Les traditions Longshan de la région du cours moyen du fleuve Jaune

Abstract

The Middle Yellow River Valley Longshan Cultures. Translated from Chinese, this article presents certain neolithic cultures in China that, as of yet, are not too well known in the West. This general survey of the Middle Yellow River Valley Longshan cultures, made by Yang Xizhang, a member of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, first appeared in 1984 (in Xin Zhongguo de kaogu faxian he yanjiu — Archaeological Excavation and Researches in New China, 1984, p. 68-85). After mentioning the main archaeological achievements which have taken place in this vast area since the Liberation, the author makes a detailed presentation of its principal cultures and sites. Their datations stretch between ca. 2800 and 2000 B.C., and the cultures belong to two successive phases. The first one, the so-called Miaodigou II culture, has been identified as a transitional phase between Yangshao and Longshanoid types. The second phase has been subdivided into three cultures : the Henan Longshan Culture, the Shaanxi Longshan Culture and the Taosi Culture. The major sites of Miaodigou II Culture are densely located in two areas, one centered on Tongguan district, the other one around Luoyang-Zhengzhou. Thanks to the many stone implements and animal skeletons which have been discovered, it now becomes possible to have a firm knowledge of agriculture, domestication (pig, dog and possibly cattle and sheep), and economical basis of that culture. Ceramics are manufactured mainly by the coiling technique and occasionally retouched by rotation. A majority of them are gray, coarse and sandy ; some are fine gray. They are decorated principally by basket impressions or by appliqué, while some others are painted. Five different cultures belong to the Henan Longshanoid type : they are the Wangwan Culture, the Hougang Culture, the Wangyoufang Culture, the Sanliqiao Culture and the Xiawang- gang Culture. Differences between these five cultures — some of them are occasionally grouped together — are mostly based on ceramic types. The Shaanxi Longshanoid type, identified for the first time in Kexingzhuang, is sometimes called Kexingzhuang II Culture. Many remains of semisubterranean houses with one or two rooms, of pocket-shaped storage pits, stone and bone implements and so on have been found on this site and other sites along the Wei-shui River. Some of the ceramic vessels are related to the Qijia Culture's ceramics, but others to Henan Longshanoid type. Because of their specific characteristics, the remains of the Taosi type seem to be limited to the Fen River Valley sites and have to be set apart from the two other types mentioned before. The last part of the article is devoted to society and economics of the Middle Yellow River Valley Longshan cultures.