication that neolithic agricultural sub-groups of the greater Longshan Culture had spread out across China proper.^[2]

Life during the Longshan culture marked a transition to the establishment of cities, as rammed earth walls and moats began to appear; the site at Taosi is the largest walled Longshan settlement. Rice cultivation was clearly established by that time. Small-scale production of silk by raising and domesticating the silkworm Bombyx mori in early sericulture was also known.^[2]

Remains found at archaeological sites suggest that the the inhabitants used a method of divination based on interpreting the crack patterns formed in heated cattle bones^[3].

The Neolithic population in China reached its peak during the Longshan culture. Toward the end of the Longshan culture, the population decreased sharply; this was matched by the disappearance of high-quality black pottery found in ritual burials.

Eleven characters found at Dinggong in Shandong, China on a pottery sherd, Longshan culture

Periodization

The early period of the Longshan culture is considered to be 3000 to 2600 BC, while the late period is 2600 to 2000 BC.^[4] A variety of geographic regions of China are involved among the various sub-periods of the Longshan civilisation, particularly for the Late Longshan period.^[4] For example middle reaches of the Jing River and Wei River evince settlement known as the Shaanxi Longshan.^[4] The Wei River valley would participate in key historic events in China as the North Silk Road developed in that same area.

Images

Artifacts

An eggshell thin cup from Longshan culture

Black eggshell pottery of the Longshan culture.

See also

• List of Neolithic cultures of China
• Yangshao culture
• Prehistoric Beifudi site

Notes

References

• Fairbank, John King and Merle Goldman (1992). China: A New History; Second Enlarged Edition (2006). Cambridge: MA; London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-01828-1
• Liu, Li. The Chinese Neolithic: Trajectories to Early States, ISBN 0-521-81184-8

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