The Civilization Source of Central Plains Culture

In the archaeology of Central Plains, the prehistoric civilization here has a strong continuity. Since the middle of Neolithic Age, magnetic mountain culture, Peiligang culture and Laoguantai culture have successively emerged in the Central Plains from east to west. They are closely related and have formed a large cultural area, which has shown obvious development advantages compared with the isolated development of surrounding cultures at the same time. Yangshao Banpo culture developed from Laoguantai culture in the late Neolithic period, extending northward to northern Shaanxi, along the Yellow River to Luoyang, and influencing Nanyang Basin through Hanshui River basin. The Yangshao Hougang culture in the Central Plains has spread to the south of Shanxi and the northeast of Shandong. Yangshao Miaodigou culture is formed by the interaction of Yangshao Banpo culture and Yangshao Hougang culture, and rapidly expands in all directions, reaching Hetao area in the north, the middle reaches of Hanshui River in the south, the northern part of North China Plain in the east and Huangshui River Basin in Gansu Province in the west. Compared with the surrounding areas, the Central Plains culture in this period is a strong culture in the center and plays a leading role.

During the period of Peiligang culture, people began to build semi-basement houses, and the economy was dominated by agriculture, with production methods such as livestock raising and gathering and hunting. Yangshao culture inherits the connotation of Pei Ligang culture. At that time, large-scale housing settlements began to form, and the use of painted pottery proved the emergence of firing technology. Since Longshan culture, there have been many urban sites, belonging to the Wanbang period. The use of bronze containers promoted the development of social productive forces, and witchcraft activities such as divination were very popular at that time. Erlitou culture is directly related to Xia culture, and the Central Plains region began to enter a brand-new era of civilization during this period. Erlitou site in Yanshi discovered the earliest capital site in China. The discovery of Bilong-shaped artifacts has found the most direct and orthodox source for totem dragon in China.