Hemudu – Chinese early Neolithic culture

Popova Anastasiia Senior Educator, Department of Chinese Language, Moscow City Pedagogical University 105064, Russia, g. Moscow, per. Malyi Kazennyi, 5-B, of. 507 anysta@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Shuraleva Milena Student, Department of Chinese Language, Moscow City University (MCU) 127238, Russia, Moscow, Dmitrovskoe highway, 34, building 2, office 204 shuralevama115@mgpu.ru

2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Chinese Neolithic Hamudu culture. And although half a century has passed, this culture has not yet been fully studied. It is of great interest not only for research scientists: historians, archaeologists who continue to study it, relying already on the achievements of modern science, but also for sinologists studying the ethnography and culture of China, as it allows us to trace the development of culture in prehistoric China, to see its influence not only on the culture of this state, but also the whole world.

Of course, the Hamudu culture has received coverage in Russian sinology, but these are either extremely brief articles in the "Great Russian Encyclopedia" ^[1] and in the "Sinologist's Handbook" on the website of the Chance publishing house (Hamudu, Culture, Chance International Publishing Company LLC), which do not give a deeper idea about the peculiarities of this culture, or a small (albeit specialized) passage in the monograph of the outstanding Russian sinologist S. R. Kuchery ^[2]. However, due to its more than rapid circulation (300 copies), this study does not always appear in the field of view of novice Sinologists. More information about Hamudu is given in Volume 1 of the "History of China" edited by A. P. Derevyanko ^{[3, pp. 185-191]}, but, in our opinion, it does not fully reveal the scale of the importance of Hamudu for the cultural genesis of Chinese civilization. In the sinological and historical literature, one can find articles devoted to individual artifacts and achievements of the Hamudu culture, for example, S. V. Laptev gives an overview of the development of society in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River of the Neolithic era, briefly describing the finds made by Chinese archaeologists ^[4], S. V. Alkin writes about the possible purpose and functions of "butterfly-like" desinci objects ^[5].

On the website "Sinology.<url>", which is an academic online source in the field of sinology, we found only 9 articles, and all of them are not exclusively devoted to the Hamudu culture, but only contain references to it. For example, M. E.'s articles are posted on the site. Kravtsova from the encyclopedia "Spiritual Culture of China", in which she briefly writes about Hamudu painted ceramics and its patterns ^{[6, p. 252]}, rice farming ^{[7, p. 81]}, lacquer products ^{[8, p. 275]}, weaving tools ^{[9, p. 284-285]}, but all these are just spot descriptions. In our opinion, there is a shortage of works devoted to the analysis of the role that Hamudu played in the cultural genesis of the entire Chinese civilization. In 2021, an attempt was made to present information about this culture in the article by M. A. Shuraleva "Chinese Neolithic culture of Hamudu" ^[10], aimed at the student audience. However, speaking in general, within the framework of teaching disciplines related to the history of Chinese culture, the materials available in Russian science about this Neolithic culture seem to us scattered in the literature on history and archaeology. The purpose of this study is to focus exclusively on the Neolithic Hamudu culture, systematization of information from various sources to demonstrate and analyze the achievements of this culture not through the prism of historical science, but through the prism of cultural genesis.

First of all, we must consider the main signs of cultural genesis, making them the foundation of this study. This will give us the opportunity to realize the purpose of this study – to demonstrate the cultural genesis of the Hamudu culture and its role in the development of Chinese and even world civilization.

The well-known Russian culturologist A. Ya. Flier sees the need to adapt human communities to the changing conditions of their existence by developing new forms (technologies and products) of activity and social interaction (things, knowledge, representations, symbols, social structures, mechanisms of socialization and communication, etc.) as the main prerequisite of cultural genesis. He plays an essential role in the process of cultural genesis. he also assigns individual creative search in intellectual, technical, artistic and other spheres ^{[11, pp. 264-265]}.

