The Majiabang culture (馬家浜文化) was a Neolithic culture that existed at the mouth of the Yangtze River, primarily around the Taihu area and north of Hangzhou Bay in China. The culture was spread throughout southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC. Initially, archaeologists had considered the Majiabang sites and sites in northern Jiangsu to be part of the same culture, naming it the Qingliangang culture. Archaeologists later realized that the northern Jiangsu sites were of the Dawenkou culture and renamed the southern Jiangsu sites as the Majiabang culture. The Majiabang culture coexisted with the Hemudu culture for over a thousand years as two separate and distinct cultures, with cultural transmissions between the two cultures.

Majiabang people cultivated rice. At Caoxieshan and Chuodun, sites of the Majiabang culture, archaeologists excavated paddy fields, indicating the centrality of rice to the economy.^[1][2] In addition faunal remains excavated from Majiabang archaeological sites indicated that people had domesticated pigs. However, the remain of sika and roe deer have been found, showing that people were not totally reliant on agricultural production.^[3] Archaeological sites also bear evidence that Majiabang people produced jade ornaments.

See also[edit]

• List of Neolithic cultures of China
• Dawenkou culture
• Hemudu culture
• Liangzhu culture

Notes[edit]

1. ^ Fujiwara, H. (ed.). Search for the Origin of Rice Cultivation: The Ancient Rice Cultivation in Paddy Fields at the Cao Xie Shan Site in China. Miyazaki: Society for Scientific Studies on Cultural Property, 1996. (In Japanese and Chinese)
2. ^ Fuller, Dorian Q & Qin, Ling (2009) Water management and labour in the origins and dispersal of Asian rice. World Archaeology 41(1): 88-111
3. ^ Tsude, Hiroshi. Yayoi Farmers Reconsidered: New Perspectives on Agricultural Development in East Asia. Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 21(5):53-59, 2001.

References[edit]

• Chang, Kwang-chih. The Archaeology of Ancient China, ISBN 0-300-03784-8

Coordinates: 30°44′09″N 120°42′54″E / 30.73583°N 120.71500°E / 30.73583; 120.71500

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