Discovering a Lost Civilization

The story of the Xinglongwa Culture’s rediscovery reads like an archaeological detective novel. While scattered artifacts had been noted as early as the 1950s, the true significance of these finds wouldn’t become clear until decades later. In the early 1980s, cultural researchers in Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia made a groundbreaking discovery at a site southeast of their district. From 1983 to 1993, the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences conducted comprehensive excavations, officially naming the earliest Neolithic remains as belonging to the Xinglongwa Culture.

This initial discovery opened floodgates of archaeological activity. Subsequent excavations at Dongzhai and Xizhai in Qianxi County (Hebei Province), Chahai in Fuxin City (Liaoning Province), and Baiyin Changhan in Linxi County (Inner Mongolia) helped archaeologists map out the culture’s temporal and spatial framework. Particularly well-preserved settlements at Xinglongwa and Baiyin Changhan provided unprecedented insights into community layouts and social development during this ancient period.

Mapping the Xinglongwa World

The Xinglongwa Culture occupied a vast territory stretching from the southern edge of the Greater Khingan Mountains in the north to the lower reaches of the West Liao River in the east, with its southern reaches extending to the Bohai Sea coast. Within this expansive region, cultural expressions varied, but the core area consistently remained around Chifeng City in the Xilamulun River basin, where archaeologists have identified a complete developmental sequence and dense settlement patterns.

Key sites tell the story of this ancient culture:
1. Nantaizi (Hexigten Banner)
2. Baiyin Changhan (Linxi County)
3. Gurigletai (Balin Right Banner)
4. Chahai (Fuxin City)
5. Xinglongwa (Aohan Banner)
6. Chagoumen (Chengde City)
7. Shangzhai (Pinggu County)
8. Dongzhai (Qianxi County)
9. Jingui Mountain (Balin Left Banner)
10. Xinglonggou (Aohan Banner)

Archaeologists have proposed various cultural typologies based on regional variations in artifacts, though consensus remains elusive about whether these differences warrant separate classifications.

Material Culture: Artifacts of Daily Life

The Xinglongwa material record reveals a society with distinctive technological traditions. Their pottery repertoire was relatively simple, dominated by cylindrical jars and bowls. All ceramics were sand-tempered, with clay showing a distinctive red color mixed with crushed black stone particles resembling perlite. Firing techniques produced relatively soft, porous wares often showing surface cracks.

Pottery production methods varied by form. Cylindrical jars were built using coil construction, while bowls may have been formed using internal molds. Surface decoration was nearly universal, typically created by pressing patterns with shell tools. Common motifs included crisscross patterns, grids, horizontal zigzags, and distinctive “zhi”-character shaped continuous zigzags.

Stone tools reveal an agricultural foundation:
– Hoes made by pecking
– Ground stone axes and spades
– Small chisels and adzes
– Grinding slabs and rollers

Bone tools were particularly sophisticated, including daggers, arrowheads, fish spears, and fish hooks. But perhaps most remarkable was the culture’s jade work – the earliest known in northern China’s Neolithic period.

Jade: The Birth of a Tradition

Five Xinglongwa sites have yielded jade artifacts, all small items in white or green hues. Analysis of Chahai specimens confirmed they were true nephrite (tremolite or actinolite). The production process – from material selection to final polishing – required specialized craftsmanship.

Common jade forms included:
– Adzes (mimicking stone tool prototypes)
– Beads (complex tubular forms)
– Slit rings (most frequently found)
– Dagger-shaped ornaments

These jades weren’t mere decorations. Their standardized forms and consistent production quality suggest they served as ritual objects, laying the foundation for the later Hongshan Culture’s famous jade tradition.

Settlement Patterns: Reading Ancient Communities

Xinglongwa settlements typically occupied slopes near rivers or streams. While many covered limited areas, large settlements exceeding 10,000 square meters clustered along the Xilamulun River’s north bank and the upper Daling River’s eastern tributaries.

The Nantaizi site exemplifies smaller settlements. Built on a north-sloping ridge near the Bilu River, it contained 33 semi-subterranean houses arranged in three northeast-southwest rows. Most houses were similar in size except for one 80-square-meter structure in the central rear row – clearly a community focal point.

Large, completely excavated settlements like Xinglongwa and Baiyin Changhan reveal more complex planning. The 30,000-square-meter Xinglongwa site featured a circular moat (2m wide) with a northern entrance, enclosing about 60-70 houses in orderly rows. After the moat was abandoned, the settlement was reorganized while maintaining the original orientation.

