Exam 1; Thursday (1/28)

www.clas.ufl.edu/users/mheckwww.thamesandhudsonusa.com/web/humanpast

35 multiple choice (2 points)

(half from practice exams)

10 true/false (1.5 points)

10 matching (1.5 points)

East Asia:millets, pigs, rice, chickens, yak,

water buffalo, dog, humped cattle (Zebu), and others

Yellow R.Yangzi R.

SE Asia

• Climatic Background – • Younger Dryas, 10,800-9,600 BC, followed by brief

warming, then cooling until 8,000, experimentation with grains (e.g., rice and millet)

• 8,000 to 6500 BC there was marked warming, marks transition to agriculture

• Colder phase starting ca. 6500 BC (Guliya and Dunde glaciers advanced); clear agricultural villages by 6000 BC

• During Yangshao culture in the Yellow River Valley (from 5000 BC) bamboo 3 degrees farther north. 

Orange = millet

Blue = rice

Transition to Agriculture in the Yellow River: Millet

• H-G sites to 7,500 BC: Xiachuan CavesShunwangpin - Denticulate tool with gloss from harvesting grasses, such as wild green foxtail millet

• Nanzhuangtou (10,500-7,500 BC)– Small sample of pot sherds– Grinding stone– Possibly domestic dog and pig bones (earliest

in central China)

Cishan• 1976-78 excavations revealed two Neolithic layers

dating to 6000-5700 BC• 8 ha (20 acre) site, suggesting population in the low

hundreds or more• Small, semi-subterranean round houses• Hundreds of pits likely for storage of grains, including

domesticated foxtail millet, and gathered plants• Domesticated dogs and pigs predominate but also

included fish, shellfish, turtles, deer, monkey, wild pig, and birds, including early domesticated chicken

Cishan, 8300-6700 BC• The origin of millet from Neolithic China has generally been

accepted, but it remains unknown whether common millet (Panicum miliaceum) or foxtail millet (Setaria italica) was the first species domesticated.

• Here, we report the discovery of husk phytoliths and biomolecular components identifiable solely as common millet from newly excavated storage pits at the Neolithic Cishan site, China, dated to between ca. 10,300 and ca. 8,700 cal yr BP [8,300-6,700 BC]. After ca. 8,700 cal yr BP, the grain crops began to contain a small quantity of foxtail millet. Our research reveals that the common millet was the earliest dry farming crop in East Asia, which is probably attributed to its excellent resistance to drought.

• Lu et al. (2009) PNAS

• NOT ON TEST

Lu H et al. PNAS 2009;106:7367-7372

Peiligang Culture, 6500-4500 BC

• Between 1977 and 1979, two hectare site of Peiligang composed of a dwelling area and a graveyard.

• Most houses are semi-subterranean buildings, with kitchen areas and diverse kiln-fired pottery (like Cishan site)

• 116 burials arranged into three clusters that might be clan groups

• Like Cishan site, many polished stone spades and other agricultural

• Over 70 sites have been identified with the Peiligang culture.

• Seems to be egalitarian, socio-political organization based on age, gender, and achievement.

• Cultivation of millet and raising pigs. • Early Neolithic pottery.• Jiahu among earliest Peiligang sites.

Jiahu• Three distinct phases: oldest from 7000 to 6600 BC;

middle from 6600 to 6200 BC; and last from 6200 to 5800 BC. Early phase unique, latter two are affiliated with Peiligang culture;

• Cultivated millet and rice. Millet cultivation common in Peiligang culture, rice cultivation is unique at Jiahu (most northern early rice);

• Over 300 burials accompanied by offerings:

• Playable tonal flutes;• Some of the oldest Neolithic pottery;• Chemical analysis on jars yielded evidence of alcohol

fermented from rice, honey and hawthorn; • Markings on tortoise shells (9) and bone (2): proto-

writing (middle phase)? Some of the markings are similar to characters common to later societies alnog the Yellow River, such as those for eye and sun.

Houli, Lower Yellow River

• The Houli culture, 6500-5500 BC

• Round/square, semi-subterranean houses.

• domesticated dogs and pigs were used.

• Evidence of earliest rice cultivation in the Yellow River basin from carbonized rice grains at Yuezhuang site (AMS dated to 7050±80 BP; 5050 BC). Also millet from Yuezhuang.

