Xishanping is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

, China, located west of

Tianshui Tianshui is a prefecture-level city in Gansu province, China, and is the province's second-largest city (behind the provincial capital Lanzhou). Located in the southeast of the province, the city strides along the upper reaches of the Wei River a ...

. The site was occupied continuously from the

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 ...

through the

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 ...

. The site is situated about above the riverbed on the southern bank of the Xi River, a tributary of the

Wei River The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization. In ancient times, such as in the Records ...

. The site was discovered by

Pei Wenzhong Pei Wenzhong (; January 19, 1904 – September 18, 1982), or W. C. Pei, was a Chinese paleontologist, archaeologist and anthropologist born in Fengnan. He is considered a founding figure of Chinese anthropology. accessed 20 January 2015 Career ...

in 1947.

Stratigraphy

*Xishanping I: the earliest layer, this layer corresponds to the

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 ...

. The bones from a large variety of animals (red deer, musk deer, Asiatic black bear, bamboo rat, rat, chicken, dog, pig) were discovered in this layer. *Xishangping II: this layer corresponds to the Lower Beishouling culture. Only a few animal bones were found in this layer, coming from red deer, cattle and pigs. *Xishangping III (5250–4300 BP): this period corresponds to the

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 ...

. The greatest changes at Xishanping occurred during this time. Evidence for intensive agriculture can be found in this layer, starting from around 5,100 BP. Horse, chicken, dog and pig bones were discovered in this layer, with pig bones composing almost half of all of the bones found in this layer. This layer can be further divided as follows: ** 5250–4650 BP: during this period, the forest was composed primarily of a coniferous-broadleaf mix. The primary staple crops were foxtail and broomcorn millet. ** 4650–4300 BP: around 4650 BP, the forest saw a drastic transition, most likely due to anthropogenic causes. The forest fauna came to be dominated primarily by fast-growing bamboo. Additionally, several fruit and nut-bearing trees (''

Castanea The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description C ...

'', ''

Prunus cerasus ''Prunus cerasus'' (sour cherry, tart cherry, or dwarf cherry) is an Old World species of ''Prunus'' in the subgenus ''Prunus subg. Cerasus, Cerasus'' (cherries). It has two main groups of cultivars: the dark-red Morello cherry and the lighter- ...

'', ''

Prunus padus ''Prunus padus'', known as bird cherry, hackberry (unrelated to the genus ''Celtis''), hagberry, or Mayday tree, is a flowering plant in the Rosaceae, rose family. It is a species of cherry, a deciduous small tree or large shrub up to tall. It ...

'' and ''

Diospyros ''Diospyros'' is a genus of over 700 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. The majority are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate regions. Individual species valued for their hard, heavy, dark timb ...

'') became more commonly found. The primary staple crops were foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, and buckwheat. *Xishangping IV (4300–3000 BP): this period corresponds to the

Qijia culture The Qijia culture (2400 BC – 1600 BC) was an early Bronze Age culture distributed around the upper Yellow River region of Gansu (centered in Lanzhou) and eastern Qinghai, China. It is regarded as one of the earliest bronze cultures in China. ...

. Pig bones form an overwhelming majority of all of the animals bones found from this layer.

Staple crops

Xishanping was the site of a highly diverse and complex agriculture system, showing the earliest largest diversity of staple crops found in China. From 4650–3000 BP, eight major staple crops were found together at Xishanping: wheat (''

Triticum aestivum Common wheat (''Triticum aestivum''), also known as bread wheat, is a cultivated wheat species. About 95% of wheat produced worldwide is common wheat; it is the most widely grown of all crops and the cereal with the highest monetary yield. Ta ...

''),

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

and

oat The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seeds ...

(all three introduced from Western Asia); rice (introduced from eastern China); foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, buckwheat and soybean. As such, Xishanping is the earliest site for the introduction of several Western Asia staple crops to China, likely via the

Hexi Corridor The Hexi Corridor ( ), also known as the Gansu Corridor, is an important historical region located in the modern western Gansu province of China. It refers to a narrow stretch of traversable and relatively arable plain west of the Yellow River's O ...

. Despite the diversity, the people at Xishanping still relied primarily on

rainfed agriculture Rainfed agriculture is a type of farming that relies on rainfall for water. It provides much of the food consumed by poor communities in developing countries. E.g., rainfed agriculture accounts for more than 95% of farmed land in sub-Saharan Afric ...

. The earliest dates for each crop found at Xishanping are as follows: *Broomcorn millet (5165 BP) *Foxtail millet (5070 BP) *Rice (5070 BP) – earliest evidence for rice in northwest China *Oat (5070 BP) – earliest evidence for oat in China *Soybean (4770 BP) *Wheat (4650 BP) – earliest evidence for wheat in China *Barley (4600–4300 BP) – earliest evidence for barley in China *Buckwheat (4600–4300 BP) The first appearance of wheat in East Asia coincides with the first appearance of broomcorn millet in Central Asia at Begash, Kazakhstan (4450–4100 BP).

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{Prehistoric cultures of China 1947 archaeological discoveries Archaeological sites in China History of Gansu Populated places established in the 6th millennium BC