Daxi Culture is one of the birthplaces of ancient civilization in the Yangtze River Basin of China. It is also the first discovery of Neolithic Age culture in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. It is named after the Daxi Town Site in Wushan.

It is distributed from central and southern Hubei in the east, to eastern Chongqing in the west, to the north shore of Dongting Lake in the south, and along the upper reaches of the Han River in the north. It is mainly concentrated on both sides of the western section of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

This period ranges from the late matrilineal clan to the budding stage of the patrilineal clan. It is an ancient culture of China's famous primitive society.

So, how did our ancestors live in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River five to six thousand years ago, and what could they do?

Why not go to the Yichang Museum to have a look? The exhibition hall of "Ancient Western Tombs" here has imitated the life scenes of Daxi culture and reproduced the living patterns of the ancestors.

(Ancestors in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River are grinding stone tools) Rice farming originated in the southern region of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, during the early Neolithic Age about 12,000 years ago.

Traces of rice husks and straw were found in pottery fragments unearthed from the Chengbeixi Cultural Site in Yidu.

Pottery fragments unearthed from the Guanmiaoshan site and Honghuatao site of the Daxi Culture, as well as chaff and rice leaf imprints were found on the bamboo walls of the houses.

Judging from the large number of unearthed agricultural production tools, it can be seen that during the Neolithic Age five to six thousand years ago, stable agricultural production, especially rice agriculture, had occurred in the Yangtze River Basin.

(The ancestors are inspecting the rice harvest) (The harvest is good, and the ancestors are harvesting rice in the middle of the Yangtze River.) Hunting was carried out in various forms such as arrow shooting, stone attack, fire attack, etc. The main prey were wild boars, deer, cattle, sheep, etc.

beasts.

A large number of artificially raised pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens and other remains were also unearthed from many sites.

This shows the development of hunting and breeding industries at that time.

(The ancestors are hunting) (The ancestors are hunting) (The ancestors are decomposing the prey) (The ancestors are raising pigs) The ancestors of the Daxi Culture have adopted various fishing methods such as nets, hooks, and darts.

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Archaeological discoveries revealed that within an area of ??about 60 square meters at the Zigui jade farming site, a layer of fish bones about 10 meters long and more than 1 meter thick was cleared; fish vertebrae with a diameter of 6 centimeters were unearthed from the Zhongbaodao site.

This shows that the fishing capabilities and technology at that time were very advanced.

(The ancestors are fishing with nets) (The ancestors are stabbing fish with darts) The pottery of the Daxi Culture is mostly handmade, and is popular in clay strips and coils. In the later period, it was slowly modified.

It is mainly made of marl-gray red pottery, with some carbon intercalation. It is characterized by red coating on the outside and black coating on the inside. In the later period, it is black and gray pottery.

The surface of pottery is often decorated with stamps, embossing, and hollow patterns.

(The ancestors are making pottery by hand) (The ancestors are painting pottery) It is popular in Daxi culture to build red-burnt earth houses, and bamboo is often used to build houses with earth.

In addition to simple houses, round and square family houses also appeared.

(Simple housing made of bamboo and earth) The Yichang Museum not only displays a large number of unearthed cultural relics, but also restores the life scenes at that time in a scene-like manner, which greatly enriches the exhibition content, educates and entertains, and is suitable for people of all walks of life and all ages to visit.

The picture was taken in the "Ancient Western Tombs" exhibition hall of Yichang Museum.