As signs of cultural genesis, we use the processes identified by A.Ya. Flier: the generation of individual cultural phenomena (forms and norms); the genesis of certain types and types of social activities (specialties), as well as subjects of this activity and their collective socio-professional associations; the genesis of cultural systems localized and formed on a territorial basis (ethnic, political, etc.); and finally, the genesis of the morphology of the stadial types of cultural systems, differing in their adaptive orientations ^{[12, p. 11]}. Below, using these signs, we will consider the features of the cultural genesis of Hamudu.

The area of distribution of the Hemudu culture extends to the Southeast along the mountain, Simensen () and rivers Aisan () plain Nihao () up to the island of Joshanda () on the South Bank of Hangzhou Bay (). The first settlement of this culture, on which excavations were carried out and from which it got its name, is located in the Hamudu village area (Yuyao County, Ningbo City District, Zhejiang Province). The culture dates from about 5010± 100-4775± 140 BC (radiocarbon uncalibrated dates) ^{[1, p. 242]}, according to other sources 6960-6725 BC ^{[13, p. 93]}. It belongs to the Neolithic cultures of the lower Yangtze River in eastern China. Previously, it was carried to the cultures luhenogo, but research on the monuments of the cultures of the Hemudu (), Tanlangan (), Liangzhu (), etc. they showed the originality and cultural independence of local centers of civilizational development ^{[14, p. 25]}.

The opening of the Hamudu parking lot was accidental. In the summer of 1973, the community of Yuyao County (now Hemudu, Yuyao City) decided to organize a water conservation project in the village of Dutou on the banks of the Yaojiang River to increase its ability to withstand floods. During the construction, a large number of pottery shards and animal bones were discovered, which attracted a lot of attention from the Department of Cultural Affairs. After two archaeological excavations in the winter of 1973-1974 and in the winter of 1977-1978, an area of 2,800 m2 was uncovered, more than 6,700 cultural artifacts were collected. During the study of the finds, a large amount of cultivated rice, large remains of wooden buildings, many remains of animals and plants were discovered, which provided rich and valuable material for studying the origins of Chinese civilization, agriculture, animal husbandry, primitive construction, weaving, art. As a result, these archaeological sites in academic circles have been called the Hamudu culture. In 1982 The Chinese government announced an ancient settlement Hemudu the most important state protected cultural monument of the second category [, ].

The Hamudu site is located in the northern part of Simingshan Mountain, where a low hill and the plain of the Yaojiang River Valley meet. The total area of the primitive Hamudu settlement is about 40 thousand m2, the thickness of the cultural layer is about 4 m ^{[10, p. 576]}. It consists of 4 horizons formed over 2000 years: the first dates from the period 5600-5300 years ago, the second – 6000-5600 years ago, the third – 6300-6000 years ago and the oldest, the fourth – 7000-6500 years ago ^{[15, pp. 504-505]}.

The archaeological finds in Hamudu are well preserved. Since the cultural layers in Hamudu were so low that they were swamped, organic remains, wood were unusually numerous and well preserved. This includes rice grains, straw, chaff, wooden parts, pieces of wood, reeds, reed mats, ropes, fruits, leaves and stems of plants, artifacts made of various materials. The lower the Hemudu cultural layer was, the better the preservation of organic residues was manifested. Some of the objects found were fresh, brightly colored and seemed almost new ^{[16, p. 556]}.

The findings made in Hamudu allow us to conclude about the dynamic development of the general level of culture among the ancestors of modern Chinese who inhabited this area, which manifested itself primarily in the emergence of new technologies. Hamudu is a vivid example of an active transition from gathering and hunting to agriculture. This is proved by about 170 bone shovels found during excavations ^{[17, p. 34]}. Representatives of the Hamudu culture cultivated rice. In the 4th horizon of the cultural layer, a layer of rice accumulation was found distributed over a vast area, with a large number of rice, rice stalks and leaves stacked in layers, with a maximum thickness of 20 to 50 cm ^{[18, p. 1]}, and in some places it is about 1 m ^{[10, p. 216]}. After repeated sampling and identification, scientists came to the conclusion that this is artificially grown rice. It represents Asian cultivated rice of various types, such as late non-sticky rice, precocious and intermediate varieties ^{[19, p. 250]}.

The discovery of a large amount of rice in Hamudu is important evidence for overcoming disagreements about the origin of Asian rice, as well as the time and path by which rice was imported to Japan. This finding refutes the theory that Asian rice came to China from India, and makes it possible to assert that the lower Yangtze is the cradle of Asian rice (Zhejiang Government's Official Web Portal, "Hemudu Cultural Relics"). Thus, the lower reaches of the Yangtze River turned out to be one of the places where rice farming began to develop first of all in the world. It is noteworthy that until the early 1990s, before more ancient remains of rice were discovered in the central part of the Yangtze Basin Valley, Hamudu was considered the earliest agricultural culture only in East Asia ^{[20, p. 378]}. All this is of great importance for studying the origin of cultivated rice in China and its status in the history of rice farming.

In addition to primitive shovels, other tools were found on the territory of Hemudu, such as bone hooks, hoes and wooden pestles (Zhejiang Government's Official Web Portal, "Hemudu Cultural Relics"), which indicates the enrichment of the arsenal of agricultural tools among representatives of this culture. In turn, this contributed to the further development of agriculture and the spread of rice cultivation outside the area of the Hamudu culture.

During excavations in the 3rd and 4th horizons of the cultural layer, a large number of wooden piles, beams, and composite elements were found, which, according to Chinese researchers, are structures of pile structures of the "ganlan" type (). As you know, pile dwellings are usually built for two reasons: to protect against wild animals and to protect against the effects of the water element. Both factors played a significant role in Hamudu, let's look at them in more detail. The remains of at least 61 animals were found in the excavation sites, in particular tamed ones, such as pigs, dogs and water buffaloes. However, most of the bones belonged to wild animals, Asian elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, wolf, spotted deer, red-faced monkey, Chinese alligator, various fish, river mollusks, birds are identified among the bone remains (Zhejiang Government's Official Web Portal, "Hemudu Cultural Relics"). Obviously, large predators could pose a considerable threat to the Hamudus. As for water, the proximity of the river, the swampiness of the area, and most importantly, the location of the sites of this culture in the zone of subtropical, monsoon climate leave no doubt about the danger that water could sometimes pose to the lives of local residents and the integrity of their homes ^{[2, p. 204]}. Pile dwellings made it possible for the Hamudus not to be afraid of the proximity of water and the attack of animals. It is worth noting that the typical dwelling of the ancient Chinese in the north – in the valley of the Yellow River – was a semi-dugout, which typologically differs from the dwelling in Hamudu, adapted to local living conditions and towering above the ground. One of the signs of cultural genesis becomes obvious – the genesis of the morphology of the stadium types of cultural systems that differ in their adaptive orientations. It was the Hamudu dwelling that became the ancestor of traditional wooden architecture in southern China. Until now, in the language of the Dong nationality, the word "Ganlan" retains the meaning of "residential building", hence this term was borrowed into Chinese. Currently, the ganlan dwelling is a national treasure of Chinese traditional architecture, its historical value is extremely high. Analyzing the remains of these wooden pile structures, Chinese scientists found that the preserved parts demonstrate a developed system of groove-stud construction using dowels. Thus, it can be said that representatives of the Hamudu culture invented the carpentry technique of spike connection ("spike-nest") for the construction of wooden residential structures. In particular, 7 varieties of such compounds were found ^{[21, p. 52]}. The discovery of this technology proves that it began to be used already 7000 years ago, further influencing not only the development of architecture, but also furniture business.

One of the found houses had a length of more than 23 m, a width of 7 m and had an attached porch with a width of 1.3 m ^{[22, pp. 42-43]}. This size of the structure suggests that it was a public house in which members of the settlement could gather together. The floors of the house were covered with reed mats, many fragments of which have been preserved.

