Dadiwan

Dadiwan
Name	Dadiwan
Map type	China
Location	Qin'an County, Gansu, People's Republic of China
Region	Loess Plateau
Type	Neolithic settlement
Built	c. 6000–3000 BCE
Epochs	Neolithic, Early Neolithic, Middle Neolithic
Excavations	1978–1984, 2005–2010
Archaeologists	Xia Nai, Peng Bo, David R. Harris
Condition	Excavated
Public access	Limited

Dadiwan is a Neolithic archaeological site on the Loess Plateau in present-day Qin'an County, Gansu, People's Republic of China. The site produced stratified deposits that have informed debates about early agriculture, pottery, mortuary practice, and sedentism in East Asia, and has been integrated into comparative frameworks involving sites from the Yellow River basin, Central Asia, and the Eurasian steppe. Excavations and analyses have linked finds from the site to broader discussions involving prehistoric cultures, radiocarbon chronology, and landscape change.

Location and Discovery

Dadiwan sits in the Wei River drainage on the Loess Plateau near Qin'an County, adjacent to the modern administrative divisions of Tianshui, Gansu, and within the cultural-geographic ambit of the Yellow River corridor, linking research to studies at Yangshao culture sites, Majiayao culture, and Banpo. Initial fieldwork was stimulated by regional surveys conducted by teams from the Institute of Archaeology (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences), the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, and provincial museums alongside collaborative projects with scholars from University of Cambridge, Australian National University, and University of Pennsylvania. The site was first brought to broader academic attention in reports by archaeologists associated with the Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and later by international teams involved in stratigraphic and chronometric studies connected to the International Geophysical Year–era fieldwork networks and subsequent Sino-foreign research initiatives.

Archaeological Context and Excavations

Systematic excavations began after reconnaissance surveys by teams linked to the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with major seasons led by archaeologists trained under figures such as Xia Nai and collaborators from institutions like Peking University, Fudan University, and the People's University of China. Excavation campaigns in the late 20th century involved stratigraphic control, flotation, and radiocarbon sampling coordinated with laboratories at the Institute of Earth Environment (Xi'an), Peking University Radiocarbon Laboratory, and international facilities such as the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit and the University of Arizona Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory. Field teams included specialists in archaeobotany affiliated with Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and zooarchaeology connected to Smithsonian Institution and Natural History Museum, London. Results were disseminated through forums including the International Congress on the Archaeology of the Near East, the Society for American Archaeology, and regional symposia sponsored by UNESCO heritage initiatives.

Cultural Phases and Chronology

Stratigraphy at the site preserves several cultural phases spanning Early Neolithic to Later Neolithic horizons associated by scholars with assemblages comparable to Peiligang culture, Cishan culture, and later parallels in the Longshan culture sequence. Radiocarbon determinations calibrated against the IntCal curve situate primary occupations in a timeframe that overlaps with early agricultural developments documented at Hemudu, Nanzhuangtou, and Xiaohuangshan. Bayesian modeling undertaken by teams from University College London and Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History refined phase boundaries and argued for continuity and episodic hiatuses similar to patterns seen at Shijiahe, Dawenkou culture sites, and regional comparisons to Central Asian Neolithic sequences. Comparative typologies link ceramic styles to ware categories described in research from Miaodigou culture sites and lithic traditions paralleling analyses from Upper Paleolithic–to–Neolithic transition sites in Siberia and Inner Mongolia.

Material Culture and Architecture

Architectural remains include posthole patterns, foundation trenches, and compacted floors comparable to structures reported at Banpo, Beishouling, and Hongshan culture settlements. The assemblage comprises pottery sherds, ground stone implements, and bone tools that echo manufacturing traditions documented at Yangshao culture and Majiayao culture sites; specialists from British Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Art have referenced typological parallels in regional catalogues. Faunal bone assemblages included domesticated taxa identified using comparative collections at American Museum of Natural History and Zoological Society of London, while lithic analyses were cross-referenced with collections at Smithsonian Institution and Harvard University to assess chaîne opératoire. Mortuary features and ritual deposits have been compared to burials from Sichuan Basin and Shandong sequences, provoking debate in literature circulated in journals associated with Cambridge University Press and Science Advances.

Subsistence, Economy, and Environment

Archaeobotanical remains recovered via flotation included cereal impressions and macroremains that have been discussed in relation to early domestication processes tracked at Peiligang, Cishan, and Xishanping; analysts from Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and University of Oxford contributed starch grain and phytolith studies linking plant use to broader trajectories observed at Yangtze River basin sites such as Hemudu and Yuchanyan. Faunal assemblages indicate exploitation of taxa with parallels to domestication pathways outlined in studies from Zhoukoudian, Xiaogushan, and Nanzhuangtou, and isotopic work undertaken in collaboration with Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and Wuhan University connected dietary shifts to environmental reconstructions produced by teams at the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research. Geoarchaeological research integrated loess stratigraphy referenced against cores from the Loess Plateau and paleoclimatic proxies comparable to records from Greenland ice cores and Lake Baikal sequences.

Significance and Interpretations

Dadiwan has been invoked in debates about the origins of agriculture, sedentism, and social complexity across the Yellow River and Central Asian frontiers, cited alongside landmark sites such as Banpo, Peiligang culture, and Majiayao culture in syntheses published by scholars at Peking University, Cambridge University, and the Max Planck Institute. Interpretations of its material culture have influenced models addressing exchange networks comparable to routes discussed in research on the Silk Road precursors and interaction spheres involving Central Asia and the Eurasian steppe. The site continues to inform multidisciplinary studies combining archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, geoarchaeology, and radiocarbon science conducted by consortia including Chinese Academy of Sciences, Australian Research Council–funded teams, and international partners from University of California, Berkeley and University of Tokyo.

Category:Neolithic sites in China