The site was discovered in 1953 during construction work and excavated over the following years. It belongs to the Yangshao culture, a Neolithic society of the middle Yellow River valley that farmed millet, kept pigs and dogs, made painted pottery and lived in settled villages. About six hundred people are thought to have lived here at its peak.
What has been preserved
The site is covered by a large protective hall, and you walk above the excavated remains on raised walkways. You can see the circular foundations of houses, some of them semi-subterranean, with hearths and postholes still readable in the floor. Pits for storage, a pottery kiln area and a communal cemetery where adults were buried separately from children are all visible. The village was encircled by a defensive ditch, which suggests organized communal planning.
The finds
The museum displays pottery, stone tools, bone implements and ornaments. The most famous object is a red painted basin with a stylized human face and a fish design, one of the best known pieces of Neolithic Chinese art. Painted pottery from Banpo shows geometric and fish motifs that were made before any writing existed in the region.
Visiting notes
Banpo is on the eastern side of Xi'an, roughly 20 to 30 minutes by road from the city center and on the way to the terracotta army site, which makes it an easy stop on a full day. Allow about ninety minutes. It is a good introduction for families and for anyone interested in prehistory, though younger children may find the excavated pits less immediately exciting than the terracotta warriors.
