Qijia culture
| Geographical range | upper Yellow River | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | early Bronze Age | ||||||
| Dates | c. 2400 – c. 1600 BC | ||||||
| Preceded by | Majiayao culture | ||||||
| Followed by | Siwa culture Siba culture Xindian culture Shanma culture | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 齊家文化 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 齐家文化 | ||||||
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The Qijia culture (2400 BC – 1600 BC) was an early Bronze Age culture distributed around the upper Yellow River region of Gansu (centered in Lanzhou) and eastern Qinghai, China. It is regarded as one of the earliest bronze cultures in China.
The Qijia Culture is named after the Qijiaping Site (齐家坪) in Gansu Province.
Prior to Qijia culture, in the same area there existed Majiayao culture that was also familiar with metalwork. At the end of the third millennium B.C., Qijia culture succeeded Majiayao culture at sites in three main geographic zones: Eastern Gansu, Middle Gansu, and Western Gansu/Eastern Qinghai.
The Qijia culture benefited from the warm and humid climatic conditions from the Late Glacial to the Middle Holocene, which led to flourishing agricultural production and rapid population growth. These conditions changed with the aridification of the Late Holocene, provoking material and cultural decline.