History of China

The circled area is the location of where the Qijia culture was located. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user Kanguole.

Neolithic China: Qijia Culture

China's history dates as far back as the Neolithic period with several different cultures living in the region. One such culture was the Qijia culture, named such because the first archaeological evidence was uncovered in the village of Qijiaping in the northwestern province of Gansu. This evidence was uncovered in the early 1920s by Swedish geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson and by the 1940s and 1950s more artifacts were found in other nearby villages. These discoveries were found in Cuijiazhuang and Yangwawan by two Chinese archaeologists Xia Nai and Pei Wenzhong. Later on, other Qijia culture sites were found in the Chinese autonomous region of Ningxia as well as the province of Qinghai.

The culture is known for their pottery including jars like the one pictured. This amphora-like jar is an example of how the Qijia culture's pottery was influenced by other Eurasian cultures and as such, pieces like this show designs that were foreign to early China. Currently, it is believed that the Qijia culture is the only Neolithic Chinese culture to show such influence. Pieces like this were coil built, meaning that a coil of clay would be formed into a circular shape with additional coils added on top and then smoothened to build the walls of a piece of pottery. Usually, this would result in a piece that had thick walls, however, with the Qijia culture, their pieces were known for being unusually thin.

It is also interesting to note that although these pieces were commonly unearthed in gravesites, they were not made to be funerary goods and were used in everyday life before being buried. This is why many pieces, including the one in the museum collection, have many chips on the rim as well as other signs of wear and tear.

Provenance:

Ex. New York-based antiquities dealer

References: