The Songze Culture was a

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

culture that existed between 3800 and 3300 BCE in the

Lake Tai Taihu (), also known as Lake Tai or Lake Taihu, is a lake in the Yangtze Delta and the third largest freshwater lake in China. The lake is in Jiangsu province and a significant part of its southern shore forms its border with Zhejiang. With ...

area near

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

Dates

Three radiocarbon dates were taken from Songze culture layers at Jiangli near

. Two of the dates were obtained from charred rice grains, returning dates of 3360–3090 BCE and 3540–3370 BCE. The third date was taken from

knotgrass Knotgrass or knot grass is the common name for several plants and a moth and may refer to: *''Paspalum distichum ''Paspalum distichum'' is a species of Poaceae, grass. Common names include knotgrass, water finger-grass, couch paspalum, eternity ...

and produced a date of 3660–3620 BCE. Although it is accepted to be the successor of the

Majiabang culture The Majiabang culture, formerly also written Ma-chia-pang, was a Neolithic culture that occupied the Yangtze River Delta, primarily around Lake Tai west of modern Shanghai and north of Hangzhou Bay. The culture spread throughout southern Jian ...

, others have suggested that Songze was a successor phase to the

Hemudu culture The Hemudu culture (5500 BC to 3300 BC) was a Neolithic culture that flourished on the Coastline of China, Chinese coast, just south of the Hangzhou Bay in Jiangnan in modern Yuyao, Zhejiang, China. The culture may be divided into early and la ...

Sites

Songze

In 1957, archaeologists discovered a site north of Songze Village near Zhaoxiang Town in Shanghai's Qingpu District. Excavations have been conducted throughout 1961, 1974–1976, 1987, 1994–1995, and 2004. These revealed three cultural layers: the most recent had

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

from the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...

; the middle layer was a cemetery with 148 graves and numerous artefacts; the oldest layer belonged to a village of the

Nanhebang

92 graves have been excavated from a Songze cemetery at Nanhebang.

Pishan

The Pishan cemetery contained 61 burials.

Dongshan

Dongshan Village is located near Jingang Town 18 km west of Zhangjiagang. It was discovered in 1989 and has undergone excavations by the Suzhou Museum (1989–1990), followed by two large rescue excavations led by the Nanjing Museum in 2008–2009. The site is divided into three areas: area 1 was a small cemetery of 27 burials, all of which had different quantities of

grave goods Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are items buried along with a body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into an afterlife, or offerings to gods. Grave goods may be classed by researche ...

, which has been used to suggest the existence of a stratified society; area 2 was a residential comprising five buildings in the centre of the site; area 3 was another burial ground in the site's west, with 10 tombs. Neolithic Songze Culture Pottery 05.jpg, Songze culture pottery Neolithic Songze Culture Pottery 03.jpg, Songze culture pottery 三足鸟形陶盉2.jpg, Songze culture, bird-shaped pottery

Notes

References

* * * * * * {{Neolithic cultures of China Neolithic cultures of China Yangtze River Delta History of Jiangsu History of Shanghai History of Zhejiang 4th-millennium BC establishments History of the Yangtze