and other animals; and raised silkworms. Marks of fabrics found on some pottery indicate that the crafts of spinning and weaving were well advanced. Banpo~type settlements have been excavated in other parts of Shaanxi Province, as well as in southern Shanxi, southeastern Gansu, and northern Hubei provinces. "Cord~marked" earthenwares with a variety of surface patterns (No. 2) constituted the bulk of Banpo ceramics; black~painted pottery (No. 3) formed only a small percentage of the total Banpo ceramic inventory. Miaodigou. A later phase of the Yangshao culture in this region is typified by the remains discovered in 1953 at Miaodigou in Shan xian, Henan Province. Both archaeological evidence and radiocarbon dating have shown the Miaodigou period to be somewhat later than the Banpo. H The Miaodigou culture was distributed over 3· BOWL. Earthenware with painted decoration. Neolithic a larger area than the Banpo; important sites have been period, ca. 48oo-36oo B.c. Yangshaoculture, Banpophase. found in eastern Shaanxi, eastern Gansu, and southern Excavated at Banpocun, Xian, Shaanxi Province. From Shanxi provinces. While "cord~marked" wares still Historical Relics Unearthed in New China, 1972. dominated the ceramics during the Miaodigou phase, painted pottery was more prevalent than before. White slip was frequently used on Miaodigou painted pottery; designs were primarily drawn in black, although some red was also used. The Yangshao culture at Dadiwan. Recent excavations have shown that the Yangshao culture extended farther into the upper Wei River valley than was originally believed. As has been seen, the Early Neolithic Dadiwan~l cultural level found at the Qinan xian site in eastern Gansu Province lay under an early Yangshao cultural stratum. This early Yangshao cultural stratum was one of three successive Yangshao cultural layers that were found at the Dadiwan site. They are considered to belong to early, middle, and late periods. 9 The cultural assemblages of the early and middle layers were Banpo and Miaodigou types, respectively, with ceramics that were similar to other Banpo and Miaodigou wares. Material found in the late layer was related to that of the Majiayao Yangshao culture described below.

The Yangshao Culture in the Upper Yellaw River Valley: The Majiayao Culture From its earliest to its latest phase, the succeeding Majiayao Yangshao culture-sometimes referred to as the Gansu Yangshao culture-continued for about two thousand

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