Jiahu

Gudi flute found in Jiahu, in the Henan Museum

Jiahu ( Chinese 賈湖 / 贾湖 , Pinyin Jiǎhú - "Jia Lake") was a Neolithic settlement on the Yellow River in the central plains of ancient China , today Wuyang , Henan Province . Archaeologists, the site is one of the earliest examples of the Peiligang culture . It was settled from 7000 to 5800 BC. After that it was abandoned and later flooded. Jiahu was surrounded by a moat and covered an area of 55,000 square meters. It was discovered by Zhu Zhi in 1962, but excavations did not take place until much later. Most of the site has not yet been excavated.

Archaeologists have divided Jiahu into three phases. The oldest phase extends from 7000 to 6600 BC. BC, the middle phase from 6600 to 6200 BC And the last phase from 6200 to 5800 BC The last two phases belong to the Peiligang culture , while the earliest phase is unique to Jiahu.

The residents of Jiahu cultivated foxtail millet and rice. While millet cultivation was common, rice cultivation in Jiahu is unique. This rice cultivation is one of the earliest found and the northernmost at such an early stage in history.

More than 300 graves with grave goods have been excavated. These additions range from pottery to turtles and shells. One of the most important were playable tonal flutes . It was made from the wing bones of the red-crowned crane . The oldest phase in Jiahu contains only two flutes, a three-tone and a pentatonic. The middle phase contains several flutes, including an interesting pair of hexatonic flutes. One of the flutes was broken and the other flute appears to be a replica of the first. The second phase shows refinements to adjust the pitch. An invention of the last phase were the heptatonic flutes.

Some of the oldest pottery workshops in China's Neolithic Age have been found in Jiahu. Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania found evidence of alcohol from fermented rice, honey, and hawthorn using chemical analysis on the jars.

In Jiahu, archaeologists identified eleven Jiahu script characters , nine on turtle shells and two on bones, that are evidence of an early writing or preform. They belong to the middle phases. Some of the markings are very similar to the later Chinese characters: The symbol for eye (目) and sun (日).

The Jiahu site ( Chinese 賈湖遺址 / 贾湖遗址 , Pinyin Jiǎhú Yízhǐ ) in Wuyang has been on the list of monuments of the People's Republic of China (5-65) since 2001 .

literature

Lee Yuan-Yuan, Shen, Sinyan: Chinese Musical Instruments (Chinese Music Monograph Series) . Chinese Music Society of North America Press, 1999, ISBN 1-880464-03-9 .
Li Liu: The Chinese Neolithic: Trajectories to Early States. ISBN 0-521-81184-8 .
J. Zhang, Xinghua Xiao, Yun Kuen Lee: The early development of music. Analysis of the Jiahu bone flutes. In: Antiquity. 78 (302), 2004, pp. 769-779.
L. Xueqin, G. Harbottle, J. Zhang, C. Wang: The earliest writing? Sign use in the seventh millennium BC at Jiahu, Henan Province, China. In: Antiquity. 77 (295). 2003, pp. 31-45.

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33.583333333333 113.7Coordinates: 33 ° 35 ' N , 113 ° 42' E