Neolithic Age in China

In this episode, we focus on the Neolithic Age in China, a transformative period when communities across the region shifted from hunting and gathering to settled agricultural life shaped by the warming climate of the Holocene. We explore how rice was independently domesticated in the south and millet in the north, giving rise to diverse regional cultures with their own environmental adaptations and subsistence strategies. The episode also examines major technological and cultural developments, including advanced pottery, jade craftsmanship, and early silk production, as well as the social changes that followed population growth, from more complex hierarchies to walled settlements and rising conflict. Finally, we look at how this era helped lay the foundations for later Chinese civilization while also connecting to broader migration stories, including the maritime movements that contributed to the spread of Austronesian peoples into the Pacific.