Ancient site · Settlement
Jiahu
Jiahu, near Wuyang in Henan, was a moated village of the early Peiligang culture, settled about 7000 BCE and abandoned after a flood around 5700 BCE. It housed perhaps 250–800 people.
Jiahu is famous for 33 flutes carved from crane wing bones, among the oldest playable instruments in the world, and for signs scratched on tortoise shells and bones. Some see these 'Jiahu symbols' as early proto-writing, but most scholars think they are only a long tradition of sign use, not writing. Residues suggest an early fermented drink of rice, honey and fruit.
- Dates
- c. 7000–5700 BCE
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- Location
- 33.61° N, 113.67° E
How we know
No readable writing exists; the village is dated by radiocarbon, and whether signs scratched on its shells are an early form of writing is debated.
Nearby sites
- Peiligang c. 7000–5000 BCE (Peiligang culture)
- Zhengzhou Shang City c. 1600–1400 BCE
- Erlitou c. 1750–1500 BCE (older estimates from c. 1900 BCE)
- Yinxu (Anyang) c. 1250–1046 BCE
- Taosi c. 2300–1900 BCE
- Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang and the Terracotta Army 246–209 BCE
Related
- Peiligang culture archaeological culture