Archaeological culture · c. 3300–2300 BCE
Liangzhu culture
The Liangzhu culture of the Yangtze delta, around Lake Tai, was the last and greatest Neolithic jade culture of China. Its rice farmers built a walled centre near Hangzhou with large dams for water control.
Jade, silk, ivory and lacquer appear only in elite graves, showing a sharply ranked society that many scholars regard as an early state. It may have declined after severe flooding.
See Liangzhu culture on the map in 3300 BCE
- On the map
- 3300–2300 BCE
How we know
No writing existed; the culture is dated by radiocarbon, and symbols carved on some objects have not been shown to be writing.
Sites
- Liangzhu City c. 3300–2300 BCE