Beixin culture

The Beixin culture (5300–4100 BC) was a Neolithic culture in Shandong, China. It was the successor of the Houli culture (6500–5500 BC) and precursor of the Dawenkou culture (4100–2600 BC).

The type site at Beixin was discovered in Tengzhou, Shandong, China. The site was excavated from 1978 to 1979.

Excavation findings

Fifty sites from the culture were discovered, located in central and southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu provinces. These show evidence of millet cultivation and water buffalo, pig, and chicken domestication. The Beixin people fished for carp in the nearby river, hunted deer, and foraged for wild pears, roots and tubers. They made extensive use of hemp fibers to weave fabric for clothing, to make baskets, and for various forms of thread, twine and rope, including their fishing nets. There is no evidence of hemp cultivation, but it grew wild in great abundance throughout the region. Small quantities of hemp seeds have been recovered, but archaeologists believe these were acquired as a food source rather than for planting.