The earliest farmers (the Yangshao culture) in north China grew millet, which they harvested with stone reaping knives, and raised pigs on the fertile loess (fine wind-deposited loam) soils of the Huang-Ho (Yellow River valley) especially near the confluence of the Fen and Wei Rivers. They also kept dogs and some cattle and sheep, and may have reared silkworms.
These farmers lived in regular planned villages with specialist areas for potters. Houses were semi-subterranean buildings often arranged around a large communal building. They were post-built with wattle and daub walls and stamped clay floors.
Most Yangshao pottery was decorated with impressed textured designs, but some vessels had smooth surfaces that were painted with a variety of designs both inside and out; these were both geometric and naturalistic, including fish, birds and faces. Bowls, jars and handled pots were among the most popular forms.
The dead were buried in distinct groups in the cemeteries attached to the village, suggesting that Yangshao people were organized according to clans.
