Pengtoushan culture

The Pengtoushan culture was a Neolithic culture located around the central Yangtze River region in northwestern Hunan province, China. It dates to around 7500–6100 BC,Template:Sfn and was roughly contemporaneous with the Peiligang culture to the north. It is named after the type site at Pengtoushan.

Sites

Pengtoushan, located in Li County, Hunan, is the type site for the Pengtoushan culture. Excavated in 1988, Pengtoushan has been difficult to date accurately, with a large variability in dates ranging from 9000 BC to 5500 BC.Template:Sfn Cord-marked pottery was discovered among the burial goods.Template:Sfn

Another important site is Bashidang, also in Li County, belonging to the late stage of the Pengtoushan culture. It features a wall and a ditch, as well as a star-shaped platform.

Rice cultivation

Rice residues at Pengtoushan have been carbon dated to 8200–7800 BC, showing that rice had been domesticated by this time.Template:Sfn At later stages, pots containing grains of rice were also dated to approximately 5800 BC.Template:Sfn By 4000 BC, evidence of rice domestication in the region is abundant in the form of bone and wooden spades, as well as pottery.Template:Sfn The rice grains at Pengtoushan are larger than naturally occurring wild rice. Large amounts of rice grains have also been found at Bashidang.

Gallery

• Remains of a bone spade from the Bashidang site
  Remains of a bone spade from the Bashidang site
• Reconstructed vessel
  Reconstructed vessel
• Reconstructed leg of a vessel
  Reconstructed leg of a vessel

See also

• List of Neolithic cultures of China
• Daxi culture
• Qujialing culture
• Nanzhuangtou