Dadiwan, Western Yellow River

• Basic similarities in pottery (cord marked), architecture (round houses), and site plan (scattered dwellings) with other “pre-Yangshao” Neolithic complexes of the Huang He (Yellow) drainage (Cishan, Peiligang, and Houli), which are all followed by Yangshao from ca. 5200-3000 BC.

• Dadiwan site: pre-Yangshao farming communities begin ca. 5900-5300 BC (some carbonized millet) followed by later Neolithic Yangshao village ca. 4500-2900 BC.

Archaeological sites with evidence of early plant or animal domestication: (1) Dadiwan. (2) Baijia. (3) Jiahu. (4) Peiligang. (5) Cishan. (6) Yuezhuang.

(7) Nanzhuangtou. (8) Xinglongwa. (9) Diaotonghuan/Xianrendong. (10) Kuahuqiao. (Barton et al. (2009) PNAS)

Transition from Wild to Cultivated Rice, 8000-6000 BC

• Chinese Late Paleolithic sites such as Yuchan are rich in terrestrial and aquatic fauna, including deer, boar, birds, tortoises, fish, and various small mammals.

• Rice phytoliths and husks have been identified at Xianrendong, Diaotonghuan, and Yuchan; several studies have attempted to differentiate wild and domestic species or to suggest an incipient stage of cultivation.

• Because of the presence of such plant remains and early pottery, these caves are often seen as the predecessors of the early Holocene open-air Neolithic villages found in the alluvial plain of the Yangzi River and its tributaries, such as the Pengtoushan and Bashidang sites, and other settlement sites of the Pengtoushan Culture.

See Boaretto et al. (2009), PNAS

Yuchan Cave, Hunan Province

• Late Paleolithic foragers' camp. Dates range from around 21,000 to 13,800 cal BP (19-11,800 BC)

• Ancient pottery ranges between 18,300 and 15,430 cal BP, some of the earliest evidence for pottery making in China.

• charcoal closely associated with the potsherds dated to 16,700–15,850 cal BP and organic residue from the ceramic to 17,750–16,900 cal BP

Boaretto et al. (2009), PNASNOT ON TEST

Pengtoushan, 7500-6100 BC• Roughly contemporaneous with its northern neighbor, the Peiligang

culture. The two primary examples of Pengtoushan culture are the type site at Pengtoushan and the later site at Bashidang (7000-6000 BC).

• Pengtoushan site is among earliest permanently settled village yet discovered in China. Excavated in 1988, Pengtoushan has been difficult to date accurately, with a large variability in dates ranging from 9000 BC to 5500 BC.

• One large house and several small ones may show some social complexity. Excavations revealed four houses and 19 burials, some with grave goods, including cord-marked pots (followed by Daxi culture, 4500-3300 BC)

• Analysis of rice residues C14 dated to 8200-7800 BC show that rice may have been domesticated by this time. The size of the Pengtoushan rice was larger than the size of naturally-occurring wild rice.

• Although not found at Pengtoushan, rice-cultivating tools were found in later sites associated with the Pengtoushan culture

• Bashidang (7000-6000 BC) was a large site (3 ha/7.5 acres), with early domesticated rice; possible raised houses: Early Agricultural Village

• Pengtoushan -  rice possibly cultivated 7000-5800 BC (cool period, after 1500 years of warm climate), rice husks found to be used as pottery temper;

• Jiahu - rice north of the Yangzi river; Peiligang culture, contemporary or slightly later than Pengtoushan, dates to about 6500-5700 BC, or earlier (7000 BC) shows that rice cultivation had spread to different areas by 6000 BC.

• Houli – 6500-5500, lower Yellow River

• Hemudu -  eastbound dispersal of rice cultivation 5000-3900 BC; basal layer of a total four contained enormous amounts of domesticated rice and the dwellings used skilled mortise-and-tenon joinery. 

• Shixia -  earliest southern site for rice cultivation, dated to about 2800-2500 BC. River communication with middle Yangzi is easy and parallels with material culture of long-established agricultural communities to the north.

• Note: suggestive evidence of early rice cultivation along the Yangzi River as early as 9,500 BC (earlier than millet, 6,000 BC).

