As an important part of the Neolithic Age in Northern China, the Hongshan Culture was discovered in 1935 and covers an area from the Wuerjimulun River valley of Chifeng, Inner Mongolia in the north to Chaoyang, Lingyuan and the northern part of Hebei Province in the south, and extends eastward to cover Tongliao and Jinzhou.

Hongshan Culture is characterized primarily by the ancient painted potteries, the “Z”-strippedpotteries and the unique digging tools-stone spades and laurel leave-shaped two-holed stone knives. The potteries of Hongshan Culture fall into two types-clay potteries and sand-mixed potteries, both manually made.

The clay potteries are mostly red, usually in the forms of bowl, basin, jar and pots, etc., most of which arecontainers with small flat bottoms. Most of the clay potteries are decorated with black or purple stripes arranged mainly in parallel lines, triangles, scale-shaped patterns and occasionally in “Z”-shapedpressed stripes.

The stoneware of Hongshan Culture is made by grinding with the blades of stone knives finely ground and the edgesand backs in curved symmetry, indicating a fairly developed agricultural economy of the culture.

Within the area of Hongshan Culture, bones of oxen, lambs, pigs, deer and river deer have been unearthed,though in small numbers. The oxen, lambs and pigs, which are presumably domestic animals, vaguely indicate that the early inhabitants of Hongshan Culture lived a settled life supplemented by animal husbandry, fishery and hunting.