ABSTRACT
The earliest known inhabitants of the Shenyang area estab lished a culture known as the Xinle more than 7,000 years ago. They lived by farming, fishing, and hunting in a land of dense forests, marshes, and rivers. The Liao River basin was highly fertile, and by about the first millennium B.C. several groups appear to have been living in this area, including the Huimo, Sushen, ethnic Chinese, and Donghu. The last-named group is best known as a seminomadic people who relocated their animals to new pastures in accordance with the seasons. In later written records about the Spring and Autumn period (722-481 B.C.), the Donghu are said to have been a fierce people who excelled at mounted archery and held slaves acquired through war or raiding. However, archaeological evidence shows that by the Warring States period (403-221 B.C.) agriculture also flourished. Excavations have revealed extensive and sophisticated use of iron implements, including hoes, shovels, sickles, and pickaxes. Archaeologists have found other objects dating to this period as well: bronze plaques with animal decoration and bronze Donghu swords found at Zhengjiawazi. These swords, which are usually associated with nomadic cultures, have turned up alongside less sophisticated agricultural implements of stone, including pickaxes and adzes, as well as bone spades. These findings suggest that separate communities with different lifestyles coexisted in the same general area.
