During the Neolithic period, the Chengdu Plain was a key region where two important crops, rice a... more During the Neolithic period, the Chengdu Plain was a key region where two important crops, rice and millet, were cultivated together. Millet was probably introduced from northwestern China c.3500-3300 cal. BCE, and rice came from the Middle Yangtze River c.2600 cal. BCE. In this study, human and faunal remains, as well as charred crop grains, were collected from the Yingpanshan (3300-2600 cal. BCE) and Gaoshan (2500-2000 cal. BCE) sites where the dominant crop was millet and rice, respectively. Carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were conducted on human bones and the ecofact samples in order to reconstruct the subsistence at the sites. The results indicate that the diets of two individuals recovered from the Yingpanshan site consisted of both C 3-and C 4-based foods, predominantly the former. By contrast, Yingpanshan pigs consumed a large quantity of C 4 fodder. This result, combined with the ecofact evidence, suggests that millet was the main crop at the Yingpanshan site. It also highlights the fact that the two Yingpanshan individuals might be non-locals and/or belonged to later periods. On the other hand, the diet of the Gaoshan community was dominated by C 3based foods. When considering the archaeobotanical evidence at Baodun, a site contemporaneous with and near to the Gaoshan site, it can be stated that rice was an important food resource for the Gaoshan community. This study also suggests how crops were managed at the two sites. The Yingpanshan people might have used manure for growing millet. Both manuring and irrigation might have also been practised by Gaoshan's rice farmers. However, more studies are required to understand the extent of manuring and irrigation in their agricultural economies.
Chung Yang Yen Chiu Yuan Li Shih Yu Yen Yen Chiu So Chi K'an /Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology Academia Sinica, 2022
At the turn of the first millennium BC, settlements of the Shi’erqiao culture formed a large Shi’... more At the turn of the first millennium BC, settlements of the Shi’erqiao culture formed a large Shi’erqiao-Jinsha cluster around what is now the modern city of Chengdu and developed into a new settlement center. Small-scaled villages also appeared in many places of the Chengdu Plain. Not only had the number of settlements increased and the distribution of these settlements expanded, but the populations constituting these settlements became more diverse during this time. Frequent ritual activities formed a mechanism that gathered together multiple social groups; ritual items which came from afar testify to the external connections of the settlements of the Chengdu Plain. Meanwhile, long before the Chengdu Plain became inhabitable, a number of settlements had been established along the Upper Minjiang River beginning around 3300 BC. Because of their crucial locations along traffic routes in the western highlands of Sichuan, these settlements remained important in regional exchanges throughout the following periods and maintained a complex relationship with the Chengdu Plain. They acquired foreign goods directly from or via the plain. In this research, I examine two cases from the Upper Minjiang River, namely, the sacrificial burials discovered at the Yingpanshan site in 2003 and the stone coffin burial, along with artifact pits, found at Motuo in 1992. There is a contrast in the social status of the dead at these two sites. I attempt to elucidate the complexity of this “marginal region” and discuss the regional boundaries between the highlands and the lowlands, a division which has otherwise been difficult to grasp. It is demonstrated that the relationship between the highlands and the lowlands, which took shape during the Neolithic Age, is far more entangled and dynamic than previously thought and is beyond the spread of artifacts. The communication taking place between the two involved not only multi-layered material exchanges, but also other aspects of social life, including the spiritual and subsistent dimensions, all of which affected their respective regional developments. Such communication cannot be simplified as (secondary) core-periphery relationships. The western Sichuan highlands were also not isolated from foreign cultures, but rather selectively accepted features from them. Therefore, Xueshan Mountain, despite being described by the poet Tu Fu as a cloudy fairyland or thought of as the cultural origin of the Chengdu Plain, was inhabited by real people whose agency in cultural exchange should not be neglected. They were not necessarily passive receivers subordinate to the plain but played an active role in networks of exchange, which also influenced the peoples of the Chengdu Plain.
