Grassland Culture (A Vast Stage for Nomadic Peoples)

Author: Compiler: Zhao Fangzhi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-12-01
Features: The Longxingwa Site in Aohan Banner, Chifeng, is hailed by Chinese archaeologists as the "Grassland Village." Eight thousand years ago, the ancestors of the Longxingwa culture had already thrived along the Xilamulun River. Its era is comparable to the pre-Yangshao period cultures such as Cishan and Peiligang in the Central Plains, making it one of the oldest Neolithic archaeological cultures in China. They chose sloping terraces near water to build their village homes, with dozens or hundreds of square semi-subterranean dwellings arranged in rows, surrounded by simple moats. Storage pits were concentrated in open spaces between the dwellings. Such settlements were arranged in pairs or across rivers in an orderly manner, reflecting the strict organization of the clan system at the time—one settlement represented a clan (descendants of the same maternal lineage). Pairs of settlements formed a phratry (descendants of two different maternal lineages, who could intermarry according to generations). A group of settlements constituted a tribe, with the tribal chief being an elderly and respected female figure. Under the clan system, people engaged in primitive agriculture, fishing, hunting, and gathering. Polished stone hoes with shoulders and rectangular stone adzes were the most common tools for tilling and digging; stone flakes and blades processed by traditional microlithic techniques, inlaid with bone handles, were the most convenient cutting and scraping tools. The pottery they made had a rustic, primitive beauty, mostly cylindrical pots with wide mouths, small bases, and straight, slanted walls, decorated with distinctive impressed "z" patterns. At this time, the pottery was tempered with sand, used as cooking utensils, with no clay pots for storage, indicating that agricultural production was not yet developed, and animal husbandry and hunting played a significant role. The burial practices of the Longxingwa culture were distinctive. First, the dead were buried in their living quarters, with small jade artifacts as grave goods, and in some cases, whole pigs were sacrificed. Second, hilltop burials, where the graves were located on the tops of slopes near settlements, with each cemetery containing fewer than ten graves. The central burial at the hilltop was surrounded by a circle of stones, with stone slabs placed above, below, and on all sides of the grave. Outside the stone circle were several stone-lined pit graves, mostly single burials with a few double burials, and grave goods were primarily small ornaments, with occasional pottery. These two burial practices reflected the beliefs and worship of the Longxingwa people. For those buried in their living quarters, the deceased remained connected to the space that nurtured them, symbolizing "guarding the land." For those buried on hilltops, the deceased were sent to the highest point, symbolizing "ascending to heaven." One in the sky and one in the underworld represented their belief in sky gods and earth mothers. Based on these beliefs, the ancestors of the Longxingwa culture created what is currently known as the most revered goddess figurine in China. The Longxingwa culture had a small number of jade artifacts, including rings, cicada-shaped pendants, tubular ornaments, and dagger-shaped ornaments, with simple shapes and lustrous jade quality, already employing drilling and polishing techniques. This significant discovery not only pushes the history of China's use of polished jade back to around 8,000 years ago but also provides the origin for the highly developed jade craftsmanship of the later Hongshan culture.
III. The Precursors of the Nomadic Dynasty—The Footprints of the Donghu People
The early bronze civilization in eastern Inner Mongolia corresponds to the Xiajiadian Lower Culture of the Xia and Shang dynasties, but this culture suddenly disappeared later. During the Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn, and Warring States periods, the Xiajiadian Upper Culture, recognized by archaeology, emerged...