Neolithic culture in northeast China
The
Hongshan culture
(
simplified Chinese
:
?山文化
;
traditional Chinese
:
紅山文化
;
pinyin
:
Hongsh?n wenhua
) was a
Neolithic
culture in the
West Liao river
basin in
northeast China
. Hongshan sites have been found in an area stretching from
Inner Mongolia
to
Liaoning
, and dated from about 4700 to 2900 BC.
[1]
The culture is named after
Hongshanhou
(
simplified Chinese
:
?山后
;
traditional Chinese
:
紅山後
;
pinyin
:
Hongsh?n hou
), a site in
Hongshan District
,
Chifeng
. The
Hongshanhou
site was discovered by the Japanese archaeologist
Torii Ry?z?
in 1908 and extensively excavated in 1935 by
K?saku Hamada
and Mizuno Seiichi.
[2]
Historical context
[
edit
]
Map of the middle Neolithic cultures in China. Hongshan culture is #1 on the map.
In northeast China, Hongshan culture was preceded by
Xinglongwa culture
(6200?5400 BC),
Xinle culture
(5300?4800 BC), and
Zhaobaogou culture
, which may be contemporary with Xinle and a little later.
The
Yangshao culture
of the
Yellow River
existed contemporaneously with the Hongshan culture (see map). These two cultures interacted with each other.
Hongshan culture was succeeded by the
Lower Xiajiadian culture
(2200?1600 BC), which was replaced by a different
Upper Xiajiadian culture
(1000-600 BC) with a shift from farming to
pastoral nomadism
, likely due to
climate change
. In the historical period, the West Liao basin was mainly populated by nomads.
[3]
Genetics and linguistic identity
[
edit
]
Jade humanoid, Hongshan Culture.
[4]
[5]
A genetic study by Yinqiu Cui
et al.
from 2013 analyzed the Y-chromosome DNA
haplogroup
based N
subclade
; it found that DNA samples from 63% of the combined samples from various Hongshan archaeological sites belonged to the subclade N1 (xN1a, N1c) of the
paternal haplogroup N-M231
and calculated N to have been the predominant haplogroup in the region in the Neolithic period at 89%, with its share gradually declining over time.
[3]
Today, this haplogroup is found in northern
Han
,
Mongols
,
Manchu
,
Oroqen
,
Xibe
and
Hezhe
at low frequencies. Other paternal haplogroups identified in the study were
C
and
O3a (O3a3)
, both of which predominate among the present-day inhabitants of the region.
[3]
Hongshan human figurine (jade)
Nelson
et al.
2020 attempts to link the Hongshan culture to a "Transeurasian" (
Altaic
) linguistic context.
[6]
According to a study on genetic distance measurements from a large scale genetic study from 2021 titled 'Genomic insights into the formation of human populations in East Asia', hunter-gatherers of Mongolia and the
Amur River
Basin have ancestry shared by
Mongolic
and
Tungusic
language speakers, but they did not carry West Liao River farmer ancestry, contradicting the Transeurasian hypothesis proposed by
Martine Robbeets
et al.
that the expansion of West Liao River farmers spread these proto-languages.
[7]
A 2020 study discovered substantial genetic changes in the West Liao River region over time. An increase in the reliance on millet farming between the Middle-to-Late Neolithic is associated with higher genetic affinity to the
Yellow River
basin (generally associated with speakers of the
Sino-Tibetan languages
), while a partial switch to
pastoralism
in the Bronze Age
Upper Xiajiadian culture
is associated with a decrease in this genetic affinity. After the Late Neolithic, there was a sharp transition from Yellow River to
Amur River
-related genetic profiles (associated with speakers of
Tungusic languages
) around the West Liao River. This increase in Amur River affinity corresponds with the transition to a pastoral economy during the Bronze Age.
[8]
[9]
A 2021 study found that Yellow River millet farmers from the modern-day provinces of
Henan
and
Shandong
had played an important role in the formation of Hongshan people or their descendants via both inland and coastal northward migration routes.
[10]
Agriculture
[
edit
]
Similarly to the Yangshao culture, the Hongshan culture cultivated millet. Isotope analyses revealed that millet contributed up to 70% of the human diet in the Early Hongshan and up to 80% in the Late Hongshan.
[9]
Artifacts
[
edit
]
The Hongshan culture is known for its
carved jade
.
[11]
Hongshan burial artifacts include some of the earliest known examples of
jade
working. The Hongshan culture is known for its jade
pig dragons
and embryo dragons. Clay figurines, including figurines of pregnant women, are also found throughout Hongshan sites. Small copper rings were also excavated.
[
citation needed
]
[12]
-
The C-shaped jade dragon of Hongshan Culture
-
Jade Ornament
-
Jade Beast
-
Pottery pregnant woman, Hongshan Culture, Liaoning
Religion
[
edit
]
Painted Cylindrical Pottery Vessel, Hongshan Culture (c. 4700?2900 BC), Liaoning, 1988.
National Museum of China
, Beijing
The archaeological site at
Niuheliang
is a unique ritual complex associated with the Hongshan culture.
Excavators have discovered an underground temple complex?which included an
altar
?and also
cairns
in Niuheliang. The temple was constructed of stone platforms, with painted walls. Archaeologists have given it the name "
Goddess Temple
" (
Chinese
:
女神?
;
pinyin
:
nushenmiao
) due to the discovery of a clay female head with
jade
inlaid eyes.
[13]
It was an underground structure, 1m deep.
[14]
Included on its walls are mural paintings. Housed inside the
Goddess Temple
are clay
figurines
as large as three times the size of real-life humans.
[13]
The exceedingly large figurines are possibly
deities
, but for a
religion
not reflective in any other
Chinese
culture.
[15]
The existence of complex trading networks and monumental architecture (such as
pyramids
[
example needed
]
[
citation needed
]
and the
Goddess Temple
) point to the existence of a "
chiefdom
"
[16]
in these
prehistoric
communities.
Painted
pottery
was also discovered within the temple.
[14]
Over 60 nearby tombs have been unearthed, all constructed of stone and covered by stone mounds, frequently including
jade
artifacts.
[17]
Cairns
were discovered atop two nearby hills, with either round or square stepped tombs, made of piled limestone. Entombed inside were sculptures of
dragons
and
tortoises
.
[14]
It has been suggested that religious sacrifice might have been performed within the Hongshan culture.
[14]
Feng shui
[
edit
]
Just as suggested by evidence found at early
Yangshao culture
sites, Hongshan culture sites also provide the earliest evidence for
feng shui
. The presence of both round and square shapes at Hongshan culture ceremonial centres suggests an early presence of the
gaitian
cosmography ("round heaven, square earth").
[18]
Early feng shui relied on astronomy to find correlations between humans and the universe.
[19]
Development of Chinese civilization
[
edit
]
Hongshan Culture painted pottery.
Inner Mongolia Museum
Hongshan culture area.
[20]
The Hongshan culture region was thought to have been
desert
for the past 1 million years. However, a 2015 study found that the region once featured rich aquatic resources and deep lakes and forests that existed from 12,000 years ago to 4,000 years ago. It was changed into desert by
climate change
which began approximately 4,200 years ago.
[21]
Therefore, some of the people of the Hongshan culture may have emigrated south to the
Yellow River valley
approximately 4,000 years ago.
[22]
[23]
Archaeological evidence discovered at the Miaozigou site in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, a northern branch of the Yangshao culture from the Yellow River (the Yangshao culture is speculated to be the origin of the
Sino-Tibetan languages
[24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
) demonstrates similarities in the material cultures between the Yellow River and Liao River cultures.
[28]
Three individuals from the Miaozigou site belonged to haplogroup N1(xN1a, N1c), while the main lineage of Yellow River valley cultures is O3-M122. The existence of N1(xN1a, N1c) among the Miaozigou individuals could serve as evidence for the migration of some of the Hongshan people.
[29]
Some Chinese archaeologists such as Guo Da-shun see the Hongshan culture as an important stage of early Chinese civilization.
[30]
[31]
Whatever the linguistic affinity of the ancient denizens, Hongshan culture is believed to have exerted an influence on the development of early Chinese civilization.
[32]
The culture may have also contributed to the development of settlements in ancient Korea.
[33]
However, the Hongshan culture is also commonly employed in Korean
pseudohistory
by some Korean scholars, who seek to contest any connections between the Hongshan culture with Chinese civilization and assert that the Hongshan culture is only related to Korean civilization.
[11]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
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- ^
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Archaeologia Orientalis,
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a
b
c
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- ^
a
b
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- ^
a
b
c
d
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.
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- ^
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.
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- ^
[1]
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- ^
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.
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- ^
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- ^
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[3]
Archived
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Wayback Machine
Roger Blench(2004), Stratification in the peopling of China: how far does the linguistic evidence match genetics and archaeology? p.9
- ^
Kwang-chih Chang and Sarah Allan, The Formation of Chinese Civilization: An Archaeological Perspective, p. 65
- ^
[4]
Keith Pratt(2006), Everlasting Flower, p.30.
External links
[
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]
Prehistoric cultures of China
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Northeastern China
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Upper Yellow River
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Middle Yellow River
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Lower Yellow River
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Middle and Upper Yangtze
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Lower Yangtze and Huai
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Southern China
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Tibet
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Xinjiang
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Taiwan
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Other
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