The History of the Xiajiadain Period in Ancient China

Before the major dynasties of ancient Chinese history, there were several Neolithic cultures that sprang up around the valleys of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. These ancient civilizations, known as cultures, established agricultural communities in the Bronze Age which later gave way to better known cultures such as the Shang civilization.

The Lower Xiajiadain culture was established in Inner Mongolia and Liaoning and Hebei provinces in the north of China. At the time it emerged (around 2200 BCE) it was contemporary with the Longshan culture. Excavations have separated the Xiajiadain period into three phrases with the known 2000 sites falling into one of the three categories, based on size and the presence of defences.

Some Xiajiadain sites had large walls for protection; the largest site covers more than 10 ha (25 acres). Smaller defended sites and those without walls clustered around a large central place. An example of this can be found at Chijiayingzi. A number of these stone walls included bastions of stone or stamped earth and had plastered walls and floors.

Different locations had slight variations. For example, in Sifendi in Inner Mongolia, houses were constructed as circular buildings with a diameter of not more than 4m (13ft), dominated by a hearth in the middle of the room.

The Xiajiadain culture was based on millet cultivation and many storage pits were likely to have been dug to store millet for the winter period. Archaeologists have unearthed large amounts of cultural implements, such as stone hoes, sickles, spades made from animal shoulder bones, and bones from several types of animals. The animal bones strongly indicate that the Xiajiadain people had raised livestock as well as hunting deer. From grave excavations, it appears pigs were placed with the bodies as ritual offerings.

Graves have been found at many sites belonging to the Xiajiadain culture. At Dadianzi, some 800 burials have been excavated. The elite classes were placed in large graves of up to 8.9m (29ft) where a wooden coffin was placed at the bottom. On top of the coffin finely painted ceramic vessels and limbs of domestic pigs were placed in niches at the side. Archaeologists have also found polished stone battle-axes, lacquer-ware, rare jades, ornaments made from bronze and skeletons of dogs and pigs.

Not only can the Xiajiadain culture tell us what the society was like, it can also tell us what the conditions were like to live in at the time. “Pollen collected from graves of the Lower Xiajiadian period, however, suggests that conditions did not significantly deteriorate during the 5th and 4th millennia B.P. Analysis of pollen collected from Lower Xiajiadian graves showed that in some samples, tree pollen accounted for up to 99% of the total pollen, while in others bush and grass pollen accounted for 95% of the pollen. Among the trees, pine and other polipodia dominated the pollen spectrum. This suggests that the area had a wooded environment with patches of grassland and agricultural fields. On the basis of the types and relative frequencies of plants identified, a wetter environment than the present is suggested”.

The Xiajiadain period was a remarkable period in Chinese history; because of this ancient society, it is believed they were, in part, the ancestors of the Shang civilization.

Bibliography:

Linduff, Katheryn. M., Drennan, Robert D. & Shelach, Gideon (2002-2004) Early Complex Societies in NE China: The Chifeng International Collaborative Archaeological Research Project, Journal of Field Archaeology, Boston University.

Higham, Charles (2005) The Human Past – Complex Societies of East and Southeast Asia, Thames & Hudson, London.