In the upper cultural horizons of the Hamudu Archaeological site, houses were already being built at ground level. The pillars were either sharpened and driven into the ground, or installed in pits for pillars filled with stones, shards and clay ^{[22, pp. 42-43]}. This indicates further development of the architecture.

The most important finds of the Hamudu culture also include the remains of a well with an internal wooden structure about 1.35 m deep, which at one time was covered with something like a gazebo or canopy ^{[13, pp. 50-51]}. This is the earliest of the oldest wells discovered to date in China ^{[23, p. 60]}. The presence of a wooden supporting structure inside the well once again serves us as evidence of the high level of development of construction in Hamudu. Also an interesting fact is that a canopy of poles covered with reed mats was built over the well, which served as protection from the sun and rain (, ""). This type of structure is a unique evidence of the development of the local residents' construction skills, based on understanding and adaptation to the geographical features of the wet marshy area where the ancient Neolithic Hamudu settlement was located. Based on this, we can say that representatives of the Hamudu culture at that time had already left the initial stage of nest-type structures, had relatively stable living conditions and developed construction technologies. This undoubtedly demonstrates the great cultural progress of the Hamudu people.

Thus, speaking about the developing rice farming, the creation of agricultural tools, new technologies in architecture and construction, we see the first manifestation of the process of cultural genesis – the generation of individual cultural phenomena (forms and norms). Both rice farming and the invention of the "spike-nest" technology, the construction of pile structures to protect against external factors unfavorable to life have played a big role in world culture.

If we talk about the artifacts found in Hamudu, then they can be divided into 2 groups: tools and jewelry. Consider tools made of stone and bone.

The number of stone artifacts in Hamudu is relatively small, mostly they were tools, hunting tools. Researchers divide the found stone tools into three types: axes, some of which even have ornaments, as well as chisels and grindstones. All of them have a small size and do not demonstrate precise grinding, traces of simple shearing on them are quite clearly visible ^{[24, p. 129]}. Most of the tools are tools for felling trees and processing wooden parts, and some could be used as agricultural tools and tools for processing bone and wood ^{[10, p. 577]}. Other stone tools include whetstones, saddle stones, and stone balls. The latter can be considered both as a tool for hunting, and as a tool for peeling grain and fruit with a hard shell, or as a primitive toy.

However, most of the tools found were made of wood and bone. The main agricultural tool in Hamudu, apparently, were massive coulters^{[1] [2, p. 195]} from the shoulder blades of artiodactyls. The ancient masters preserved their natural shape, but adjusted it for better adaptation to work. To do this, round or oblong holes were made in them, in which there were even traces of fastening them with a rope, apparently to a wooden stick ^{[2, p. 195]}. In addition to coulters, there are also shovels, harpoons for fish, arrowheads, whistles, short blades, awls, sawtooth products, etc. The technology of processing bone and wood in Hamudu was quite advanced. Some items are reinforced and decorated with rattan. It should be noted that when processing wooden objects such as shovels, T-shaped handles of dishes, arrowheads, spears, concave dishes, as well as objects whose parts had holes, fire was used to charring and removing excess wood. All objects are carefully polished, simple geometric patterns or a drawing of a two-headed bird are engraved on the handles of some daggers, pins for decoration, and some surfaces are even decorated with black paint ^{[15, p. 128]}. All this makes them not only utilitarian objects, but also examples of decorative and applied art of the Hamudu culture.

Wooden and pottery tools for weaving indicate the origin of textile culture. Archaeological finds clearly demonstrate that during the Hamudu period of the VI–V millennium BC, weaving was already present in people's daily lives. Before the remains of reed mats and wicker baskets were found in Jingtoushan in 2019, the earliest artifacts confirming the fact of its existence were wooden rollers for winding the finished fabric, knives for cutting the base and incisions for gaping, found on the territory of archaeological sites belonging to the Neolithic Hamudu culture ^{[9, pp. 284-285]}.

