Banpo Neolithic Village Museum

Banpo Museum, Xi'an (Chinese: ???????)

Brief Introduction 
The Banpo museum, located in the eastern outskirt of Xian City, built at the base of the excavations of the Banpo site. It is the first prehistoric excavation site museum in China. Banpo Culture can be dates back around 6,000 years ago (5000-3000 BC), it was named after the first discovery of this civilization in Yangzshuo. It is a typical settlement of matrilinear clan commune of Neolithic Period. People used to live here and used tools made of wood and stone to find food. Women, the crucial labor force, were responsible for making pottery, spinning, and raising the family, while men fished.  As the precious cultural heritage in China, it plays an important role in researching the history of primitive society of China. This museum is divided into two exhibition halls, houses artifacts from the archaeological site of Banpo, gives access to the excavated buildings, has a collection of artifacts from the site, and also has several reconstructed houses designed to resemble the Neolithic settlement.

Banpo Culture
Banpo is an archaeological site discovered in 1953. It contains the remains of several well organized Neolithic settlements carbon dated to 5600–6700 years ago. At that time, people live there, the houses were circular, built of mud and wood with overhanging thatched roofs, the houses were supported by timber poles, many of which were semisubterranean with the floor typically 1 meter below the ground surface. They sat on low foundations. There appear to be communal burial areas.

It's the type site associated with Yangshao Culture. Archaeological sites with similarities to the first phase at Banpo are considered to be part of the "Banpo phase" of the Yangshao culture. 

According to the Marxist paradigm of archaeology that was prevalent in the China during the time of the excavation of the site, Banpo was considered to be a matriarchal society. 

What to see in Banpo Museum

Exhibition Halls
Banpo Museum consists of two exhibition halls, both of which displays the unearthed relic exhibitions. The first exhibition hall mainly displays the production tools and domestic tools made of stone, wood used by Banpo People, which include stone knives, sickles, fishhooks, specula and so on, from which we can know the life style of the people thousands of years ago. In the second exhibition hall, you can see a lot of major inventions and art items that made by pottery basin, such as a pointed-bottom bottle, a pottery steamer and pottery basin, which can reflect the social life and culture.

The Site Hall
The Site Hall is high archaeological value, covering an area of 3,000 square meters and contains residential, pottery making and burial sections, among which the residential section is the main part of the site. The residential section houses the kilns, housestombs and huts. From here, you can know more about Chinese culture, and will be impressed of the aboriginal village and the living condition of the forefathers, reflecting the civilization of that period of time,

Transportation 
Bus Routes:  
No 105, 269, 406 or 416 and get off at Banpo Bowuguan (Banpo Museum) Station.
No. 29, 43, 45, 203, 205, 206, 215, 603, 608, 611 and get off the Bell Tower

Metro Routes: 
Line 1 and get off at Banpo Station. Get out from Exit A. Keep walking toward west for around 5 minutes and then turn south to walk for around 2 minutes along Banpo Road.

Information
Address: No.155,Banpo Road, Dongjiao district, Xian
Admission Fee: CNY35, (Banpo Agricultural Village: CNY25)
Opening Time: Mar to Nov: 08:00-18:00
                      Dec to Feb: 08:00-17:30
Time for Visit: 2 hours
Tel: 029-83512807

Recommended Xi'an Private Tour including Banpo Neolithic Village Museum
1. Full Day Xi'an Private Tour of Terracotta Warriors and Banpo Neolithic Village Museum