Painted pottery provide glimpses of sophisticated civilization

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences announced in February six "New Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2024", of which the Majiayao culture settlement at the Siwa site in Lintao county, Gansu province, stood out.

The site offered up compelling evidence of the settlement's sophisticated planning, cultural richness, and advanced level of civilization. The settlement features three massive parallel rectangular moats with right-angle turns, forming an enclosed area of nearly 300,000 square meters. Constructed and primarily utilized around 5,000 years ago, this represents the earliest known multi-rectangular moat structure in China.

The pottery unearthed at the site, particularly the breathtaking painted ceramics, commands special attention. Adorned with graceful curves, dynamic water ripples, swimming fish, soaring birds, and lifelike faces, these vessels resemble vivid paintings glowing with artistic brilliance.

Majiayao painted pottery reached unparalleled heights in material selection, elegant forms, ingenious designs, resplendent decorations, and exquisite firing techniques, standing as the pinnacle of prehistoric Chinese painted pottery and representing the culmination of Neolithic ceramic art. These artifacts vividly recount the glorious achievements of the Majiayao people who thrived 5,000 years ago along the upper Yellow River's Loess Plateau, navigating between the river's currents and the yellow earth.

Archaeological evidence reveals that the Majiayao communities, rooted in agricultural production while emphasizing handicrafts and commerce, distinguished themselves through specialized painted pottery production and trade networks.

Originating from the Yangshao cultural tradition, they expanded northwestward and southwestward during their development, nurturing various archaeological cultures in western China while pioneering early East-West communication corridors, thus emerging as pioneers of prehistoric social development in the upper Yellow River region.