Banpo Museum - A Great Idea For Xian Tours

Ancient China Displayed With Xian Tours To Neolithic Banpo Museum

Prehistoric China is revealed by Xian Tours to Banpo Museum. At this venue you will learn about ancestors of the grand dynasties that also were based in Xian long after them. The artifacts of the Neolithic period also known as the New Stone Age are exhibited at the museum. This museum is the first constructed at the site of a prehistoric discovery. Human evolution from the hunter gatherer life style to agricultural mode of production marks this age whose settlement shows characteristics of the Banpo phase of the Yanshao culture that had a thousand year duration.

Village inhabitants resided lived in clan villages. They cultivated, fished and hunted for food. Their residential section was protected by a trench. Banpo culture is known for its well crafted painted pottery. Organization is demonstrated in the arrangement of the village.

The settlement has a residential area, a pottery manufacturing area and a cemetery. Some of the houses were partially underground. Traditional wall-construction methods using wood and mud can be seen in these early specimens. The cemetery revealed that inhabitants lived until they were 30 years of age and how they were buried were not uniform. The kilns showed that both fine-grained and coarse clay. The painted pottery was decorated with images inspired by reality.

The museum has two exhibition halls sections and an excavation site hall so well worth a visit on your Xian Tours. The first exhibition hall displays their tools, vessels and works of art. The second exhibition hall has major inventions and art reflecting the fork culture and social life of the era. Special shows are held there about the prehistoric period. The settlement site is divided into a residential section, a pottery-making area and the burial area.

Amongst the most striking items is a bottle with a pointed bottom and the pottery steamer. This bottle was a water-drawing device. The device reveals they skillfully utilized the center of gravity for the purpose. When the bottle is floated it will automatically slant and be filled as the lip of the bottle touches the water. When the bottle is filled with water, the bottle will automatically stand upright due to the shifting of the center of gravity. It is portable and its small mouth prevents water spillage.

The ingenious Banpo people also figured out how to use steam in cooking. They constructed steamers made from pottery to prepare their food.. According to archaeological research, the Banpo people had devised superior techniques for making pottery. The Banpo Clan Matriachal Village which opened to the public in 1994 is a recreation of the settlement site and is an extension of the museum.

The rationale behind this matriarchal village concept was the assumption that valuable burial objects placed in the graves of some women were indications of a matriarchal society. This theory inspired the construction of the feminist theme park. It is however, not anything like the sumptuousness of nearby Tang Paradise and is a relic that is said to be a tourist oddity. On the other hand, some may want to see this model village for this very reason.

Neolithic Period in China

The Neolithic era saw expansion of agriculture and the beginning of animal domestication. Early civilization can be seen evolving in this time. Simple tools were crafted from wood and stone. Archaeologists have located various cultures across China. These cultures are thought to have evolved on their own with their own distinctive features; although there is some evidence of contacts between them. The Yangshao lived in the mountains in the north and the west.

The Neolithic period began in China about 12,000 B. C. However, solid settlement evidence has been found only from the period of 4,000 B. C., so far. New discoveries are still ongoing. The Neolithic age lasted until about 2,000 B. C. In China. It is defined by the spread of settled agricultural communities, although hunting and gathering was still practiced.

Agriculture was practiced more in the southern part of the Yellow River where millet was the main crop. Although different cultures had different traits, it has been revealed that several 6000-5000 BC cultures in southern and northern China had shared traits such as an elevated economy based on rice cultivation.

Agriculture and domestication of livestock husbandry developed during this era. Their housing developed patterns. Painted pottery was the forerunner of the more sophisticated pottery of later periods for which China gained world fame. The eastern people contributed the pottery wheel. The use of jade was another lasting contribution this era to later civilization. The use of pottery and jade also revealed an emerging hierarchy in society.

The geography of China during this period was different from what it is today. It climate was more moist and it was warmer. China had lakes and marshes and the mountains were well forested with a variety of animals. Another aspect that distinguishes this period is the appearance of handicrafts such as wares made from pottery and jade and weaving.

Pottery was decoratively painted with different colors and in different shapes. Clans were formed by people having the same kin and ancestors. And an animal or a plant was usually used as an identifier for each clan. Members of the same clan had the same status and belongings and worked together.

The fruits of their labors divided equally by the head of the clan. In a clan, marriages had to follow strict stipulations. Silk production, for which China gained fame had already been invented before the commencement of this age.

New discoveries from this age are revealing that the people made flutes from the hollow bones of birds, cultivated short grain rice, made millet noodles and produced alcohol from grain.

The real stars of the museum are the Banpo people and what is revealed by their settlement. As recent Neolithic discoveries have revealed, these people played a part in the evolution of civilization in China. For this reason it is not surprising that the Banpo Museum in Xian is one of the most visited Xian Tours, in a city which has no shortage of fabulous sites to enthrall the tourist.