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Lijiagou and the earliest pottery in Henan Province, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2015

Youping Wang ,
Songlin Zhang ,
Wanfa Gu ,
Songzhi Wang ,
Jianing He ,
Xiaohong Wu ,
Tongli Qu ,
Jingfang Zhao ,
Youcheng Chen  and
Ofer Bar-Yosef
Youping Wang*
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871China
Songlin Zhang
Affiliation:
Zhengzhou Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
Wanfa Gu
Affiliation:
Zhengzhou Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
Songzhi Wang
Affiliation:
Zhengzhou Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
Jianing He
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871China
Xiaohong Wu
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871China
Tongli Qu
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871China
Jingfang Zhao
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871China
Youcheng Chen
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871China
Ofer Bar-Yosef
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

It has long been believed that the earliest ceramics in the central plain of China were produced by the Neolithic cultures of Jiahu 1 and Peiligang. Excavations at Lijiagou in Henan Province, dating to the ninth millennium BC, have, however, revealed evidence for the earlier production of pottery, probably on the eve of millet and wild rice cultivation in northern and southern China respectively. It is assumed that, as in other regions such as south-west Asia and South America, sedentism preceded incipient cultivation. Here evidence is presented that sedentary communities emerged among hunter-gatherer groups who were still producing microblades. Lijiagou demonstrates that the bearers of the microblade industry were producers of pottery, preceding the earliest Neolithic cultures in central China.

Keywords

Chinaearly Holocenesedentary hunter-gatherersmicrobladespotteryLijiagou culture
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 89 , Issue 344 , April 2015 , pp. 273 - 291
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd., 2015 

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