﻿FAR 
  EASTERN 
  CIVILIZATIONS 
  — 
  BISHOP 
  469 
  

  

  NEOLITHIC 
  PERIOD 
  

  

  Characteristics. 
  — 
  This 
  stage 
  of 
  culture 
  is 
  characterized 
  by 
  the 
  use 
  

   of 
  ground 
  and 
  polished 
  stone 
  for 
  tools 
  and 
  implements, 
  but 
  it 
  also 
  

   marks 
  a 
  really 
  tremendous 
  step 
  in 
  man's 
  progress 
  ; 
  for 
  it 
  was 
  then 
  that 
  

   he 
  became 
  a 
  producer 
  of 
  food 
  instead 
  of 
  depending, 
  as 
  he 
  had 
  always 
  

   done 
  hitherto, 
  on 
  what 
  he 
  could 
  find 
  for 
  his 
  nourishment, 
  whether 
  

   animal 
  or 
  vegetable. 
  It 
  was 
  then 
  that 
  he 
  began 
  to 
  domesticate 
  various 
  

   kinds 
  of 
  animals 
  (except 
  the 
  dog, 
  already 
  associated 
  with 
  man 
  far 
  

   earlier) 
  and 
  different 
  food 
  plants. 
  

  

  This 
  Neolithic 
  phase 
  of 
  culture 
  prevailed 
  over 
  practically 
  the 
  entire 
  

   globe, 
  only 
  disappearing 
  from 
  different 
  areas 
  as 
  civilization 
  slowly 
  

   diffused 
  itself. 
  This 
  was 
  true 
  of 
  eastern 
  Asia 
  as 
  of 
  every 
  other 
  region 
  ; 
  

   thus 
  the 
  Ainu 
  of 
  the 
  Kurile 
  Islands, 
  northeast 
  of 
  Japan 
  proper, 
  re- 
  

   mained 
  in 
  that 
  stage 
  until 
  well 
  into 
  the 
  nineteenth 
  century. 
  

  

  About 
  the 
  Neolithic 
  period 
  in 
  western 
  and 
  southern 
  China 
  we 
  as 
  yet 
  

   know 
  little, 
  for 
  not 
  a 
  great 
  deal 
  of 
  archeological 
  work 
  has 
  been 
  done 
  

   there. 
  Of 
  that 
  of 
  northern 
  China, 
  Korea, 
  and 
  Japan, 
  we 
  know 
  

   much 
  more. 
  The 
  Neolithic 
  inhabitants 
  of 
  these 
  regions 
  seem 
  nowhere 
  

   to 
  have 
  been 
  pastoral 
  nomads 
  but 
  invariably 
  semisedentary 
  planters. 
  

   It 
  is 
  also 
  interesting 
  to 
  note 
  that 
  in 
  northern 
  China 
  at 
  least 
  the 
  skeletal 
  

   evidence 
  shows 
  the 
  prehistoric 
  population 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  directly 
  an- 
  

   cestral 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  one. 
  

  

  Like 
  the 
  Neolithic 
  culture 
  of 
  much 
  of 
  eastern 
  Asia 
  was 
  the 
  one 
  that 
  

   we 
  find 
  in 
  northern 
  China 
  (Bishop, 
  1932a) 
  . 
  There, 
  however, 
  it 
  disap- 
  

   peared, 
  or 
  perhaps 
  more 
  accurately 
  was 
  submerged, 
  under 
  a 
  developed 
  

   civilization 
  of 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  type, 
  with 
  a 
  knowledge 
  of 
  metal, 
  consid- 
  

   erably 
  sooner 
  than 
  was 
  the 
  case 
  in 
  many 
  adjacent 
  lands. 
  In 
  parts 
  of 
  

   Mongolia, 
  Manchuria, 
  Korea, 
  and 
  Japan, 
  for 
  example, 
  Neolithic 
  

   cultures 
  survived 
  until 
  the 
  Christian 
  Era 
  and 
  even 
  longer. 
  

  

  In 
  northern 
  China 
  this 
  cultural 
  phase 
  spread 
  over 
  the 
  entire 
  country 
  

   save 
  for 
  areas 
  subject 
  to 
  seasonal 
  inundation 
  or 
  too 
  heavily 
  timbered 
  

   for 
  easy 
  clearing 
  with 
  stone 
  tools. 
  There 
  as 
  elsewhere 
  (for 
  instance 
  

   in 
  Europe) 
  , 
  the 
  Neolithic 
  peasants 
  sought 
  more 
  especially 
  lands 
  cov- 
  

   ered 
  with 
  loess 
  soil, 
  as 
  being 
  at 
  once 
  more 
  fertile 
  than 
  others 
  and 
  less 
  

   densely 
  overgrown 
  with 
  trees 
  and 
  brush. 
  

  

  Habitations. 
  — 
  Habitations 
  in 
  northern 
  China, 
  as 
  in 
  so 
  many 
  other 
  

   northern 
  lands 
  during 
  this 
  stage 
  of 
  progress, 
  were 
  pit 
  dwellings 
  or 
  

   earth 
  lodges, 
  roughly 
  circular 
  in 
  form 
  and 
  beehive-shaped, 
  usually 
  with 
  

   a 
  depth 
  and 
  diameter 
  of 
  around 
  10 
  feet, 
  and 
  entered 
  from 
  the 
  top. 
  

   (See 
  pi. 
  2.) 
  

  

  The 
  Chinese 
  character 
  hsiieh, 
  now 
  meaning 
  a 
  den 
  or 
  cave, 
  in 
  its 
  

   ancient 
  form 
  clearly 
  represents 
  a 
  vertical 
  section 
  of 
  such 
  a 
  pit 
  dwelling, 
  

   with 
  its 
  domed 
  and 
  timbered 
  roof 
  (fig. 
  2). 
  Archeology 
  has 
  in 
  this 
  in- 
  

   stance, 
  as 
  in 
  so 
  many 
  others, 
  confirmed 
  the 
  evidence 
  of 
  epigraphy. 
  

  

  566766—44 
  31 
  

  

  