Page 70 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

Painted pottery pen basin;
height 12.5 (5), Majiayao
culture; excavated in 1995
from Zongri, Tongde,
Qinghai province (M 157).

tions were somewhat below ground level, and the vestibules contained steps leading down to
the floor level. In the later period, the houses were built at ground level, but the vestibule was
still retained. Most of the houses during both periods are oriented northwest, toward the river.
Several thousand artifacts, including pottery, bone, and stone implements were unearthed
at Linjia. Some of these items were found within the confines of the house foundations,
apparently left behind when the dwellings were deserted. A collection of especially beautiful
ceramics was recovered from the late-phase dwelling designated as F 16, among them a guan
and two tall water-jars with refined decoration and a well-shaped pen basin with a rounded
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bottom and a broad sloping rim. In two of the vessels from another late-phase dwelling (F 8)
were discovered the carbonized remains of hemp (Cannabis sativa).
The ashpits located around the dwellings were also rich in artifacts, including the frag-
ments of countless ceramic vessels. One of these ashpits (H 19) contained a large amount of
carbonized broom-corn millet (Panicum miliaceum), the grain that evidently formed the agricul-
tural basis of the Linjia economy. Apart from the stone knives used in harvesting the millet,
bone arrowheads, and spears, some with their edges inset with microlithic blades, indicate
that the diet of the Linjia people was supplemented by the meat of wild animals. Stone axes
and adzes, used in felling trees and in woodworking, were also found in abundance.
A particularly surprising find at Linjia was knife blade made of bronze, said to have been
uncovered from beneath the foundations of a late-stage dwelling (F 20), as well as bits of slag
removed from an ashpit (H 54). These finds have been questioned by scholars as probable later
intrusions, because it is generally believed that metalworking was unknown in Gansu province

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