Citizendia
Your Ad Here

The Hemudu culture (河姆渡文化) (5000 BC to 4500 BC[1]) was a Neolithic culture that flourished just south of the Hangzhou Bay in Jiangnan in modern Yuyao, Zhejiang, China. The Neolithic (from Greek νεολιθικός — neolithikos from νέος neos, "new" + λίθος lithos Hangzhou Bay or the Bay of Hangzhou is an inlet of the East China Sea, bordered by the province of Zhejiang and the municipality of Shanghai. Jiangnan or Jiang Nan ( sometimes spelled Kiang-nan) is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of Yuyao ( Simplified Chinese: 余姚 Pinyin: Yúyáo is a city in Zhejiang province China, capital of Yuyao County Ningbo Zhejiang ( is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The site at Hemudu was discovered in 1973. Hemudu sites were also discovered on the islands of Zhoushan. Administration The Prefecture-level city of Zhoushan administers 2 districts and 2 counties.

Contents

Material Culture

The Hemudu culture co-existed with the Majiabang culture as two separate and distinct cultures, with cultural transmissions between the two. The Majiabang culture (馬家浜文化 was a Neolithic culture that existed at the mouth of the Yangtze River, primarily around the Taihu area and north Two major floods caused the nearby Yaojiang River to change its course and inundated the soil with salt, forcing the people of Hemudu to abandon its settlements. Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil Salt affected soils are caused by excess accumulation of salts typically most pronounced at the soil surface The Hemudu people lived in long, stilt houses. Stilt houses or pile dwellings are houses raised on Piles over the surface of the soil or a body of water

The Hemudu culture is one of the earliest cultures to cultivate rice. Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many Most of the artifacts discovered at Hemudu consist of animal bones, exemplified by hoes made of shoulder bones used for cultivating rice.

The culture also produced lacquer wood. In a general sense lacquer is a clear or coloured Varnish, that dries by solvent evaporation and often a curing process as well that produces a hard durable finish in any The remains of various plants, including water caltrop, Nelumbo nucifera, acorns, beans, Gorgon euryale and bottle gourd, were found at Hemudu. The water caltrop or water chestnut is either of two Species of the Genus Trapa -- Trapa natans and Trapa bicornis. Nelumbo nucifera is known by a number of common names including Indian lotus, sacred lotus, bean of India, and sacred water-lily The acorn is the nut of the Oak tree (genera Quercus, Lithocarpus and Cyclobalanopsis, in the Bean is a common name for large plant Seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae (formerly Leguminosae used for human food or animal The calabash or African bottle gourd (not to be confused with the Calabaza) is a Vine grown for its fruit which can either be harvested young and used The Hemudu people likely domesticated pigs, water buffalo and dogs. Pigs, also called hogs or' swine', are Ungulates which have been domesticated as sources of food leather and similar products since ancient times The dog ( Canis lupus familiaris) is a domesticated Subspecies of the gray wolf, a Mammal of the Canidae family of the order The people at Hemudu also fished and hunted, as evidence by the remains of bone harpoons and bows and arrowheads. A harpoon is a long Spear -like instrument used in Fishing to catch fish or other large aquatic animals such as Whales It accomplishes this task by impaling Music instruments, such as bone whistles and wooden drums, were also found at Hemudu.

The culture produced a thick, porous pottery. Pottery is the Ceramic ware made by potters It also refers to a group of materials that includes Earthenware, Stoneware The distinct pottery was typically black and made with charcoal powder. Charcoal' is the blackish residue consisting of impure Carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from Animal and Vegetation Plant and geometric designs were commonly painted onto the pottery; the pottery was sometimes also cord-marked. The culture also produced carved jade ornaments, carved ivory artifacts and small, clay figurines. Jade is an Ornamental stone. The term jade is applied to two different rocks that are made up of different Silicate minerals. Ivory is formed from Dentine and constitutes the bulk of the Teeth and Tusks of animals such as the Elephant, Hippopotamus,

Environment

Fossilized amoeboids and pollen suggests Hemudu culture emerged and developed in the middle of the Holocene Climatic Optimum. The Holocene Climate Optimum was a warm period during roughly the interval 9000 to 5000 years B A study of a sea-level highstand in the Ningshao Plain from 7000 – 5000 BP shows that there may have been stabilized lower sea levels at this time followed by, from 5000 to 3900 BP, frequent flooding.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Formation of Chinese Civilization: An Archaeological Perspective, pp. This is a list of Neolithic cultures of China that have been discovered by archaeologists The Liangzhu culture ( ( 3400 - 2250 BC) was the last Neolithic Jade culture in the Yangtze River Delta of China. The Majiabang culture (馬家浜文化 was a Neolithic culture that existed at the mouth of the Yangtze River, primarily around the Taihu area and north 36

References

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic