Abstract The 凸-shaped house remains first appeared in the Guanzhong Basin during the late Yangshao period and became a popular form of architecture in the Loess Plateau during the Longshan period. The form usually consists of an inner room and a front hall connecting to an entranceway. The emergence of the protruding front hall is closely related to the appearance of late Yangshao cave dwellings, where they serve an important role in maintaining the architectural stability of the dwelling. Across the millennium ranging from the late Yangshao to the late Longshan, this architectural structure gradually transformed from a pragmatic-functional attribute into an important cultural symbol.
{"title":"Research on prehistoric 凸-shaped house remains on the Loess Plateau","authors":"Tianyi Wang","doi":"10.1515/char-2022-0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/char-2022-0010","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The 凸-shaped house remains first appeared in the Guanzhong Basin during the late Yangshao period and became a popular form of architecture in the Loess Plateau during the Longshan period. The form usually consists of an inner room and a front hall connecting to an entranceway. The emergence of the protruding front hall is closely related to the appearance of late Yangshao cave dwellings, where they serve an important role in maintaining the architectural stability of the dwelling. Across the millennium ranging from the late Yangshao to the late Longshan, this architectural structure gradually transformed from a pragmatic-functional attribute into an important cultural symbol.","PeriodicalId":41590,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Archaeology","volume":"22 1","pages":"135 - 144"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44224037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology et al. excavated at the Guoyuanzui site in Lutai Mountain, Huangpi District, Wuhan, Hubei from 2019 to 2020, and discovered a series of Shang dynasty remains, including residential and bronze casting areas. Features related to bronze casting include architectural structures, ash ditches, ash pits, red burnt soil pits, furnaces, round-shaped burnt ground surfaces, clay mold pits, and backfill pits. Unearthed artifacts range from bronzes, casting-related artifacts, pottery artifacts, and stone objects. Most of the Shang dynasty casting remains found at Guoyuanzui are of the same period as those of the Huayuanzhuang phase in Huanbei Shang City through Yinxu Phase I. The Guoyuanzui site is another Shang dynasty core settlement in the middle of the Yangtze River after Panlongcheng. The excavation at Guoyuanzui is significant for the discussion of the Shang dynasty’s strategic management of South China, and thus is of immense value in revealing the civilizational developmental trajectory in the middle reach of the Yangtze River.
{"title":"The Shang dynasty remains at the Guoyuanzui site in Lutai Mountain, Huangpi District, Wuhan","authors":"","doi":"10.1515/char-2022-0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/char-2022-0003","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology et al. excavated at the Guoyuanzui site in Lutai Mountain, Huangpi District, Wuhan, Hubei from 2019 to 2020, and discovered a series of Shang dynasty remains, including residential and bronze casting areas. Features related to bronze casting include architectural structures, ash ditches, ash pits, red burnt soil pits, furnaces, round-shaped burnt ground surfaces, clay mold pits, and backfill pits. Unearthed artifacts range from bronzes, casting-related artifacts, pottery artifacts, and stone objects. Most of the Shang dynasty casting remains found at Guoyuanzui are of the same period as those of the Huayuanzhuang phase in Huanbei Shang City through Yinxu Phase I. The Guoyuanzui site is another Shang dynasty core settlement in the middle of the Yangtze River after Panlongcheng. The excavation at Guoyuanzui is significant for the discussion of the Shang dynasty’s strategic management of South China, and thus is of immense value in revealing the civilizational developmental trajectory in the middle reach of the Yangtze River.","PeriodicalId":41590,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Archaeology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45321053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Excavation and survey of the cemetery in the northwest of Hongjiajie, Futun Village, Beizhen City were jointly conducted by the Liaoning Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and other institutes between 2015 and 2017. Four tombs were excavated. Tomb M4 is square in layout and has a descending entrance corridor leading to the tomb chambers. The tomb consists of an entrance corridor, a ventilation shaft, an entrance, front and rear passages, an antechamber, a main chamber, and two side chambers. Remnants of mural paintings and floor paintings were found in multiple parts of the tomb. Grave goods, including pottery, porcelain, metals, jade, and glass artifacts were retrieved. According to the epitaph, the tomb occupant is Han Derang, the Grand Counselor-in-Chief of the Liao dynasty. This discovery provides significant data for the study of the spatial patterns of Liao imperial mausoleums in Yiwulü Mountain, especially as a reliable reference for confirming the location of the Liao Qianling mausoleum.
