﻿472 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  The 
  other 
  sort 
  of 
  northern 
  ware, 
  far 
  finer 
  in 
  texture 
  and 
  apparently, 
  

   in 
  some 
  instances 
  at 
  least, 
  made 
  on 
  some 
  rudimentary 
  form 
  of 
  potter's 
  

   wheel, 
  likewise 
  displays 
  a 
  wide 
  range 
  of 
  shapes, 
  which 
  as 
  a 
  rule 
  differ 
  

   from 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  foregoing 
  type. 
  This 
  finer 
  ware 
  occurs 
  more 
  espe- 
  

   cially 
  along 
  the 
  great 
  migration 
  route 
  from 
  Chinese 
  Turkistan 
  across 
  

   northern 
  China 
  to 
  southern 
  Manchuria. 
  Varying 
  in 
  hue 
  from 
  a 
  light 
  

   bluff 
  to 
  a 
  dark 
  reddish 
  brown, 
  it 
  is 
  as 
  a 
  rule 
  highly 
  burnished; 
  some- 
  

   times 
  it 
  bears 
  simple 
  geometric 
  designs 
  in 
  color, 
  most 
  likely 
  with 
  some 
  

   magical 
  or 
  symbolic 
  meaning. 
  

  

  Both 
  types 
  of 
  ware 
  occur 
  together, 
  however, 
  and 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  

   made 
  by 
  the 
  same 
  people. 
  The 
  Chinese 
  burnished 
  pottery 
  gradually 
  

   deteriorated 
  and 
  finally 
  died 
  out 
  before 
  the 
  dawn 
  of 
  history. 
  Not 
  so, 
  

   however, 
  with 
  the 
  coarse 
  gray 
  ware 
  ; 
  for 
  this 
  kept 
  on 
  being 
  made, 
  at 
  

   least 
  by 
  the 
  peasantry, 
  until 
  well 
  within 
  the 
  Christian 
  Era. 
  

  

  In 
  northern 
  and 
  especially 
  northeastern 
  China 
  there 
  has 
  also 
  recently 
  

   come 
  to 
  light 
  a 
  very 
  fine 
  black 
  pottery, 
  somewhat 
  later 
  than 
  the 
  kind 
  

   just 
  discussed. 
  It 
  was, 
  however, 
  still 
  Neolithic 
  ; 
  for 
  no 
  metal 
  has 
  been 
  

   found 
  with 
  it. 
  Its 
  exact 
  significance 
  is 
  not 
  yet 
  clearly 
  understood. 
  

  

  Trade. 
  — 
  Trade 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  little 
  developed 
  in 
  China 
  then, 
  

   for 
  given 
  communities 
  were 
  self-sustaining. 
  No 
  particular 
  demand 
  

   for 
  imports 
  had 
  as 
  yet 
  arisen. 
  Cowry 
  shells 
  from 
  the 
  southern 
  sea- 
  

   coasts 
  and 
  obsidian 
  (volcanic 
  glass) 
  for 
  certain 
  implements 
  must 
  have 
  

   been 
  traded 
  from 
  considerable 
  distances 
  ; 
  so 
  contacts 
  of 
  some 
  sort 
  must 
  

   have 
  existed, 
  most 
  probably 
  of 
  an 
  indirect, 
  "hand-to-hand" 
  sort. 
  

  

  Religion. 
  — 
  Religion 
  in 
  northern 
  China, 
  as 
  in 
  most 
  lands 
  during 
  

   the 
  Neolithic 
  period, 
  most 
  likely 
  consisted 
  of 
  beliefs 
  in 
  magic 
  and 
  

   animism 
  and 
  in 
  orgiastic 
  ceremonies 
  for 
  the 
  promotion 
  of 
  fertility 
  

   in 
  general. 
  In 
  these, 
  women 
  probably 
  played 
  a 
  large 
  part. 
  In 
  China 
  

   as 
  elsewhere, 
  indications 
  of 
  human 
  sacrifice 
  and 
  cannibalism 
  have 
  

   been 
  found 
  in 
  this 
  connection. 
  

  

  The 
  bodies 
  of 
  the 
  dead 
  were 
  buried 
  in 
  the 
  earth; 
  for 
  cremation 
  

   has 
  never 
  been 
  general 
  in 
  China. 
  

  

  Discussion. 
  — 
  The 
  Neolithic 
  stage 
  of 
  culture 
  in 
  northern 
  China 
  

   lacked 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  elements 
  that 
  it 
  needed 
  to 
  develop 
  into 
  a 
  more 
  

   advanced 
  civilization. 
  However, 
  it 
  long 
  survived 
  the 
  advent 
  of 
  the 
  

   Bronze 
  Age, 
  and 
  formed 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  the 
  peasant 
  culture 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  

   period 
  — 
  just 
  as 
  it 
  has 
  done 
  in 
  large 
  measure 
  during 
  even 
  later 
  times. 
  

  

  A 
  word 
  may 
  be 
  said 
  here 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  influence 
  of 
  bamboo 
  on 
  

   cultural 
  progress 
  over 
  so 
  much 
  of 
  southeastern 
  Asia. 
  That 
  plant 
  

   (which 
  anciently 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  extended 
  somewhat 
  farther 
  north 
  

   than 
  now) 
  lends 
  itself 
  to 
  such 
  a 
  wide 
  variety 
  of 
  uses 
  of 
  all 
  kinds 
  that 
  

   its 
  presence 
  appears 
  to 
  have 
  acted 
  as 
  a 
  definite 
  deterrent 
  to 
  experi- 
  

   mentation 
  with 
  other 
  materials, 
  and 
  so 
  to 
  further 
  progress. 
  (See 
  

   pi. 
  4). 
  

  

  