In Hamudu, fragments of reed mats dated 7200-5000 were found among the wooden remains of pile dwellings in the 4th horizon of the cultural layer. One fragment was woven using several strips of warp and weft in the form of a basket by the 2/2 technique, still widely used in Southeast Asia for house walls, room partitions and, most importantly, floors ^{[25, p. 364]}. These findings emphasize the understanding of the ancient Hamudu settlers of their surrounding nature and climate, as wicker floors and partitions serve to better ventilate the premises, without reducing the privacy of personal life.

Textile tools such as bone needles, spinning wheel parts, thread cutting knives and spindles found at the Hamudu parking lot indicate not only that textiles were widely used in people's lives at that time, but also that people have an evolving technology, a sense of aesthetics. All this marks the transition to a higher level of culture and civilization.

An outstanding find can be considered an oar made of a single piece of wood. In its form, it is similar to the modern one and is considered the oldest paddle known in China, since it is approximately 2000 years older than the previous find of this kind, discovered in Qianshanyang (, prov. Zhejiang) at the site of the Liangzhu culture ^{[2, p. 198]}. The paddle found in Hamudu at the point where the pole passes into the blade is decorated with a carved ornament "herringbone" ^{[15, pp. 139-140]}, which indicates a developed sense of aesthetics among the inhabitants of Hamudu.

Thus, we can fully agree with the opinion of S. R. Kucera, who believed that working with bone "not only satisfied the practical needs of the inhabitants of the parking lot, but also reflected their spiritual and aesthetic needs" ^{[2, p. 196]}.

A large number of ceramic products were found on the territory of the Hamudu culture, which demonstrate a fairly high technological level of the Hamudus, since the approximate maximum firing temperature was 1000 ?. The ceramics of the Hamudu culture are mainly products of coal-black color ^{[10, p. 578]}. The vessels were made by hand, from unwashed clay, to which a significant amount of organic substances were added, for example, husks, crushed stems and leaves, which during firing at low temperature, with a lack of oxygen in the reducing flame, carbonized, saturating the shards with coal grains, which eventually gave it a black color ^{[2, p.188]}. S. R. Kucera, relying on a special study conducted by researchers from the Shanghai Silicate Research Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the People's Republic of China, indicates that the firing temperature of ceramics from the lower three horizons of Hamudu did not exceed 900 ° C, but usually equaled 800-850 ° C, and only at the stage of the first horizon the ancient masters managed to reach 950-1000 ° C. Archaeologists have also discovered a small number of so - called "sandy" black ceramics, which included a small amount of sand, as well as ceramics made of gray clay ^{[2, pp. 188-189]}.

The technique of creating pottery is also of interest to researchers. Most of the pottery vessels of Hamudu were made using a ribbon^[2] techniques, but some of them were made using the technique of modeling or patchwork. The walls of the vessels are uneven in thickness. The types of vessels of that period already show a variety, include pots, pots, cups, plates, bowls-bo, basins, vats, bowls-yu, ovens, vessels with lids, stands, etc. Many pottery vessels have a simple surface ornament, embossed, notched, corded, etc. in ways. Jewelry on ceramics is often applied to prominent parts of objects, and the main techniques used include stick patterns, engraving (scratching), perforation, painting, etc. Carved images of animals are applied to the surface of some vessels ^{[26, p. 560]}. It is worth noting that the pottery tools used by the residents of Hamudu have reached a relatively specialized level, for example, pottery shovels, beaters, bone spatulas, etc. All of them, as a means of human conquest and transformation of nature, were an important symbol of the level of development of production in the society of that time. According to scientists, such finds at the sites of the Hamudu culture for their time represent probably the earliest painted ceramics of Southern China ^{[2, p. 188]}.