{"title":"The excavation of Liao dynasty tomb of Han Derang in Beizhen, Liaoning","authors":"","doi":"10.1515/char-2022-0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/char-2022-0009","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Excavation and survey of the cemetery in the northwest of Hongjiajie, Futun Village, Beizhen City were jointly conducted by the Liaoning Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and other institutes between 2015 and 2017. Four tombs were excavated. Tomb M4 is square in layout and has a descending entrance corridor leading to the tomb chambers. The tomb consists of an entrance corridor, a ventilation shaft, an entrance, front and rear passages, an antechamber, a main chamber, and two side chambers. Remnants of mural paintings and floor paintings were found in multiple parts of the tomb. Grave goods, including pottery, porcelain, metals, jade, and glass artifacts were retrieved. According to the epitaph, the tomb occupant is Han Derang, the Grand Counselor-in-Chief of the Liao dynasty. This discovery provides significant data for the study of the spatial patterns of Liao imperial mausoleums in Yiwulü Mountain, especially as a reliable reference for confirming the location of the Liao Qianling mausoleum.","PeriodicalId":41590,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Archaeology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47599522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses, together with AMS radiocarbon dating of human and animal bones unearthed from the Zengpiyan and Dayan sites in Guilin of Guangxi suggest a relatively stable environment dominated by C3 plants, which was supplemented by a small amount of C4 plants. Although inhabitants of the two Neolithic sites relied mainly on freshwater resources, they differed significantly in their dietary structure from the Early to Middle phases. The Early Neolithic inhabitants (n=6) consumed similar foods in their diet. By contrast, the Middle Neolithic people (n=11) procured and consumed more terrestrial foods from diverse sources. The transition to a broad dietary spectrum was likely interlinked to the shifts in population structures, environmental adaptation, and foraging ranges.
{"title":"Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of human and animal skeletal remains unearthed at Zengpiyan and Dayan sites in Guilin","authors":"Xiaodi Liu, Ran Wang, Yaowu Hu","doi":"10.1515/char-2022-0016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/char-2022-0016","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses, together with AMS radiocarbon dating of human and animal bones unearthed from the Zengpiyan and Dayan sites in Guilin of Guangxi suggest a relatively stable environment dominated by C3 plants, which was supplemented by a small amount of C4 plants. Although inhabitants of the two Neolithic sites relied mainly on freshwater resources, they differed significantly in their dietary structure from the Early to Middle phases. The Early Neolithic inhabitants (n=6) consumed similar foods in their diet. By contrast, the Middle Neolithic people (n=11) procured and consumed more terrestrial foods from diverse sources. The transition to a broad dietary spectrum was likely interlinked to the shifts in population structures, environmental adaptation, and foraging ranges.","PeriodicalId":41590,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Archaeology","volume":"22 1","pages":"191 - 200"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45311767","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The School of History, Zhengzhou University et al. excavated two bronze foundry zones in the northern part of the larger city at the Guanzhuang site in the summer of 2016 and the autumn of 2017. Archaeological features related to bronze casting were revealed, such as ash pits, wells, and sacrificial pits. A large number of casting artifacts were also retrieved, including clay molds, models, cores, furnace fragments, tuyeres, bronze knives, and whetstones. Judging from the characteristics of the clay molds and co-existing pottery artifacts, the bronze foundries dates to the early- and mid-Spring and Autumn period. A great variety of unearthed artifacts from the Guanzhuang bronze foundries, as well as the material repertoire for casting large bronze ritual vessels and coins, testify that the owner of the workshop could have enjoyed a high social status and possessed great wealth. This is of great importance for the understanding of the nature and function of the Guanzhuang site during the early- and mid-Spring and Autumn period.
