Paleo‘lithic (Old/Stone) Age 旧石器时代Yuanmou Man; Peking Man; Upper Cave

Man

The Paleolithic (from Greek: (paleo-) "old" + (lithos) "stone") Age, Era, or Period, is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of the first stone tools, and covers roughly 99% of human technological history. It is featured with

1. Use of fire; 2. Make/use of knapped stone tools, ; 3. Use of wood or bone tools; 4. Matriarchal Society

Peking Man (500,000 B. C. E)680,000-780,000 years old

Peking Man ( 北京猿人Běijīng Yuánrén), also called Sinanthropus pekinensis (currently Homo erectus pekinensis), is an example of Homo erectus. A group of fossil specimens was discovered in 1923-27 during excavations at Zhoukoudian (Chou K'ou-tien) near Beijing (known as Peking at that time), China.

Peking ManTool Makers and Tool Users

Contiguous findings of animal remains and evidence of fire and tool usage, as well as the manufacturing of tools, were used to support Homo erectus 直立人being the first tool-worker.

http://www.unesco.org/ext/field/beijing/whc/pkm-site.htm

http://www.unesco.org/ext/field/beijing/whc/pkm-site.htm

Pei Wenzhong 裴文中 , anglicised

also as W. C. Pei, January 19, 1904 - September 18, 1982) was the founding father of Chinese anthropology.

1920

Characteristics of the Neolithic Age(New Stone Age) 新石器时代

Making and Using Tools—improving the human brain;

Invention of Pottery (storage); Domestication of Grain (millet and

rice)/livestock (pigs and dogs) Agriculture replacing the hunting and

Gathering Cultures; Significance of agriculture: Settlement leads

to civilization

Mongols (226-234 in Ebrey’s book East Asia)

Importance of settlement In contrast, Mongols are on the move all

the time, following grass; Life style has an impact on many things; Geography and National Character

What is Home without Plumtree's Potted Meat?

Incomplete—Episode V in James Joyce’s Ulysses

No Pork, No Peace A political satire On a UK website A region with the lowest

level of consumption of pork happens to be a place with the highest level of violence…

家【 jiā 】 family; household; home; a person or family engaged in certain trade; a specialist in a certain field; a school or thought; school; domestic; tame.

宀【 mián/ bǎogài 】roof; radical no 40./

豕【 shǐ 】 <formal> pig.

Family structure and Domestication of Animals/Livestock

Marriage also became mo'nogamous from group marriage. In a clan, marriages had to follow strict stipulations. Juniors were not allowed to marry their elders, and cousins were forbidden to marry.

Pay attention to the significance of domestication of grains (rice and millet) and animals (dogs and pigs) which made it possible for permanent settlement, which paved the way for civilization.

List of Neolithic Cultureshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Neolithic_cultures_of_China

The Yangshao Culture5000 BC to 3000 BC

Domestication of Millet, wheat, dogs, pigs, goats, and silkworm

The Yangshao culture ( 仰韶文化 ; Yǎngsháo wénhuà) was a Neolithic culture that existed extensively along the central Yellow River in China. The Yangshao culture is dated from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC. The culture is named after Yangshao, the first excavated representative village of this culture, which was discovered in 1921 in Henan Province by the Swedish archaeologist Johan Gunnar Andersson (1874-1960). The culture flourished mainly in the provinces of Henan 河南 , Shaanxi 陕西省 and Shanxi. 山西省 .

The Yangshao Culture The Yangshao culture is well-known for its red painted pottery, one of

two major types produced during the Neolithic period in China. Before 2000 B.C.E., Yangshao were making coiled red earthenware that was

fired in kilns 窑 at 1000°C-1500°C. Axes and arrowheads were made of polished stone and other tools were made of stone chips.

Millet was the main crop of the Yangshao. They domesticated two main animals, the dog and the pig, with the pig being the more important, painted in white and black with human faces, animal, and geometric designs such as spirals. It is possible that these highly-decorated pieces were produced specifically for funeral rites.

Unlike the later Longshan culture, the Yangshao culture did not use pottery wheels in pottery-making.

Pieces found buried in graves include tall rounded jars, flaring bowls and three-footed bowls which resemble a type of bronze pot (ding) produced in large numbers for ritual purposes during the later Shang dynasty (1750 – 1040 B.C.E.). Excavations found children buried in painted pottery jars.

The Longshan Culture3000 BC to 2000 BC.

The Longshan culture 龙山文 化 was a late Neolithic culture

in China, centered on the central and lower Yellow River and dated from about 3000 BC to 2000 BC. The Longshan culture is named after the town of Longshan in the east of the area under the administration of the city of Jinan, Shandong Province, where the first archaeological find (in 1928) and excavation (in 1930 and 1931) of this culture took place at the Chengziya 城子崖遗址 Archaeological Site.

Longshan Culture2600 to 2000 BCE

First discovered by C.T. Wu. Dating from about 2600 to 2000 BCE, it is characterized by fine burnished ware in wheel-turned vessels of angular outline; abundant gray pottery; rectangular polished stone axes; walls of compressed earth; and a method of divination by heating cattle bones and interpreting the cracks. Longshan Black Pottery ware has been found in northern Henan, Anhui, Shanxi, and Shaanxi provinces and from as far away as the Liaodong Peninsula in northeastern China, indicating a single culture dominated China at the time. Another great invention is Rammed Earth walls and moats in construction and architectural designs.

The Longshan CulturePopularized by its Black Pottery

Black eggshell pottery of the Longshan culture.

Decoration goes beyond the basic needs for survival;

Further Reading

Ebrey: The Prehistory of East Asia Before Chapter 1 Use the index for a quick access of key

words and concepts; Definition/Illustration/Evaluation