![BanpoSkull](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/BanpoSkull.jpg)
Banpo is an
archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology a ...
discovered in 1953 by Shi Xingbang, and located in the
Yellow River Valley just east of
Xi'an
Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...
,
China. It contains the remains of several well organized
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
settlements, like
Jiangzhai
Jiangzhai () is a Banpo phase Yangshao culture archaeological site in the east of Xi'an, where the earliest copper artifacts in China were found.
The Jiangzhai site is located on the east bank of the Lin River in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi ...
,
carbon dated
Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon.
The method was dev ...
to 6700–5600
years ago. The area of is surrounded by a ditch, probably a defensive moat, wide. The houses were circular, built of mud and wood with overhanging thatched roofs. They sat on low foundations. There appear to be communal burial areas.
Banpo is the
type site
In archaeology, a type site is the site used to define a particular archaeological culture or other typological unit, which is often named after it. For example, discoveries at La Tène and Hallstatt led scholars to divide the European Iron A ...
associated with
Yangshao Culture
The Yangshao culture (仰韶文化, pinyin: Yǎngsháo wénhuà) was a Neolithic culture that existed extensively along the middle reaches of the Yellow River in China from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC. The culture is named after the Yangsh ...
. Archaeological sites with similarities to the first phase at Banpo are considered to be part of the “Banpo phase” (5th millennium BC) of the Yangshao culture. Banpo was excavated from 1954 to 1957.
The settlement was surrounded by a
moat, with the graves and pottery
kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...
s located outside the moat perimeter. Many of the houses were semisubterranean with the floor typically below the ground surface. The houses were supported by timber poles and had steeply pitched thatched roofs.
According to the
Marxist paradigm of archaeology that was prevalent in the
China during the time of the excavation of the site, Banpo was considered to be a
matriarchal society; however, new research contradicts this claim and the Marxist paradigm is gradually being phased out in modern Chinese archaeological research. Currently, little can be said of the religious or political structure from these ruins from the archaeological evidence.
The site is now home to the
Xi'an Banpo Museum
The Banpo Museum () is a museum in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. The museum houses artifacts from the archaeological site of Banpo. The museum gives access to the excavated buildings, has a collection of artifacts from the site, and also has several re ...
, built in 1957 to preserve the archaeological collection.
See also
*
Banpo symbols
Since the second half of the 20th century, inscriptions have been found on pottery in a variety of locations in China, such as Banpo near Xi'an, as well as on bone and bone marrows at Hualouzi, Chang'an County near Xi'an. These simple, often geo ...
*
Sanxingdui
Sanxingdui () is an archaeological site and a major Bronze Age culture in modern Guanghan, Sichuan, China. Largely discovered in 1986, following a preliminary finding in 1927, archaeologists excavated artifacts that radiocarbon dating placed in ...
*
Cishan culture
The Cishan culture (6500–5000 BC) was a Neolithic culture in northern China, on the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains. The Cishan culture was based on the farming of broomcorn millet, the cultivation of which on one site has been d ...
*
Nanzhuangtou
Nanzhuangtou (, ''Nánzhuāngtóu''), dated to 12,600–11,300 cal BPKuzmin, Yaroslav V"Chronology of the earliest pottery in East Asia: progress and pitfalls" ANTIQUITY-OXFORD- 80, no. 308 (2006): 362. or 11,500–11,000 cal BP,Xiaoyan Yang, Zhiwe ...
*
Jiangzhai
Jiangzhai () is a Banpo phase Yangshao culture archaeological site in the east of Xi'an, where the earliest copper artifacts in China were found.
The Jiangzhai site is located on the east bank of the Lin River in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi ...
*
Yangguanzhai
Yangguanzhai () is an archaeological site discovered in 2004 at Gaoling County, Shaanxi Province. The site is associated with the Miaodigou phase (4000-3000 BC) of the Yangshao culture.Chen Xingcan (2009)''Expert Commentary on the Yangguanzhai Neol ...
Footnotes
References
* Allan, Sarah (ed), ''The Formation of Chinese Civilization: An Archaeological Perspective'',
*
Chang, Kwang-chih. ''The Archaeology of Ancient China'',
{{Shaanxi topics
Populated places established in the 7th millennium BC
1953 archaeological discoveries
History of Xi'an
Archaeological sites in China
Neolithic cultures of China
Neolithic settlements
Former populated places in China
Archaeological type sites
Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Shaanxi
5th-millennium BC establishments
Tourist attractions in Xi'an
Yangshao culture