{"title":"The 2016–2017 excavation of the bronze foundry zone at the Guanzhuang site, Xingyang, Henan","authors":"","doi":"10.1515/char-2022-0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/char-2022-0007","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The School of History, Zhengzhou University et al. excavated two bronze foundry zones in the northern part of the larger city at the Guanzhuang site in the summer of 2016 and the autumn of 2017. Archaeological features related to bronze casting were revealed, such as ash pits, wells, and sacrificial pits. A large number of casting artifacts were also retrieved, including clay molds, models, cores, furnace fragments, tuyeres, bronze knives, and whetstones. Judging from the characteristics of the clay molds and co-existing pottery artifacts, the bronze foundries dates to the early- and mid-Spring and Autumn period. A great variety of unearthed artifacts from the Guanzhuang bronze foundries, as well as the material repertoire for casting large bronze ritual vessels and coins, testify that the owner of the workshop could have enjoyed a high social status and possessed great wealth. This is of great importance for the understanding of the nature and function of the Guanzhuang site during the early- and mid-Spring and Autumn period.","PeriodicalId":41590,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Archaeology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42030868","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Zhengzhou Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology excavated at the Shuanghuaishu site in Gongyi, Henan between 2013 and 2020. The excavated features include three encircling trenches, a core residential area, large rammed earth building complexes, rammed earth sacrificial altars, tombs, ash pits, and pottery kilns. Unearthed artifacts include pottery, stone tools, and objects made of animal teeth. The Shuanghuaishu site has been so far the largest middle to late Yangshao residential settlement in the Yellow River valley. Shuanghuaishu and the multiple sites in the neighboring region altogether led to the formation of an impressive site complex on a regional scale.
{"title":"The Neolithic Shuanghuaishu site in Gongyi, Henan","authors":"","doi":"10.1515/char-2022-0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/char-2022-0002","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The Zhengzhou Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology excavated at the Shuanghuaishu site in Gongyi, Henan between 2013 and 2020. The excavated features include three encircling trenches, a core residential area, large rammed earth building complexes, rammed earth sacrificial altars, tombs, ash pits, and pottery kilns. Unearthed artifacts include pottery, stone tools, and objects made of animal teeth. The Shuanghuaishu site has been so far the largest middle to late Yangshao residential settlement in the Yellow River valley. Shuanghuaishu and the multiple sites in the neighboring region altogether led to the formation of an impressive site complex on a regional scale.","PeriodicalId":41590,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Archaeology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43681009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract A set of bronze parts, excavated in a funeral pit next to the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng (Hubei, China), is recently restored to its rightful shape, a hip-roof tent from the fifth century BCE. Measured 10m long and built with 127 wooden poles and 338 bronze parts, it is considered to be the largest and the most complicated tent in pre-imperial China, which is portable, easy to assemble, disassemble, and manufactured in an engineering design context.
{"title":"Portable lodge from the fifth century BCE: a study of the tent of the Marquis Yi of Zeng","authors":"Changping Zhang, Beichen Chen","doi":"10.1515/char-2022-0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/char-2022-0014","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A set of bronze parts, excavated in a funeral pit next to the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng (Hubei, China), is recently restored to its rightful shape, a hip-roof tent from the fifth century BCE. Measured 10m long and built with 127 wooden poles and 338 bronze parts, it is considered to be the largest and the most complicated tent in pre-imperial China, which is portable, easy to assemble, disassemble, and manufactured in an engineering design context.","PeriodicalId":41590,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Archaeology","volume":"22 1","pages":"171 - 181"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47691309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jing Yuan, Yan Pan, Ningning Dong, Michael J. Storozum
Abstract Based on plant and animal remains unearthed from sites of the Liangzhu culture in the coastal area of eastern Zhejiang, the Taihu plain, and the eastern Jianghuai region, we conclude that the Liangzhu society was agriculture-based, practicing rice farming for grain food and animal husbandry for meat. However, the subsistence economy focusing on rice farming was unbalanced in the Liangzhu cultural area, as evidenced by the exceptionally high proportions of fishing and hunting in certain subregions. Unbalanced subsistence economy confined population growth to limited territories and may have been an obstacle to the formation of multiple centers in the Liangzhu cultural area. The collapse of Liangzhu society may also result from the absence of competitive communication between Liangzhu and other cultures. Confronting with natural disasters or social conflicts due to, for example, food shortage, the controlling elite of Liangzhu society, who had long maintained their power and prestige through a religious system, failed to cope with risks and challenges, eventually leading to the collapse of Liangzhu society (and thus the demise of Liangzhu culture).
