Numerous pieces of pottery were excavated from Yangshao tombs, and their design patterns reflect conservative characteristics.

 

Yangshao Culture (c. 5000-3000 BC), a Neolithic culture that  existed in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, developed over more than 2,000 years and formed a steady core area for cultural development.

It also exerted a significant influence on surrounding cultures.
 

During the Miaodigou period (3900-2780 BC), Yangshao Culture produced significant quantities of painted pottery and achieved cultural integration for the first time in Chinese history. The cultural impact of Yangshao Culture on the surrounding areas at different periods undoubtedly promoted cultural development. On the basis of this, some scholars have shown renewed interest in the “Central Plain-culture-oriented theory.”
 

There was a high degree of class stratification among various human settlements and large-scale tombs during this period. Numerous high-level jade items, exquisite pottery works and some specific burial objects in the large tombs indicated that the degree of social differentiation became quite remarkable. The concept of “unity in diversity,” in reference to the origin of Chinese civilization, gradually came into being.
 

Based on the results of archaeological excavations, tombs from Yangshao Culture during the Miaodigou period were seen as having a reasonable, orderly, plain and simple image, which differed from the ostentatious, wasteful styles of burials in the eastern regions. 
 

Many scholars believe the two distinct burial styles represented two types of social development and the two different evolutionary patterns. But undeniably, these differences have a close relationship with the accumulation of wealth. To a certain degree, they reflect the level of social development. The steady development of Yangshao Culture contains conservative aspects, which in turn limited it from reaching the next step of the development process. So while Tai Lake and other regions entered into the stage of being an organized ancient state, the area where Yangshao Culture proliferated was still marked by chaos.