ABSTRACT
Distinguishing between true Neolithic sites and Bronze Age sites without bronze has led to major strides in understanding the Neolithic of Jilin province. With this distinction, what seemed to be an impossible jumble has been turned into a pattern. In this chapter, Liu Zhen-hua discusses six excavated sites in different parts of Jilin province, and considers their cultural affiliations, their temporal placement, and their subsistance bases. He also distinguishes each Neolithic manifestation from the Bronze Age sites nearby. The sites range in age from the fifth to the third millennium BCE. Some interesting characteristics of these sites include the use of obsidian in the east, the common find of spindle whorls and small clay figurines. Obsidian is obtainable in the Changbai mountains (Paektusan in Korean) on the current border with North Korea, but was not widely traded. The creation of small heads of humans and animals is a feature that links Jilin to Liaoning, especially the Houwa site. Spindle whorls imply raw material to spin, but whether it was derived from a plant such as hemp or an animal such as sheep or double-coated dogs is unknown.
