Hanpa ruins

The remains of an early Neolithic farming village are located to the east of Xi'an city, Shaanxi province, China. Five surveys were conducted by the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, between 1954 and 1957. The village is located on a plateau of thick loess between the Wei River to the north and the Qinling Mountains to the south, and is divided into two parts by a ditch. Inside are 46 dwelling sites, a meeting place, two livestock sheds, and children's tombs, while outside are pit tombs for adults and kiln sites, and over 200 storage pits are located across both parts, with the majority in the interior. Millet barks and vegetable seeds were unearthed from the storage pits, proving the existence of field farming, and livestock keeping was also revealed by the discovery of bones of pigs, dogs, sheep, chickens, cows, and horses. Earthenware reflects agriculture and has evolved into beautiful drinking vessels such as bowls and trays made from fine clay, water vessels such as jars and long-necked jars of the same quality, and boiling and storage vessels such as cans and jars, with the drinking and water vessels being decorated with painted designs of human faces, fish, geometric patterns, etc. Stoneware includes farming tools, tools, and grinding stones, and while there are many chipped stone tools, small stone axes and stone tines are elaborately polished products.

[Nobuyuki Shimojo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、陝西(せんせい)省西安(せいあん)市東方にある新石器時代初期の農耕村落遺跡。1954～57年に中国科学院考古研究所によって五次にわたる調査が行われた。北の渭河(いが)と南の秦嶺(しんれい)山脈に挟まれた厚い黄土からなる台地上にあり、溝によって内外に二分されている。内には住居址(し)46、集会場、家畜小屋2、小児墓、外には成人用土壙(どこう)墓、窯址(ようし)があり、200余の貯蔵穴は、内部を重点に両部にまたがっている。貯蔵穴から粟皮(ぞくひ)、蔬菜(そさい)種子が出土したことによって、畑作系農耕の存在が証明され、また家畜飼養もブタ、イヌ、ヒツジ、ニワトリ、ウシ、ウマの骨の出土によって明らかとなった。土器は農耕を反映して、細泥で製作された精美な埦(わん)・盆などの飲食器、同巧の瓶(へい)・長頸壺(ちょうけいこ)の水器、缶・甕(かめ)の煮沸・貯蔵器に分化し、飲食・水器には人面、魚、幾何文(きかもん)などの彩文が付されている。石器は農具、工具、すり石が出現し、打製石器も多いが、小形石斧(せきふ)、石鏟(せきさん)は精巧な磨製品となっている。

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