Those cultures are the Yellow River Basin

Cultural Sites in the Yellow River Basin

The Yellow River is the mother river of our nation, which, after flowing unceasingly for ages, has given birth to the world's oldest and most splendid civilization. According to the stone tools used by ancient human beings 1.8 million years ago found at the Xihoudu site on the east bank of the Yellow River in Ruicheng County, Shanxi Province, it can be believed that human beings were already active in the Yellow River Basin as early as 1.8 million years ago. More than 30 stone artifacts have been unearthed at Xihoudu, which is the earliest representative of human cultural remains found on the Chinese mainland so far.

The materials of Xihoudou culture, which used animal bones and horns to make tools and use fire, are the earliest representatives not only in the Yellow River Basin, but also in other regions of the country and in the world.

-Reflecting the ancient ape culture are:

Xihoudou Ape Culture

Discovered in 1961 in Xihoudou, Ruicheng, Shanxi Province, 1.5 million to 1.8 million years ago, it is the Early Paleolithic Ape Culture of northern China.

Lantian Ape-Man Culture

Discovered in 1963 and 1964 in Lantian, Shaanxi Province, the Gongwangling Ape-Man is 1 million to 1.15 million years old, and the Chenjiawo Ape-Man is 500,000 to 590,000 years old. It is a culture of late Paleolithic apes.

Dali Ape Culture

Discovered in 1978 in Shaanxi Dali sweet water ditch, nearly 300,000 years to 500,000 years ago, for the late ape culture.

-Reflecting the culture of ancient Homo sapiens are:

Dingcun Ancient Culture

Discovered in Dingcun on the east bank of the Fen River in Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province, from 1954 to 1976, 70,000 to 90,000 years ago, belonging to the Middle Paleolithic culture, for the early Homo sapiens.

Hetao Newcomer Culture

Discovered in 1922 and 1956-1960 in Dagouwan, Uttarakhand, Inner Mongolia, about 30,000 years ago, as the Late Homo sapiens.

--Modern man is a direct evolution from the new man, divided into four stages:

Fine stoneware culture

10,000 to 7,000 years ago, the Loess Plateau many places found in the era of cultural sites, such as Dali Shayuan in Shaanxi, Shanxi Qingshui Shichuan and other places.

Neolithic culture

7,000 to 3,700 years ago, according to the earliest discovery site and the stage of development it represents, it is divided into three phases: the early phase is called Yangshao culture, 7,000 to 5,000 years ago, and it was discovered in Yangshao Village, Mianchi County, Henan Province in 1921; the middle phase is called Longshan culture, 5,000 to 4,100 years ago, and it was discovered in 1928 in Longshan Town, Zhangqiu County, Shandong Province; the middle phase is called Longshan culture, 5,000 to 4,100 years ago. Longshan Town, Zhangqiu County, Shandong Province; the late period is called the Erlitou Culture, 4,100 to 3,700 years ago, and was first discovered in Erlitou, Yanshi, Henan Province, as a cultural site of the Xia Dynasty.

Half-slope site is located in half-slope village on the east bank of Chan River in the eastern part of Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, is a typical matriarchal clan commune village site in the Yellow River Basin, belonging to one of the early types of Yangshao culture, about 6,000 years ago. The total area of the site is about 50,000 square meters, divided into residential area, pottery making area and burial area. in the spring of 1953, the city of Xi'an in the construction of the textile city was found, excavated an area of 10,000 square meters, and obtained a rich cultural heritage.

Bronze Culture

3,700 to 2,700 years ago, can be divided into three phases: the early period for the Erligang culture, that is, Zhengzhou Shangcheng culture, 3,620 years ago, for the Early Shang Dynasty; the middle period for the Yinxu culture, that is, the Xiaotuncun culture of Anyang, Henan, roughly the 14th century B.C. to the 11th century B.C., for the Late Shang Dynasty; and the late period for the Qishan culture, that is, the Shanxi Qishan Fengdicun Western Zhou capital city culture site.

Iron Culture

Appeared in the early Spring and Autumn period in 770 BC, such as the Spring and Autumn cast iron site found in Cangcheng, Xinzheng, Henan Province, the burial site of the Warring States period found in Guwei Village, Weihui City, Henan Province, and the site of the Sui and Tang Dynasty Capitol City Culture in Xi'an, found around Xi'an.

The Mesolithic Age, a transitional stage or intermediate link between the Paleolithic Age and the Neolithic Age.In 1956, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in conjunction with the construction of the Sanmenxia Reservoir on the Yellow River, discovered 15 sites in the Shayuan area of Dali County, Shaanxi Province, where beaten stone flakes and stone tools remained, and ****collected more than 3,000 specimens. Based on the characteristics of these stone tools, they were considered to be the remains of the Mesolithic to Early Neolithic period, thus naming it the first Mesolithic culture in China, the Shayuan culture.

From the Mesolithic Age, the Yellow River Valley became the center of China's ancient cultural development. The Mesolithic was characterized by a natural economy in which social and economic life was dominated by fishing, hunting and gathering, and agriculture had not yet emerged. During the Mesolithic, the widespread use of fine stone tools promoted the development of the hunting and gathering economy. Over the past few decades, a large number of cultural remains mainly of fine stone tools have been found in the Yellow River Basin, which not only has the potential to fill in the missing link between the old and new Stone Ages in China, but also shows that the most developed area of fine stone tool craftsmanship in China during the Mesolithic is the Yellow River Basin. Some archaeologists believe that it was on the basis of the late Paleolithic culture in North China that the Mesolithic culture represented by the fine craft tradition was formed, and it was only afterwards that the Neolithic culture, which was mainly based on the agricultural economy, was developed in the Yellow River Basin. Therefore, since the Mesolithic, the Yellow River basin has become the center of China's ancient cultural development.