Longshan Culture

The Longshan culture (aka Lung-shan) flourished in parts of late Neolithic northeast China during the third millennium BCE and was an important link in the development of Chinese civilisation from the independent neolithic communities to the first dynastic states. The culture is named after the Longshan site in Shandong province, but it is also sometimes called the Black Pottery culture after the distinctive pottery wares it produced. Tombs, fortifications, and the discovery of a solar observation platform indicate a sophisticated society with several distinct levels. By around 1700 BCE the culture had morphed with other regional cultures into a wider Chinese Bronze Age culture.