{"title":"The rise and fall of the Liangzhu society in the perspective of subsistence economy","authors":"Jing Yuan, Yan Pan, Ningning Dong, Michael J. Storozum","doi":"10.1515/char-2022-0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/char-2022-0011","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Based on plant and animal remains unearthed from sites of the Liangzhu culture in the coastal area of eastern Zhejiang, the Taihu plain, and the eastern Jianghuai region, we conclude that the Liangzhu society was agriculture-based, practicing rice farming for grain food and animal husbandry for meat. However, the subsistence economy focusing on rice farming was unbalanced in the Liangzhu cultural area, as evidenced by the exceptionally high proportions of fishing and hunting in certain subregions. Unbalanced subsistence economy confined population growth to limited territories and may have been an obstacle to the formation of multiple centers in the Liangzhu cultural area. The collapse of Liangzhu society may also result from the absence of competitive communication between Liangzhu and other cultures. Confronting with natural disasters or social conflicts due to, for example, food shortage, the controlling elite of Liangzhu society, who had long maintained their power and prestige through a religious system, failed to cope with risks and challenges, eventually leading to the collapse of Liangzhu society (and thus the demise of Liangzhu culture).","PeriodicalId":41590,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Archaeology","volume":"22 1","pages":"145 - 152"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41993974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
After a looting case was cracked on March 15, 2018, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other organizations promptly conducted a rescue excavation of the looted tomb No. 1 at Xuewei. The tomb is the mausoleum of the king of Touyu-houen under Tubo’s rule in the mid-eighth century CE. It consists of two parts: the tomb compound aboveground and the underground structure. The former includes enclosure walls, sacrificial buildings, a mound, and a cloister. The latter consists of the entry ramp, the tomb pit, the screen wall, the tomb corridor, and the tomb chambers comprised of a main chamber and four side chambers, which is consistent with the document that recorded an “Inner-Mound Shrine of Five Gods.” The main chamber includes mural paintings, red-colored representations of wooden bracket sets, painted double coffins, a coffin platform, and an offering altar. A large number of artifacts predominated by goldware and textiles were uncovered. Amongst them, a silver seal bearing the inscription “seal of the King of Achai, the nephew” provides critical evidence for the confirmation of the status and ethnic identity of the tomb occupant.
{"title":"The excavation of the 2018 Xuewei tomb No. 1 in Reshui cemetery, Dulan County, Qinghai","authors":"","doi":"10.1515/char-2022-0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/char-2022-0006","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 After a looting case was cracked on March 15, 2018, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other organizations promptly conducted a rescue excavation of the looted tomb No. 1 at Xuewei. The tomb is the mausoleum of the king of Touyu-houen under Tubo’s rule in the mid-eighth century CE. It consists of two parts: the tomb compound aboveground and the underground structure. The former includes enclosure walls, sacrificial buildings, a mound, and a cloister. The latter consists of the entry ramp, the tomb pit, the screen wall, the tomb corridor, and the tomb chambers comprised of a main chamber and four side chambers, which is consistent with the document that recorded an “Inner-Mound Shrine of Five Gods.” The main chamber includes mural paintings, red-colored representations of wooden bracket sets, painted double coffins, a coffin platform, and an offering altar. A large number of artifacts predominated by goldware and textiles were uncovered. Amongst them, a silver seal bearing the inscription “seal of the King of Achai, the nephew” provides critical evidence for the confirmation of the status and ethnic identity of the tomb occupant.","PeriodicalId":41590,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Archaeology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46606603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In August 2015, an earthen cache pit of lead ingots was discovered to the northwest of Liujiazhuang Village within the Yinxu site. The round pit yielded an assemblage of 293 lead ingots weighed 3404kg. The ingots are shaped like turtle shells with broader fronts and narrower rears. Their full length measured from 10cm to 70cm. Lead was an important element in the bronze metallurgy of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The excavation of the cache of lead ingots is significant to the studies of the scale, technology, organization, and management of the bronze-casting industry of the Shang dynasty.
{"title":"The excavation of a cache of lead ingots in Liujiazhuang Locus North of Yinxu, Anyang, Henan","authors":"","doi":"10.1515/char-2021-0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/char-2021-0008","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 In August 2015, an earthen cache pit of lead ingots was discovered to the northwest of Liujiazhuang Village within the Yinxu site. The round pit yielded an assemblage of 293 lead ingots weighed 3404kg. The ingots are shaped like turtle shells with broader fronts and narrower rears. Their full length measured from 10cm to 70cm. Lead was an important element in the bronze metallurgy of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The excavation of the cache of lead ingots is significant to the studies of the scale, technology, organization, and management of the bronze-casting industry of the Shang dynasty.","PeriodicalId":41590,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Archaeology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46484328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}