In this study, we conducted carbon, strontium, and oxygen isotope analyses on tooth enamel from h... more In this study, we conducted carbon, strontium, and oxygen isotope analyses on tooth enamel from human and pig remains that were excavated from the Chengdu Plain and its western highlands in Sichuan to investigate the dietary patterns of the peoples and possible population movements in these areas. The analyses of carbon isotope showed that the dietary patterns in these areas support our previous understanding that, while rice was an important food source for the peoples on the Chengdu Plain, millets played a crucial role at the mountainous sites. Moreover, the same dietary patterns in these two regions lasted from the late Neolithic Age to at least the Bronze Age. The result of strontium analyses suggests that the bioavailable strontium baseline of the Chengdu Plain is 0.71197–0.71400. Based on this strontium ratio and δ13C value ranges derived in this study, several unusual cases were identified. We also note an interesting difference in the oxygen isotope values between the late Neolithic and the early Bronze Age sites, which we suspect to be related to climate change in around 2000 BC. This finding, however, requires more data for verification. Overall, this is the first time isotopic analysis was used to test human and faunal remains in a more extensive manner and to enhance our understanding of the paleodietary patterns, human dynamics, and climatic changes in ancient Sichuan. The results provide information about the sites when other sources of evidence are lacking and suggest a baseline for future comparisons.
abstract:Analysis of settlement pattern and production organization of the Jinsha settlement sugg... more abstract:Analysis of settlement pattern and production organization of the Jinsha settlement suggests that it was less strictly organized than the Sanxingdui settlement and that it was inhabited by heterogeneous social groups during the early Bronze Age. Measuring and evaluating the standardization of two types of pottery vessels (i.e., jars with small bases [xiaopingdi guan 小平底罐] and saucers with pointed bottoms [jiandizhan 尖底盞]) reveal that potters employed different patterns for products to be used in different contexts. Vessels are more standardized at loci close to the sacrificial zone (where ritual paraphernalia were buried), while vessels used as burial goods tend to be smaller. Pottery production was loosely organized, ranging between individual and nucleated workshops, and widely distributed across loci both near the sacrificial zone and on the periphery of Jinsha. The sacrificial zone at the center of the settlement apparently created needs that promoted production activities. The presentation of multiple types of production in the Jinsha core, together with religious activities and public buildings, suggests not only multiple chaînes opératoires for objects but also communal activities and entangled social relations. Such gatherings and driving forces enabled different social groups to redress social tensions while promoting consensus. Crafters might have cooperated when necessary, but they were otherwise organized in a flexible manner, maintaining at most a loose network of production.
Author(s): Lin, Kuei-chen | Advisor(s): VON FALKENHAUSEN, LOTHAR; READ, DWIGHT W | Abstract: This... more Author(s): Lin, Kuei-chen | Advisor(s): VON FALKENHAUSEN, LOTHAR; READ, DWIGHT W | Abstract: This dissertation attempts to explain the organization of pottery production on the ancient Chengdu Plain during the early and middle Bronze Age (ca. 1800-800 BC) and its relationship with social complexity. It investigates the formation of production controls and traditions in different dimensions and at various manufacturing stages of pottery production, and compares and classifies ceramics mainly from three site clusters, Sanxingdui, Shi'erqiao, and Jinsha, using a series of analyses. First, metric measurement and coefficients of variation are used to assess the degree of standardization in vessels and whether the metric dimensions form specific model values. The results suggest that different production loci, while producing the same type of pottery vessels, had varying degrees of production control over these metric dimensions and distinctive concerns about production details. Secon...