The drawings engraved on the neck and body of the pottery include the sun, moon, flowers, trees, fish, birds, insects and animals. Representative works include clay pots with a pattern of fish and algae, with a pattern of rice ears, with a pattern of a pig, a shard with a pattern of five leaves, etc. Hamudu ceramics were not only monochrome, but also painted: coffee and brownish-black colors. It was decorated with geometric patterns, highly stylized images of birds, turtles and unknown creatures resembling water spiders, which add up to lengthy compositions ^{[6, p. 252]}. The appearance of ornaments and ornamental compositions is a great progress in the primitive art of Hamudu. The artistic compositions on the found ceramic products can be divided into three categories: firstly, the expression of hope and favorable omens; secondly, the praise of nature; thirdly, the reflection of the creation of the totem and religious beliefs. These drawings not only reflect the love of Hamudu's ancestors for life and nature, but also show the inner world of ancient people who expected good weather and an unprecedented harvest in agriculture. Some of the pottery items were undamaged at the time of discovery. This shows that the people of the Hamudu culture cherished them very much. Most likely they were objects for sacrifices ^{[10, p. 578]}.

70 ceramic spinning wheels were also found, such a number indicates a fairly advanced weaving technology. Some of them are decorated with a double spiral and an ornament in the form of a cross ^{[4, p. 166]}.

The original works of ceramic art found in the area of the Hamudu culture are not only numerous, but also have a wide range of unique shapes and ornaments-plots. The variety of ornaments, of course, is most clearly manifested in the decoration of ceramics, but carved ornaments are also decorated with bone products.

If we talk about the art of carving, then the greatest interest for scientists are the findings of desinci – "butterfly-shaped products" () made by grinding. 35 such "butterflies" were found (including damaged ones). The material for their manufacture was stone, wood or bone ^{[26, p. 353]}. They got their name from their appearance, as they somewhat resemble a butterfly with open wings. Their purpose remains unknown. Regarding the methods of their use, the opinions of representatives of Chinese academic circles were divided, the following were proposed for consideration: a device for determining the direction, architectural decorations, part of the mechanism for throwing darts, sacrificial utensils, etc. ^{[27, p. 48]}. Russian researcher S. R. Kucera believes that despite the presence of holes, they, apparently, could not be used as sinkers for fishing nets, since it did not require cutting a complex ornament on them, and bone and wooden ones were simply not suitable for this purpose. The scientist also rejects the version that these artifacts could have been grinders, although they have some similarities with the grain grinders "on the legs" of the northern cultures of Qishan () and Peiligan ()). In his opinion, their use in this capacity would leave noticeable traces on them. The researcher suggests that two variants of using desinci appear to be the most likely: they served as ornaments or objects of worship (for example, amulets) ^{[2, p. 194]}.

S.V. Alkin points to an interesting assumption of Chinese archaeologists Wang Renxiang (?) and Yuan Jing () about the purpose and method of using these objects. They compared the Hamudu desinci and the "winged objects" used by the Eskimos of the Bering Sea, and found a clear similarity ^{[5, p. 85]}. Beringomorsky "winged objects" were found in burials together with harpoons, so the American archaeologist G. B. Collins hypothesized that the "winged object" was attached to the pommel of the shaft of a rotary harpoon as a weighting and stabilizer. At the same time, the researcher suggested their possible use in appropriate rituals ^{[28, pp. 200-201]}. According to Wang Renxiang and Yuan Jing, "desingzi and "winged objects" have obvious common features – a pair of "wings" and a device in the medial part for fixing the shaft in combination with additional holes for its strong fixation. However, it cannot be said that they are completely identical: unlike the closed groove of the Beringomorsk ones, the Hamudu samples have a kind of open bed for placing the cuttings. The ornamentation also differs: the "wings" of the Hamudu "butterflies" are smooth, smoothly polished, while the "winged objects" of the Eskimos have a more complex shape and are decorated with intricate ornaments" ^{[5, p. 85]}. No matter which researcher's opinion on the purpose and methods of using desinci we accept as the most satisfying, it is obvious that these subjects could have a multidimensional meaning and be multifunctional.

