Longshan culture

Longshan culture

Geographical range	Lower and middle Yellow River, China
Period	Neolithic China
Dates	c. 3000 – c. 1900 BC
Type site	Chengziya
Major sites	Shimao, Taosi
Preceded by	Yangshao culture, Dawenkou culture
Followed by	Erlitou culture, Yueshi culture
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	龍山文化
Simplified Chinese	龙山文化
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lóngshān wénhuà Wade–Giles Lung-shan wen-hua

The Longshan (or Lung-shan) culture, also sometimes referred to as the Black Pottery Culture, was a late Neolithic culture in the middle and lower Yellow River valley areas of northern China from about 3000 to 1900 BC. The first archaeological find of this culture took place at the Chengziya Archaeological Site in 1928, with the first excavations in 1930 and 1931. The culture is named after the nearby modern town of Longshan (lit. "Dragon Mountain") in Zhangqiu, Shandong. The culture was noted for its highly polished black pottery (or egg-shell pottery). The population expanded dramatically during the 3rd millennium BC, with many settlements having rammed earth walls. It decreased in most areas around 2000 BC until the central area evolved into the Bronze Age Erlitou culture. The Longshan culture has been linked to the early Sinitic (of the Sino-Tibetan languages).^[1][2] According to the area and cultural type, the Longshan culture can be divided into two types: Shandong Longshan and Henan Longshan. Among them, Shandong Longshan Cultural Site includes Chengziya Site; Henan Longshan Cultural Site includes Dengfeng Wangchenggang Site in Wangwan, Taosi Site and Mengzhuang Site in Hougang.