Baiyin Changhan’s 30,000-square-meter site presented a unique feature – two adjacent moated settlement areas just 8 meters apart. Each moat enclosed about 10,000 square meters with houses arranged in northwest-southeast rows.

Domestic Architecture: Life Underground

Xinglongwa houses were uniformly semi-subterranean, mostly single-room structures with rounded rectangular plans (20-50 square meters, some exceeding 100 square meters). Entrance methods remain unclear, possibly through roof openings with ladders.

Floor treatments varied by slope position – lower areas were left natural while upper sections were often hardened or plastered with yellow clay. Central hearths took different forms: circular pits south of the Xilamulun River versus surface-level hearths to the north, sometimes outlined with stone slabs.

Some houses contained special features like interior pits or human burials. These “residential burials” typically held one individual, sometimes with missing limbs or skulls. Grave goods included animal bones and small tools. Xinglongwa M117 contained jade slit rings by the skull, while M118 had two complete pig skeletons (male and female). The unusual nature of these burials suggests ritual rather than typical funerary practices.

Subsistence Strategies: Hunting, Gathering, and Early Farming

Animal bones at Xinglongwa sites reveal heavy reliance on deer hunting, supplemented by fishing (evidenced by bone harpoons and hooks). Plant remains include Juglans mandshurica (Manchurian walnut), suggesting gathering wild plants. However, the presence of domesticated pig remains – sometimes buried whole – indicates established animal husbandry supported by agriculture.

Carbonized millet from Xinglonggou provides the only direct evidence of cultivation so far. Scholars debate whether Xinglongwa relied more on agriculture or hunting/gathering, but clearly practiced a mixed subsistence strategy.

Spiritual Life: Rituals and Beliefs

Religious practices appear deeply embedded in Xinglongwa life. Many houses contained ritual deposits like animal skulls and bones, suggesting ceremonial use before abandonment. Special finds include:

– A stone “goddess” figurine from Baiyin Changhan (35.5cm tall), depicting a nude pregnant woman standing behind a hearth
– Human-faced shell and stone ornaments from Xinglonggou
– A perforated human skull fragment carved to resemble a face

Public ritual spaces are particularly revealing. At Baiyin Changhan, stone circles (7-9m diameter) on hilltops enclosed earthen pit graves. Chahai featured a 120-square-meter ceremonial house containing oversized ritual tools and a 19.7-meter-long stone dragon effigy on bedrock – China’s earliest known dragon representation.

These practices show remarkable continuity with later Hongshan Culture rituals, suggesting deep roots for northeast China’s spiritual traditions.

Chronology and Development

Radiocarbon dating places the Xinglongwa Culture between approximately 7500-6500 BP (or 6000-5300 BCE calibrated), contemporary with central China’s Peiligang Culture. The culture evolved through three phases, best seen in changing pottery styles:

Early Phase:
– Cylindrical jars with three decorative zones
– Upper geometric bands with incised lines
– Main body with pressed crisscross patterns
– No “zhi”-character motifs

Middle Phase:
– Thickened rims
– Upper bands become raised ridges
– Appearance of vertical “zhi”-character patterns
– More curved-wall jars

Late Phase:
– Disappearing ridges
– Two decorative zones
– Highly regular “zhi”-character patterns
– New dense, fine “zhi”-character style

Legacy and Connections

As northeast China’s earliest known Neolithic culture, Xinglongwa exerted wide influence. Its “zhi”-character pottery tradition spread to later cultures like Xinle and Zuojianshan. Striking similarities with pottery from Russia’s Vitim River basin suggest possible northern connections.

In its core area, Xinglongwa directly influenced subsequent cultures:
– Zhaobaogou Culture
– Hongshan Culture
– Fuhe Culture

All maintained the “zhi”-character pottery tradition, showing cultural continuity across millennia. The Xinglongwa Culture’s greatest legacy may be establishing the foundation for northeast China’s distinctive Neolithic development, particularly in jade working and ritual practices that reached their zenith in the Hongshan Culture.

Through ongoing excavations and research, archaeologists continue uncovering the rich tapestry of Xinglongwa life – from their innovative technologies to their complex spiritual world – helping us understand the roots of Chinese civilization in the northeast. Each discovery adds new pieces to the puzzle of how these ancient people lived, worshipped, and ultimately shaped the cultural landscape of prehistoric East Asia.