Jiahu (Chinese: 賈湖) was the site of a Neolithic settlement based in the central plain of ancient China, near the Yellow River.

The Jiahu flutes are believed to be among the oldest playable musical instruments in the world, comprising 33 pieces carved from the wing bones of cranes.

This school of thought suggests that Jiahu and Peiligang represented separate, neighboring cultures that interacted and shared many characteristics.

Careful examination of the skeletons of over 400 individuals, removed from more than 300 graves, by several scientific teams over the course of the past 30 years illustrates that the Jiahu ethnic group was a part of the Northern Mongoloid group, and identified closely with the Miaodigou and Xiawanggang sub-groups which were also descendants of hunter-gatherers in modern Henan, and the Dawenkou, Xixiahou and Yedian sub-groups that were later found in Shandong Province.

On the other hand, difference in local climate, moisture and soil conditions may have made cultivating rice in the Peiligang area more difficult.

The early Neolithic site of Jiahu lies near the boundary between the cool, dry north and the warm, moist south.

Women of the Jiahu culture gathered wild pears and apricots, and foraged for acorns, chestnuts, broad beans, edible roots and tubers in the surrounding countryside.

There was also evidence of deer, wild boar and rabbit hunting, and fishing in the nearby rivers to the north and south, with nets made of hemp fibers.

Among the many tools and utensils unearthed at Jiahu are three-legged earthenware cooking pots with tight-fitting lids, and a variety of stone implements, including arrowheads, barbed harpoons, spades, axes, awls, and chisels.

[citation needed] Stone spearheads have also been found, and evidence of what may have been a wooden stockade fence along at least a portion of the interior shore of the moat.

Unearthed human remains showing signs of violent death are very rare, and scattered along the known timeline—rather than occurring at the same time which would indicate a battle.

It is possible that the large size of the settlement, its substantial defenses, and the improved weapons of the Jiahu people may have caused potential enemies of that time to keep their distance.

[citation needed] After a thorough study of 238 skeletal remains, Harvard University forensic archaeologist Barbara Li Smith published findings that the Jiahu villagers enjoyed fairly good health.

Burial offerings varied between individuals, and are believed to be linked to the skills they displayed in life, providing evidence of an early specialization of labor.

The types of labor specialization, from most common to most rare, included farmers, herdsmen, fishermen, hunters, potters, musicians, and a tribal priest.

As is common with Neolithic communities, the burials were in cemeteries which were separate from the residential areas, although many grave sites overlapped, so they were probably not marked.

A few burial offerings included turquoise carvings, and represented a significant level of material wealth, suggesting some differences in social status.

[citation needed] Some of the most significant burial offerings discovered were playable tonal flutes made from red-crowned crane wing bones.

One of the broken flutes was repaired by drilling fourteen tiny holes along the breakage lines and then tying the sections together with hemp string.

Patrick McGovern, of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, led a team of scientists who applied biomarker chemical analysis to pottery jars from Jiahu.

Specific aromatic herbs and flowers such as chrysanthemum, in addition to tree resins such as China fir, had been added to the hybrid beverages, the researchers found.

These aromatic additions, as well as the honey, indicate that fermented beverages with a pleasing aroma and sweet taste were important to the Jiahu people.

Based on the archaeological evidence, a severe flood from the nearby rivers submerged most or all of the Jiahu settlement under a few feet of water sometime around 5700 BC.