Paleo/lithic (Old/Stone) Age
Yuanmou Man; Homo erectus lantianensis;
Peking Man; Upper Cave Man
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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
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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'outien) near Beijing (known as
Peking at that time), China.
Peking Man
Tool Makers and Tool Users
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Conꞌtiguous findings of
animal remains and
evidence of fire and tool
usage, as well as the
manufacturing of tools,
were used to support H.
erectus being the first
"faber" or tool-worker.
http://www.unesco.org/ext/field/
beijing/whc/pkm-site.htm
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Note this goes
beyond the level of
survival;
As a necklace, art is
born;
The Importance of
the Use of fire
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drilling wood to make fire by friction
钻木取火
Sui Ren 燧人, Chinese Prometheus--first use of fire
食/饣【shí】 eat; (cooked) food; radical number 184.
dōng xué
xià
cháo zhī
shí
冬 穴
夏
巢
之
時，
rú máo
yǐn
xuè
zhī
shì
茹 毛
飲
血
之
世，
Times when men dwelled in caves in winter, nests in summer,
Eras when people consumed raw meat and drank blood.
(swallow feathers)
Preface to Wenxuan, trans. By Professor David R. Knechtges
http://www.unesco.org/ext/field/
beijing/whc/pkm-site.htm
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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)
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一般認為新石器時代
有3個基本特征：
1.開始制造和使用
• 磨制石器
2.發明了陶器
3.出現了農業和養畜
業。
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Making and Using
(more sophisticated
)Tools;
Invention of Pottery;
Domestication of
Grain/livestock
Agriculture replacing
Hunting and Gathering
Cultures;
Significance:
Settlement leads to
civilization
What is Home
without Plumtree's Potted Meat?
Incomplete
—Episode V in James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922)
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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…
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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
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Marriage also became
mo’nogamous. In a
clan, marriages had to
follow strict
stipulations. Juniors
were not allowed to
marry their elders, and
cousins were
forbidden to marry.
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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 paid
the way for civilization.
List of Neolithic Cultures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Neolithic_cultures_of_China
The Yangshao Culture
5000 BC to 3000 BC
Domestication of Millet, wheat, dogs, pigs,
goats, and silkworm
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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, Shaanxi 陕
西省and Shanxi. 山西省.
Mongols (226-234 in Ebrey’s
book East Asia, 1st Ed)
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Importance of settlement
In contrast, Mongols are on the move all
the time;
Life style has an impact on many things;
The Yangshao Culture
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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 highlydecorated 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 Yangshao phase is followed by Longshan/Lungshan.
The Longshan Culture
3000 BC to 2000 BC.
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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 Culture
2600 to 2000 BCE
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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 Culture
Popularized by its Black Pottery
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Black eggshell
pottery of the
Longshan culture.