Spread of Rice

Neolithic Cultures of China

• 6500–4500 BC: Peiligang, middle Yellow River• 6300-5500 BC: Houli, lower Yellow River• 5900–5300 BC: Dadiwan, western Yellow River• 5000–3000 BC: Yangshao, middleYellow River• 4500-2400 BC: Dawenko, lower Yellow River

• 6500–5000 BC: Pengtoushan, middle Yangzi R. • 5000–4000 BC: Hemudu, lower Yangzi River• 4500–3300 BC: Daxi (3 Gorges) middle Yangzi

Yellow River

Yangzi River

Yangshao Culture, ca. 5000 BCLarge Agricultural Villages

Banbo (Ban-po-ts'un)

• 5,000-4,000 BC, Banpo was a permanent village of about 500 people • Remains of 45 houses, 2 stables, more than 200 cellars, 6 kilns, and about 250

graves. • Houses were constructed of thatch over wood beams while the floors were sunk two

to three feet into the ground with a central hearth. Food was stored in underground pits.

• Trench around the entire complex both for protection and for drainage. • Large meeting hall in the center of the village and a place for central storage. Most of

the tools (e.g., axes, hoes, knives) were of stone, but some implements were of bone (e.g., needles for sewing).

• Some of the pottery items have marks scratched on them that may well anticipate a form of writing.

• The village pottery produced specialized pots for drinking, storage, cooking, and burial.

Jiangzhai settlement (Shi 2001:62)     The village of Jiangzhai is one of the

few Yangshao settlements fully excavated.

• Dawenkou culture (4300-2500 BC), lower Yangzi, overlapped in time with Yangshao culture; precursor of Longshan (later class). 

• Over 100 tombs in rectangular pit-graves, most are oriented with head toward the east; many bodies with deer teeth in their hands.   

• Late Dawenkou culture shows more social differentiation than earlier cultures along Yellow River.  Most tombs had 10-20 objects, some had only one or two, and the richest burials had 50 or more (up to 180+). 

• In the larger tombs coffins were placed inside wooden chambers.  Larger graves with more goods separated from those with less. 

• Differences in age/gender or achievement or rank?

Hemudu, Lower Yangzi• 5,000-3,000 BC• Bovid shoulder blade spades• Wooden oars, net sinkers, fishing spears• Whales and sharks• Advanced weaving technology• Population of many hundreds to thousands

• Nearby Shangshan site provides possible very early evidence of domesticated rice, with permanent houses and ceramics (tempered with rice husks): 9400-8400 BC

Hemudu: large, stout, Raised houses

(23x7m)

Daxi, Middle Yangzi• The Daxi culture (5000 BC-

3000 BC), middle Yangtze River, China (Three Gorges Dam).

• Daxi sites are typified by the presence of cylindrical bottles, white pan plates, and red pottery.

• Daxi people cultivated rice extensively.

• Daxi sites were some of the earliest in China to show evidence of moats and walled settlements.

Intensification of wet rice agriculture

paddies

terraces

From hoes to animal power

FOOD, FOOD, AND MORE FOOD: INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE IS/WAS ECONOMIC BASE OF VIRTUALLY ALL MAJOR CIVILIZATIONS

Map Source: Higham's The Bronze Age of

Southeast Asia (1996)

Ban Non Wat

Rice Agriculture

Southeast Asia• Spirit Cave (9,000-5500 BC), NW Thailand; (Hoabinhian hunter-

gatherers, ); exploitation of wide variety of wild plants, many that are later domesticated (by 5,500 BC ceramics and possible early domesticates)

• Non Nok Tha, Ban Kao, Ban Non Wat; early evidence of established rice agricultural villages, ca. 2,300-1750 BC in SE Asia

Spirit Cave

Charles Higham

Ban Non Wat, by 1750 BC domestic pigs and rice;

Interaction between intrusive farmers and local foragers

Ban Non Wat, 635 burials

(1750 BC – AD 250)

Neolithic cemetery (1500-1450 BC)Bronze age burials

Khok Phanom Di, Thailand• 2000-1500 BC: five mortuary phases:• 1-2 settled marine foragers, followed

by rice cultivation (3-4), and then (5) return to marine foraging, with burials laid out in family groups (lineages) and several “fabulously wealthy” burials

• Interaction between coastal foragers and inland rice farmers (established upstream by 2000 BC)

• Sedentism, Agriculture, and RankThe “Princess”:

100,000 shell beads, shell disks, bangle, ear ornaments, and

supurb pottery and tools

Early Jomon Ceramics (Japan)

Jomon Culture: Coastal Sedentary Hunter-Fisher-Gathers, 14,000 to 300 BC, sites drowned in many areas, but not Japan.

Very early pottery.

Followed by intrusive rice farmers (Yayoi), with larger settled communities, such as Itazuke, which was 100x80 m with moat.

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