[Miao-ti-kou]. A Neolithic site in Shan Xian in the western comer of Henan province, China. The stratigraphy at Miaodigou was complicated but two main levels were distinguished. The lower level, Miao digou I, belongs to the Yangshao Neolithic; for this stratum a radiocarbon date of c3900 bc was obtained. The fine painted pottery from Miaodigou I reveals some dependence on earlier Yangshao cultures (e.g. Banpo) but the Miaodigou painted designs, monochrome or painted in black over a red or white slip, are as a rule entirely abstract, only rarely incorporating the simple animal motifs of Banpo pots. Painted ware identical to that from Miaodigou has been unearthed at sites in nearby Ruicheng Xian, Shanxi province, where sherds with designs recalling Banpo pottery are also found. The most sophisticated Miaodigou patterns are obscurely derived from running spiral designs and have close affinities with Majiayao in Gansu. The Miaodigou II level is sharply different. The pottery is unpainted and includes many shapes virtually unknown to the Yangshao tradition, such as tripods with solid or hollow legs; these are typical instead of the Hougang II culture (see Li). The stratigraphy at Miaodigou was for a time interpreted as support for the so-called nuclear theory, but is now taken to show influences from the eastern seaboard intruding on the local Yangshao culture (see Longshan, sense 3).
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied