The Siwa culture (, ca. 1350-650 BCE) was a Bronze Age culture in southeast Gansu Province, China. It was discovered by Swedish geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson in 1924 at Mount Siwa () in Lintao County, hence its name.These sites are also called Miaopingyagou yizhi 庙坪鸦沟遗址. It flourished circa 14th to 11th century BC, it is tentatively attributed to the cultures of the Northern Di, Qiang, and Xunyu peoples.Hu, Qianying 胡謙盈, "Lun Siwa wenhua" 論寺洼文化, Wenwu jikan 文物集刊 2 (1980), 123-4 of 118–24. Cited in Li, Feng (2006), Landscape And Power In Early China, Cambridge University Press. p. 187 [Gānsù Rìbào, Gansu Daily]. [Zǒujìn Líntáoxiàn Sìwā Wénhuà Yízhǐ; "Entering Lintao County's Siwa Ruins"]. 2007. Accessed 17 Dec 2013.
The archaeological culture is divided into two phases: the early phase associated with the sites at Lintao, Zhuoni, Lintan, and Heshui; and, the final phase during the late Shang and proto-Zhou periods associated with the Jiuzhan, Xujianian, and Lanquiao sites. Siwa culture is known for producing a type of pottery that had saddle-shaped mouths.
Context
The Siwa culture followed the disintegration of the Qijia culture. This opened a period of interaction and conflict between the Siwa and the people of the Central Plains.
The Siwa culture has often been associated with the tribes appearing in Chinese historical sources, such as the Rong (Xirong, Shanrong, Quanrong...) or the Qiang. These tribes, whose captives sometimes were sacrificed in Shang dynasty rituals, ultimately toppled the Western Zhou dynasty in 771 BCE. The Siwa people produced relatively abundant ceramics, reflecting a rather varied diet.
The neighboring Xindian culture was roughly contemporary with the Siwa culture and was influenced by it. Some scholars hold that Siwa culture descended from the Qijia culture.Anne P. Underhill, ed., A Companion to Chinese Archaeology. Wiley Blackwell Companions to Anthropology. John Wiley & Sons, 2013 There are also those who believe that the culture was a remnant of Xunyu, which is associated with the Xianyun people. However, questions are raised against this theory since Siwa sites are small with low subsistence levels. According to Feng Li, these could not have sustained an advanced society like the Xianyun. The debate remains open.
The Siwa culture was followed by the appearance of Eurasian steppe cultures, particularly Saka cultures such as the Ordos culture, which again interracted in various ways with the Central Plains.
Geography Siwa culture is divided into two types – Siwa and Anguo. The former is distributed along the Tao River (Taohe) and the latter along the Wei River. The Siwa type is somewhat earlier than the Western Zhou dynasty, while the Anguo type is more or less contemporaneous with it.An Zhimin (1996), THE BRONZE AGE IN EASTERN PARTS OF CENTRAL ASIA. (PDF) Unesco.org
One of Siwa culture's main characteristics is pottery with saddle-shaped openings (), It is also distinguished by its bronze objects.
Since 2006, the Siwa site () is on the list of the People's Republic of China's archeological monuments.
References
Further reading Nicola Di Cosmo (1999), The Northern Frontier in Pre-Imperial China//The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC, Edited by M.Loewe and E.L.Shaughnessy.