Our 2008 China Eclipse Trip - Page 28

Banpo Village

Banpo is a village that existed some 6,000 years ago near Xi'an in the Shaanxi Province of China. Artifacts that have been unearthed from the Banpo site are all that remains of this prehistoric clan-based community. The village grounds occupied a physical area of 50,000 square meters, and consisted primarily of a residential section, a pottery area, and burial grounds. Five excavations that were conducted from 1953 to 1957 revealed the remains of 45 houses, 200-odd storage pits, 6 kilns, 250 tombs, and more than 10,000 stone tools and everyday articles. These artifacts have proven extremely valuable to archaeologists and scholars from other disciplines who study prehistoric and ancient Chinese peoples. Most importantly, they have provided solid evidence for the existence of settled communities in prehistoric China.

The Banpo community existed during the neolithic era of human history, which represents the final phase of the Stone Age. Here we see the use of gradually improved stone tools, and also the beginning of agriculture. We call this period the "Agricultural Revolution." It is one of the major turning points in human history because it signaled the end of hunting-and-gathering lifestyles and the beginning of settled, agricultural communities. Many scholars who have examined the Banpo artifacts believe that this Stone Age community was matriarchal in its social organization. This means that in family relations mothers were the head of the family, and family descent was traced through the maternal line. Stone Age communities such as Banpo, then, formed the earliest human settlements that were intended to be permanent. Although their culture disappeared long, long ago, the Banpo villagers' accomplishments remain a vital part of modern civilization's heritage--our heritage. Clearly, there is much we can learn about our own beginnings by studying their lifestyles. For this reason, we should make every effort to preserve their story as part of our historical record.