Pengtoushan culture

The Pengtoushan culture was a Neolithic culture centered primarily around the central Yangtze River region in northwestern Hunan, China. Pengtoushan was roughly contemporaneous with its northern neighbor, the Peiligang culture. The two primary examples of Pengtoushan culture are the type site at Pengtoushan and the later site at Bashidang.

The type site at Pengtoushan was discovered in Li County, Hunan, China. The site is the earliest permanently settled village yet discovered in China. The site was excavated in 1988. Pengtoushan has been difficult to date accurately, with a large variability in dates ranging from 9000 BC to 5500 BC. Cord-marked pottery was discovered among the burial goods.

At Pengtoushan, the remains of rice from around 7000 BC were found, which may represent the earliest evidence for domesticated rice in China. The size of the Pengtoushan rice was larger than the size of naturally-occurring, wild rice; however, Pengtoushan lacked evidence of tools used in cultivating rice. Although not found at Pengtoushan, rice-cultivating tools were found in later sites associated with the Pengtoushan culture.