Kayue culture () was a
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
culture in
Northwest China
Northwestern China () is a region in the People's Republic of China. It consists of five provincial administrative regions, namely Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang.
The region is characterized by a (semi-)arid continental climate. ...
in the area of the upper reaches of the
Yellow River
The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
and its tributary
Huang Shui (Tib. ''Tsong Chu''). It was discovered in 1923 in the villages Kayue () and Xiaxihe () of Yunguchuan Huangzhong in China's
Qinghai Province and is named after the village of Kayue. The former name of the Kayue culture was Kayao culture (), it was previously assigned to the
Siwa culture. It is dated to the period of approximately 900 to 600 BCE.
Geography
The Kayue culture was mainly distributed in the territory of the contemporary
Minhe,
Ledu,
Ping'an,
Xining
Xining is the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. As of the 2020 census, it had 2,467,965 inhabitants (2,208,708 as of 2010), of whom 1,954,795 l ...
,
Huzhu,
Datong,
Haiyan,
Gangca (''Gangcha''),
Tongren and
Huangzhong counties, where more than 200 sites and over 1,000 graves were found. Among them was the Bronze Age necropolis Suzhi (Suzhi mudi 苏志墓地) in
Xunhua Salar Autonomous County
Xunhua Salar Autonomous County is an autonomous county in the southeast of Haidong Prefecture, in Qinghai province, China. The autonomous county has an area of around , and a population of approximately 161,600 inhabitants per a 2022 government ...
.
Context
Kayue culture is believed to have developed from the western part of the
Qijia culture.
Among the cultural relics discovered were gold artifacts considered particularly valuable because they reveal facts about gold smelting, production, and use at an early time. They reflect the cultural uniqueness of the ancient
Qiang () people, who lived in the northeastern region of
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
See also
*
Dadiwan culture
The Dadiwan culture (c. 5800–5400 BCE) was a Neolithic culture located primarily in the eastern portion of Gansu and Shaanxi provinces in modern China. The culture takes its name from the deepest cultural layer found during the original excava ...
*
Majiayao culture
The Majiayao culture was a group of Neolithic communities who lived primarily in the upper Yellow River region in eastern Gansu, eastern Qinghai and northern Sichuan, China. The culture existed from 3300 to 2000 BC. The Majiayao culture represent ...
*
Qijia culture
*
Siwa culture
References
* ''
Zhongguo da baike quanshu: Kaoguxue'' (Great Chinese Encyclopedia: Volume Archaeology). Beijing: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe, 1986
Online-Text
Literature
*"Report on the Excavation of the Cemetery of Kayue Culture at Dahuazhongzhuang, Huangyuan County, Qinghai Province by The Qinghai Team of Cultural Relics and Archaeology." ''Kaogu yu wenwu'' 1985.05, Shaanxi, 1985 – ''in Chinese''
*"Excavation of Tombs of the Kayue Culture at Banzhuwa, Hualong County, Qinghai by Qinghai Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeological and Others." ''Kaogu'' 1996.08 – ''in Chinese''
*"Secondary excavation of the Kayue Culture cemetery at Shangbanzhuwa, Hualong county, Qinghai by Qinghai Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology." ''Kaogu'' 1998.01, Beijing, 1998 – ''in Chinese''
*"On the Racial Type of the Lijishan People of Kayue Culture in the Light of the Nomeasured Morphological Features of Their Skulls by Zhang Jun." ''Kaogu'' 2001.05, Beijing, 2001 – ''in Chinese''
External links
– ''in Chinese''
Kayue wenhua yizhi– ''in Chinese''
– ''in Chinese''
Unearthed Gold Objects of the Kayue Culture of Qinghai
{{Neolithic cultures of China
Archaeological cultures of China
Bronze Age in China
History of Gansu
History of Qinghai
1923 archaeological discoveries
9th-century BC establishments in China