[7][9] At the same time, researchers recognized the diversity within the Yellow River valley by distinguishing regional variants in Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi from the Shandong or "classic" Longshan.

[11][12] Also in the 1980s, Yan Wenming proposed the term "Longshan era" to encompass cultures of the late Neolithic (3rd millennium BC) across the area, though he assigned the Central Plain a leading role.

[19] Remains have been found in Shaanxi and southern Henan of scapulae of cattle, pigs, sheep and deer that were heated as a form of divination.

[25] Miaodigou II sites are found in central and western Henan, southern Shanxi and the Wei River valley in Shaanxi.

[26] There were also expansions from middle and late Dawenkou sites (3500-2600 BC) toward central Henan and northern Anhui which coincides the era of maximum marine transgression.

[34] In more open areas, such as the rest of Shandong, the Central Plain (in Henan) and the Wei River basin in Shaanxi, local centers were more numerous, smaller (generally 20 to 60 ha) and fairly evenly spaced.

[35][36] Cities were linked to large networks of surrounding towns and villages, indicating the ability of urban elites to exert control over the countryside and its agrarian wealth.

[37] Settlements developed into cities with clearly demarcated sections for different classes and occupations, as well as large elite residences and ritual structures.

Signs of considerable population growth and rising social stratification indicate that the Longshan culture began forming into competing chieftainships, ruled by dynastic lineages with the support of elite kin networks.

[37] The technology of well construction in cities improved, while some large houses included rudimentary plumbing through clay pipes.

[37] Walls of rammed earth have been found in 20 towns in Shandong, 9 in the Central Plain and one (Taosi) in southern Shanxi, suggesting conflict between polities in these areas.

[37] The center of Shandong is a mountainous area, including Mount Tai (1,545 m) and other several other peaks over 1000 m. Longshan settlements are found on the plains surrounding this massif.

The Hougang II variant is known for having the first wells in the Yellow River area and the method they employed continued to be used by early bronze-age states in the region.

At around the same time, the new large center of Fangcheng (230 ha) was built 20 km to the southeast of Taosi, on the other side of the Chong Mountains.

[51] Sanliqiao II sites are located on both sides of the Yellow River in western Henan, southwestern Shanxi and eastern Shaanxi.

[citation needed] In contrast, there was a rapid growth of population and social complexity in the basin of the Yi and Luo rivers of central Henan, culminating in the Erlitou culture.

[55] The material culture in this area shows a continuous development, through a Xinzhai phase centred on the Song Mountains immediately to the south.

One of the most representative of "Western Origin" for the culture of prehistoric China was put forward by J. G. Andersson (1874–1960), who excavated the Neolithic site of Yangshao, Henan, in 1921.

Andersson believed that the Yangshao painted pottery originated from the west, with connections with Anau in Central Asia and Trypillia in Eastern Europe.

The use of bronze ware, the emergence of a large number of city sites, and the wide application of thin-bodied black pottery and quick-wheel pottery-making techniques indicate that the social productive forces achieved unprecedented development during this period, which led to the polarization of the rich and the poor within the society; thus the emergence of class antagonisms.