One of the most interesting is a desinci made of ivory with an ornament "A pair of birds looking at the sky", 16.6 cm long, 5.9 cm wide and 1.1 cm thick. The upper part is not completely preserved, and the lower part is slightly damaged. In the middle of the front part, five circles of different sizes are cut out, placed one inside the other. A pattern in the form of a flaming flame is engraved above the outer circle, which symbolizes the sun's rays, and birds looking up are depicted on both sides of it ^{[15, p. 284]}. Currently, the image of this object is a symbol of the museum of the ancient settlement of Hamudu.

A striking example of the development of the aesthetic ideas of the Hamudus can be called 3 carved ivory figures in the form of birds, 2 of which are perfectly preserved. These objects are shaped like a paper knife with a rounded blade, at the end of the handle is carved a bent bird's head with a hooked beak and a round eye, resembling an eagle. The center of the figure is the body and wings. The pattern applied to the body of the bird consists of oblique lines and is very similar to the plumage. The abdomen of the figure is thicker, with projections on the sides and perforated holes that were used for stringing and hanging. The tail of the bird is flat and long, slightly convex from the outside. Researchers believe that, although such exquisite works of art were the common property of the clan, only its head had the right to use them ^{[15, pp. 123-124]}.

Stone carvings are represented by various ornaments that are often found at the sites of the Hamudu culture, these are beads and rings carved mainly from jade and fluorite, as well as from fish bones, animal fangs. The high technical level that the findings demonstrate allows us to assume not only a highly developed sense of aesthetics among the Khamudus, but also that they were performed not by ordinary members of the community, but by craftsmen specializing in the manufacture of various tools, household items, jewelry. This, in turn, indicates one of the signs of cultural genesis – the genesis of certain types and types of social activities (specialties), as well as the subjects of this activity and their collective socio-professional associations, which A.Ya. Flier spoke about ^{[12, p. 11]}.

If we talk about another feature of cultural genesis, namely, the genesis of cultural systems that are localized and formed on a territorial basis (ethnic, political, etc.), then it is best illustrated by the centers of culture that are included in the Hamudu culture. In general, it includes more than 40 prehistoric settlements, mostly located in the Yaojiang River basin. The most important of these, in our opinion, are Sansachun (), Tarlochan (), Tashan (), etc. At the site of the discovery and the first excavations (22 km northwest of Ningbo) in 1993, the Museum of Excavations of the Hamudu parking lot was built.

Below we will take a closer look at the ancient settlement of Xiangjiashan as an example of the Hamudu culture.

The Neolithic settlement of Xiangjiashan () is adjacent to the archaeological site of Hamudu and is located in the village of Lushansy (), just 1 km southwest of Hamudu village. This site of ancient people's residence was opened in January 1994. The total area of the archaeological site is about 14 thousand square meters ^{[29, p. 37]}. In the first half of 1994, a local brick and tile factory removed a large amount of land from the southern slope of Xiangjiashan Mountain, the layers of the ancient parking lot were severely damaged. When this became known to the Cultural relics Department of Yuyao City, he reported it to the relevant provincial department. The Institute for the Study of Monuments of Material Culture and Archeology of Zhejiang Province, together with the Museum of the Hamudu Site, immediately organized forces to conduct urgent rescue excavations in order to avoid further destruction (, ""). At the same time, an area of 500 m2 was revealed, on which ancient people lived. The cultural layer, consisting of 4 conditional horizons, has a thickness of 2 m ^{[29, p. 37]}. Its main part correlates with the Hamudu culture. More than 150 items were found, for example, pottery, stone (jade) artifacts: adzes, coulters, sickles, shovels, sinkers for nets, stone knives, whetstone, etc.; bone and wood products, as well as animal and plant remains. An altar made of burnt red clay and funeral urns buried around the altar were also discovered. Funerary urns are of particular interest, as they were found for the first time for the Hamudu culture (, ""). All this testifies to the existence of a special funeral ritual, the custom of treating the dead, reflects the spiritual life of people of this culture.

