The Neolithic occupants in the Yanyuan Basin: Excavation of the burials at the Guijiabao site, Sichuan Province, Southwest China

Abstract

This article presents the results from excavations of burials at the Guijiabao site in southwest Sichuan. Guijiabao is located in the Yanyuan Basin that is a geographic-cultural intersection along the channel for cultural interaction and human migration from northern China through western Sichuan southward to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and mainland Southeast Asia. It is one of the earliest known Neolithic sites in southwest China, with a Neolithic occupation ranging between 5000 and 3700 cal. BP. Earth-pit burials at the site date to 4300–4000 cal. BP and are consistent in burial forms and object characteristics, indicating the same burial customs. Guijiabao shows similarities with other Neolithic sites around the middle Jinsha River area in object characteristics, burial customs and subsistence strategies. We propose the formation of an interaction sphere covering the middle Jinsha River area in the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BCE. Besides, ceramics and crop remains from Guijiabao are useful for understanding the interaction between southwest China and mainland Southeast Asia and the role of southwest China in the dispersal of Neolithic culture.