View source for Beifudi

{{Short description|Archaeological site}}
{{Coord missing|Hebei}}
[[File:China provinces hebei.png|thumb|Location of [[Hebei|Hebei Province]]]]
'''Beifudi''' ({{zh|s=北福地}}) is an archaeological site and [[Neolithic]] village in [[Yi County, Hebei|Yi County]], [[Hebei]], China.<ref name="archdis"/>  The site, an area of 3 ha on the northern bank of the Yishui River, contains [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]] of a culture contemporaneous with the [[Cishan culture|Cishan]] and [[Xinglongwa culture|Xinglongwa]] cultures of about 8000&ndash;7000 BP,<ref name="archdis"/> two known Neolithic cultures east of the [[Taihang Mountains]], and thus fills an archaeological gap between the two Northern Chinese cultures. The total excavated area is more than 1,200 square meters and  the collection of neolithic findings at the site has been conducted in two phases.<ref name="archdis">{{cite web
|url=http://www.kaogu.cn/en/detail.asp?ProductID=982
|title=New Archaeological Discoveries and Researches in 2004 -- The Fourth Archaeology Forum of CASS
|publisher=Institute of Archaeology - Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
|accessdate=2007-09-18
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512174808/http://www.kaogu.cn/en/detail.asp?ProductID=982
|archivedate=2011-05-12
}}
</ref>
This archaeological site was voted Number One in the Top Ten most outstanding archaeological findings in 2004 by Chinese archaeologists in their annual poll.<ref name="topten">{{cite web
|url=http://www.chinatoday.com.cn/English/e2005/e200509/p54.htm
|title=Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries of 2004
|publisher=chinatoday.com
|accessdate=2007-09-18
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430143637/http://www.chinatoday.com.cn/English/e2005/e200509/p54.htm
|archive-date=2008-04-30
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>
==Findings==
The most significant discovery in the first phase of the site's excavation is the large number of [[pottery]] [[masks]] in the shape of human and animal faces, the oldest extant carvings to date. A dozen carved clay masks, in cat, monkey and pig as well as human likenesses, have been unearthed at Beifudi. One mask of a human face has a mouth and nose in  carved [[relief]] and the eyes are pierced out. The first [[engraving|engrave]]d clay artifacts ever found in ruins of this age, the masks add several millennia to China's history of [[Stone carving|carving]].<ref name="topten"/>
These artifacts, along with raised platforms, or  [[altar]]s,  may provide information on various early religious practices.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/Archaeology/149496.htm#1
|title=Prehistoric Site at Beifudi, Yixian County, Hebei Province.
|publisher=china.org.cn
|accessdate=2007-09-18
}}
</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.chinaheritagenewsletter.org/articles.php?searchterm=002_topten.inc&issue=002
|title=Beifudi prehistoric site, Yixian county, Hebei province Date: neolithic
|publisher=chinaheritagenewsletter
|accessdate=2007-09-18
| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070830104132/http://www.chinaheritagenewsletter.org/articles.php?searchterm=002_topten.inc&issue=002| archivedate= 30 August 2007 | url-status= live}}
</ref> Although the beliefs of these Neolithic people are not known, the early Chinese almost certainly performed [[ritual]] [[ceremonial]] [[sacrifice]]s and burned [[burial]]s (''fanyi'') on the raised  platforms,  as both human and animal burials have been found.  The masks are believed to be part of the ritual performances accompanying sacrifices and burials.<ref name="lui">{{cite book
| first= Lui
| last= Xujie
| year= 2002
| title= Chinese Architecture -- The Origins of Chinese Architecture
| edition= English
| publisher= Yale University Press
| location=
| pages= [https://archive.org/details/chinesearchitect0000unse/page/16 16&ndash;18]
| isbn= 0-300-09559-7
| url= https://archive.org/details/chinesearchitect0000unse/page/16
}}</ref>
Excavations in the second phase, dating to 6500&ndash;7000 BP<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.kaogu.cn/en/detail.asp?ProductID=982
|title=New Archaeological Discoveries and Researches in 2004 -- The Forth Archaeology Forum of CASS
|publisher=Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Science
|accessdate=2013-03-06
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512174808/http://www.kaogu.cn/en/detail.asp?ProductID=982
|archivedate=2011-05-12
}}
</ref> include  pottery and [[stone tool]]s, [[Ceramic art|ceramic]] [[Pottery|pot]]s (including the round-bottom fu vessel, the vessel seat, and  the bo bowl) and  small-mouth-double-handled pots.<ref name="archdis"/> Archaeologists have unearthed the ruins of ten well-preserved [[cave]] shelters  concentrated in one location, arranged systematically with cooking and living areas  located in the center of the dwellings. Artifacts excavated  from dwellings include  stone blocks, [[building material]]s, and  broken pottery.
Ash pits, and  [[sacrificial]] sites have been excavated as well as pieces of [[jade]] and very well preserved carved ceramic masks.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://english.people.com.cn/200502/28/eng20050228_174889.html
|title=Ruins of prehistoric village discovered in N. China
|publisher=People's Daily Online
|accessdate=2007-09-18
}}
</ref>
==Conclusions==
Drawing on [[archaeology]], [[geology]] and [[anthropology]], modern scholars do not see the origins of the [[Culture of China|Chinese civilization]] or [[Chinese history]] as one story but rather the history of the interactions of many different cultures and many different [[ethnic groups]] that influenced each other's development. As the prehistoric Beifudi site is in northern China where the climate is drier than in the south, it is likely that this culture cultivated [[millet]] although no direct evidence of cultivation has been found. The finding of stone tools for food processing does not reliably prove that the culture had developed agriculture as such tools were used before the cultivation of crops.<ref name="cambridge">{{cite book
| first=Patricia
| last=Ebrey
| year=2006
| title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of China
| edition=
| publisher=Cambridge University Press
| location=
| pages=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgeillustr00ebre_0/page/12 12]&ndash;18
| isbn=0-521-43519-6
| url-access=registration
| url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgeillustr00ebre_0
}}</ref>
The importance of the prehistoric Beifudi site lies in its potential to provide archaeological information on the beliefs and ceremonial practices of this ancient culture through the ancient carved artifacts found there, as well as further understanding of the beginnings of [[Chinese architecture]].
==Footnotes==
<references/>
==External links==
*[http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/Archaeology/149496.htm Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries of 2004]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080515203022/http://www.hceis.com/product/index/Archaeology/the%20complete%20collection%20of%20jades%20unearthed%20in%20china1.htm The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China-Vol.1 Jades Unearthed from the areas of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei 中国出土玉器全集-第一卷 北京-天津-河北出土的玉器 In Chinese and English bilingual]
{{Hebei topics}}
{{Prehistoric cultures of China}}
[[Category:Archaeological cultures of China]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in China]]
[[Category:Neolithic cultures of China]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Hebei]]
[[Category:Former populated places in China]]
[[Category:History of Hebei]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 6th millennium BC]]