Dawenkou culture is a Neolithic culture. It was named after Dawenkou Site in Tai 'an City, Shandong Province. The distribution area is east to the coast of the Yellow Sea, west to the east of Luxi Plain, north to the south bank of Bohai Sea and south to Huaibei, Jiangsu Province, which is basically within the scope of Shao Hao culture recorded in ancient books. In addition, sites of this cultural type have also been found in Henan and northern Anhui. According to the data obtained from radiocarbon dating and correction, Dawenkou culture dates from about 6,500 to 4,500 years ago and lasts for about 2,000 years. According to the relationship between the base area and the characteristics of the relics, it can be divided into three periods: early, middle and late.
Artificial deformation and tooth extraction of occipital bone are popular in Dawenkou culture. Red pottery with sand or mud is common in pottery. In the early stage, it was mainly red pottery, and later it developed into round pottery, and hard white pottery appeared. The common decorative patterns are hollowing out, carving, additional pile patterns, basket patterns, painted pottery, Zhu paintings and so on. Painted pottery is few and full of characteristics. The stone tools were polished beautifully, and well-made jade articles appeared after the middle period. In addition, various tools and decorations made of bones and teeth were discovered. They are engaged in primitive agricultural production, mainly planting millet and raising livestock such as pigs, dogs, cows and chickens. Fishing and hunting economy is also an important production department.
Among the excavated sites, the settlement site in the late Dawenkou culture was found in the site of Weichi Temple in Mengcheng, Anhui Province. It is composed of rows of braised earth houses, most of which are six rooms in a row, at least two of which are connected, and the layout is rigorous, showing high architectural technology.
After the death of Dawenkou people, the burial style is generally straight limbs, but also bending, bending limbs and secondary burial. In addition, some special burial methods were found, such as decapitation and amputation. After the middle and late period, wooden funerary wares were discovered. In some funerary objects of adult tombs and children's urns and coffins, Dakouzun with various Wen Tao was also used. The joint burial of husband and wife and the joint burial of husband and wife with children marked the end of matriarchal society and the beginning or entry into patriarchal clan society.