Another interesting fact is that the excavations at the Xiangjiashan site may provide an opportunity to reconsider the real situation in the development of the culture of the so-called "coal ceramics" (). This type of black ceramics is characterized by the addition of coal as a desiccant in order to "reduce shrinkage" during the firing of ceramics and reduce its cracking. In this capacity, grain and plant residues were used in Hamudu's "coal ceramics". There is a possibility that the Khemudu people made pottery near their homes, and the grain inevitably fell into the clay, thus carbonaceous inclusions were formed after firing. However, some Chinese scientists say that the inclusion of coal was deliberately made by craftsmen. To do this, they first burned grain and plant fragments to get coal, and then mixed it with clay ^{[30, p. 110]}.

Of great interest from the point of view of cultural genesis and the spread of the Hamudu culture is a pitcher with a saucer-shaped whisk pankouhu (), which is one of the types of ceramic dishes of the third period of this Neolithic culture. Such jars were found in more than 100 km from Sansalone parked Hyangwonjeong () and Angeben () near the city of Jiaxing () in the South-East of the plain Hentzau (). The shape of this jug, the quality of the potsherd, the surface color, decorative pattern and other aspects are similar to Xiangjiashan potsherds (, ""). It becomes obvious that prehistoric settlements on both sides of Lake Taihu have already been involved in the process of expanding regional ties and have used the waterway for cultural exchange, at least since the late Hamudu culture.

According to its typological features, the Neolithic settlement of Xiangjiashan is similar to Hamudu ^{[29, p. 94]}, which indicates their genetic relationship. An important fact is that the finds of the early Xiangjiashan period belonging to the 4th horizon of the cultural layer are identical to the artifacts of the 3rd and 2nd horizons of the Hamudu cultural layer ^{[31, p. 144]}. This shows that the Hamudu culture should include four cultural layers in the territory of Hamudu (,, ).

In August 2001, the People's Government of Yuyao declared the Xiangjiashan archaeological site an object of protection of cultural values at the municipal level.

If we talk about the fourth feature of cultural genesis, which A. Ya. Flier distinguished – the stadial morphology of cultural traits, then in Hamudu we can see typological features of that stadial type, which Flier called the culture of ecological and genetic orientation (Flier, A.Ya. Structure and dynamics of cultural-genetic processes : abstract dis. ... Doctors of Philosophy, pp. 23-24). Its material and technical dominant is the adaptation of the community to the natural conditions of existence – the humid climate of the lower Yangtze River in southern China. The characteristic features of this is the adaptation of the dwelling to life in a humid climate. The proximity of the river and the sea coast was reflected in the use of not only river "gifts", but also marine ones – a large number of bones of river and sea fish, shells of river and sea turtles were found. The boat oars found and the presence of cultural traits of Hamudu in neighboring settlements indicate the development of waterways.

The symbolic and ideational determinant is the mythologization of one's own genesis, which is evident in the ornamentalism of the artifacts found – the worship of the sun, the solar bird, the pig. The presence of objects that could carry a sacred meaning (desinci) and be used in rituals or belong to the head of the settlement (carved figures of birds), the appearance of funeral urns indicates the beginning of the stratification of society.

The discovery and definition of the Hamudu culture was a major breakthrough in Chinese Neolithic archaeology. Based on the above analysis of the characteristics of cultural genesis, we can clearly see all the signs inherent in the cultural genesis of the Neolithic Hamudu culture, its role in the development of Chinese and world culture. We can safely say that the Yangtze River basin was an important center of the origin of ancient Chinese culture, which influenced the history of the development of Chinese civilization.

^[1] The word "ploughshare" is a translation of the Chinese term ? sy – ploughshare, ploughshare, however, in practice, the Hamudu sy were used, judging by their shapes, most likely as shovels, spades or hoes.

^[2] This method can also have names: harness, ridiculous or "ribbon-ring".