Brief information on Banpo Neolithic Village(Banpo Bowuguan)

The Banpo Neolithic Village museum houses the remains of a 6,000 year-old village once home to a matriarchal clan community. The museum is located to the east of Xi’an City and was set up in 1958 as the first museum built around a historical site in China.

The site was discovered accidentally in 1953 and now covers an area of 50,000 square meters. The village was divided into three main sections: the living section, the pottery-making section, and the burial section. Archaeologists have found about 10,000 production tools and utensils, 46 houses, 2 pigsties, 200 cellars, 6 pottery kilns, 174 adult burial pits and 73 burial jars for the children. Many artifacts and finds were unprecedented and depict the daily lives and local production of these people some 6,000 years ago.  

The people of Banpo Village engaged in many activities including farming, fishing, hunting, pottery, raising livestock, building houses all based around permanent settlement. A large number of pottery artifacts were unearthed at the site. These had a variety of usages such as food and water containers, cooking utensils and storage vessels. The pottery was beautifully shaped and rich in colorful designs with fish, deer, mountains and rivers depicted. According to analysis of the kiln wall, it was determined that temperatures could have reached as high as 800-1000℃ inside.

The living section of Banpo Village occupies an area of 30,000 square meters. It is surrounded by a moat to protect the village against wild animals and floods. The largest among the remains of the 46 houses is located in the center of the living area. It may be a meeting hall for Banpo people to discuss the communal affairs. There are about 200 cellars to store grain and tools outside the houses, and they illustrate the equal distribution and communal features of the society.
  
170 graves were unearthed at the adult gravesite. There were a few burial objects in each grave including bowls, plates, bottles and other daily utensils. From these, we can conclude that the people believed in some form of afterlife. Roughly 73 burial jars were also excavated in Banpo Village, away from the main burial ground. It may have been a burial custom of the Banpo people to bury their dead child in a jar near their houses. It could be the case that the dead children were not considered as full members of the clan, so they were not to be buried in the communal cemetery of the village.

The Banpo were a Neolithic age people and used technique of grinding, polishing and drilling with stone. The improvements in the use of tools during this time illustrate the development of man’s intellect. Among the unearthed pottery vessels, there are 113 painted symbols, which are believed to be the earliest dated Chinese characters. One pottery design, of a fish with a human face, is regarded as a masterpiece. This design depicts the Banpo people’s special bond with fish, and was most likely the totem of Banpo people.

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