1. Unearthing the Past:  Neolithic China

 

Neolithic:   Of or belonging to the later or new (neo) stone age, characterized by the use of ground or polished stone implements and weapons. 5000-2000 BCE

concept: art history

Objects:

Note:   when we talk about the formal properties of a pot, we use the language of the human form:   a foot, body, hip, shoulder, neck, lip.

Archaeology and reconstruction

•  Banpo 半坡 Village in Shaanxi province 陝西省 , near the modern-day city of Xi'an 西安.   5th millennium BCE

Distribution and major sites of Neolithic pottery

•  Central Kingdom (plains) area:

Yangshao 仰韶:  the name of a village in Henan province 河南省 , but also has come to mean “painted pottery culture” generally.   Includes the following sites:

Banpo 半坡  Pottery includes fish and fishing motifs, a shamanistic (?) mask [fig. 1-1]

Miaodigou 廟底溝 5th -4th millennium.   Henan province, near modern-day Luoyang 洛陽 (central China).   Pottery characterized by twisting and turning parallel lines and “floral” designs. [fig. 1-12]

Majia(yao) 馬家窯   c. 4000-2250 BCE.   Gansu 甘肅省 and Qinghai provinces 青海省 (northwestern China).   Pottery characterized by designs with abstract swirls organized around “eyes” or nuclei. [fig. 1-13]

•  Eastern Coastal

Longshan 龍山. Runs from Zhejiang province 浙江省 in the south to Shandong province 山東省 in the north.   Mostly unpainted pottery, but of finer texture and more complex form, including goblets, tripodal pitchers and fine black pottery. [fig. 1-17, 1-18]

Dawenkou 大汶口.   Shandong province.   A transitional ware, blending elements from Yangshao and Longshan cultures.   Geometric and abstract designs, varied vessel shapes [fig. 1-15, 1-16]

Jades at coastal Liangzhu 良洙 (near modern-day Shanghai 上海市 )

•  nephrite:   a tough fibrous material that was favored material for tools, also called “jade,” but not necessarily the lustrous green color we associate with jade

•  bi 璧:   A flat disk usually made from a nephrite hardstone with a central perforation (it looks something like a doughnut).   It is traditionally interpreted as the symbol of Heaven.   Usually not decorated.

•  cong 琮:   A squared hollow tube, usually made from a nephritic hardstone and traditionally interpreted as the symbol of Earth.   Often decorated with masks [fig. 1-9]

•  axe-heads:   refined, thin blades, too delicate for practical use, probably served ceremonial or ritual function [fig. 1-8, 1-10]

Some Puzzling Pottery

•  animal and “human” representations [figs. 1-19, 1-20, 1-23]

•  matriarchal:   social organization is one in which women occupy a privileged place in society and descent is reckoned through mothers.   Chinese archaeologist assume “primitive” cultures changed over time from matriarchal to patriarchal social organization.