Hemudu – Chinese early Neolithic culture

Abstract

The subject of this research is the Chinese Neolithic Hemudu culture (河姆渡文化), it will be 50 years since its discovery in 2023. Its age is estimated at 6500-7000 years. Based on the analysis of archaeological reports, materials of the Hemudu Museum and research of Chinese and Russian scientists, the authors put the light on the geographical location of the ancient settlement of Hemudu, the history of its discovery, its main typological features, which led to identifying it as a independent culture of the Neolithic period of Eastern China. Hemudu had a great influence on the cultural genesis of Chinese civilization. More than 40 prehistoric settlements are attributed to the Hemudu culture. In this article, the authors gave a brief description of one of them – the ruins of Xiangjiashan (鲞架山遗址). The main conclusions of the study are as follows: the discovery and identification of the Hemudu culture was a major breakthrough in Chinese Neolithic archeology. It proved that the Yangtze basin was also the birthplace of ancient Chinese culture and rewrote the history of the development of Chinese civilization. In terms of its typological features, the Neolithic settlement of Xiangjiashan is similar to Hemudu, which indicates their genetic connection. The remains of the early Xiangjiashan period filled the gap in the history of the Hemudu settlement, making it more logical and understandable for researchers. All finds made not only in the settlement of Hemudu, but also in Xiangjiashan are extremely important for understanding the development of Chinese culture.