Analysis of settlement pattern and production organization of the Jinsha settlement
suggests tha... more Analysis of settlement pattern and production organization of the Jinsha settlement
suggests that it was less strictly organized than the Sanxingdui settlement and that it was inhabited by heterogeneous social groups during the early Bronze Age. Measuring and evaluating the standardization of two types of pottery vessels (i.e., jars with small bases [xiaopingdi guan小平底罐] and saucers with pointed bottoms [jiandizhan尖底盞]) reveal that potters employed different patterns for products to be used in different contexts. Vessels are more standardized at loci close to the sacrificial zone (where ritual paraphernalia were buried), while vessels used as burial goods tend to be smaller. Pottery production was loosely organized, ranging between individual and nucleated workshops, and widely distributed across loci both near the sacrificial zone and on the periphery of Jinsha. The sacrificial zone at the center of the settlement apparently created needs that promoted production activities. The presentation of multiple types of production in the Jinsha core, together with religious activities and public buildings, suggests not only multiple chaînes opératoires for objects but also communal activities and entangled social relations. Such gatherings and driving forces enabled different social groups to redress social tensions while promoting consensus. Crafters might have cooperated when necessary, but they were otherwise organized in a flexible manner, maintaining at most a loose network of production.
During the Neolithic period, the Chengdu Plain was a key region where two important crops, rice a... more During the Neolithic period, the Chengdu Plain was a key region where two important crops, rice and millet, were cultivated together. Millet was probably introduced from northwestern China c.3500-3300 cal. BCE, and rice came from the Middle Yangtze River c.2600 cal. BCE. In this study, human and faunal remains, as well as charred crop grains, were collected from the Yingpanshan (3300-2600 cal. BCE) and Gaoshan (2500-2000 cal. BCE) sites where the dominant crop was millet and rice, respectively. Carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were conducted on human bones and the ecofact samples in order to reconstruct the subsistence at the sites. The results indicate that the diets of two individuals recovered from the Yingpanshan site consisted of both C 3-and C 4-based foods, predominantly the former. By contrast, Yingpanshan pigs consumed a large quantity of C 4 fodder. This result, combined with the ecofact evidence, suggests that millet was the main crop at the Yingpanshan site. It also highlights the fact that the two Yingpanshan individuals might be non-locals and/or belonged to later periods. On the other hand, the diet of the Gaoshan community was dominated by C 3based foods. When considering the archaeobotanical evidence at Baodun, a site contemporaneous with and near to the Gaoshan site, it can be stated that rice was an important food resource for the Gaoshan community. This study also suggests how crops were managed at the two sites. The Yingpanshan people might have used manure for growing millet. Both manuring and irrigation might have also been practised by Gaoshan's rice farmers. However, more studies are required to understand the extent of manuring and irrigation in their agricultural economies.
Chung Yang Yen Chiu Yuan Li Shih Yu Yen Yen Chiu So Chi K'an /Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology Academia Sinica, 2022
At the turn of the first millennium BC, settlements of the Shi’erqiao culture formed a large Shi’... more At the turn of the first millennium BC, settlements of the Shi’erqiao culture formed a large Shi’erqiao-Jinsha cluster around what is now the modern city of Chengdu and developed into a new settlement center. Small-scaled villages also appeared in many places of the Chengdu Plain. Not only had the number of settlements increased and the distribution of these settlements expanded, but the populations constituting these settlements became more diverse during this time. Frequent ritual activities formed a mechanism that gathered together multiple social groups; ritual items which came from afar testify to the external connections of the settlements of the Chengdu Plain. Meanwhile, long before the Chengdu Plain became inhabitable, a number of settlements had been established along the Upper Minjiang River beginning around 3300 BC. Because of their crucial locations along traffic routes in the western highlands of Sichuan, these settlements remained important in regional exchanges throughout the following periods and maintained a complex relationship with the Chengdu Plain. They acquired foreign goods directly from or via the plain. In this research, I examine two cases from the Upper Minjiang River, namely, the sacrificial burials discovered at the Yingpanshan site in 2003 and the stone coffin burial, along with artifact pits, found at Motuo in 1992. There is a contrast in the social status of the dead at these two sites. I attempt to elucidate the complexity of this “marginal region” and discuss the regional boundaries between the highlands and the lowlands, a division which has otherwise been difficult to grasp. It is demonstrated that the relationship between the highlands and the lowlands, which took shape during the Neolithic Age, is far more entangled and dynamic than previously thought and is beyond the spread of artifacts. The communication taking place between the two involved not only multi-layered material exchanges, but also other aspects of social life, including the spiritual and subsistent dimensions, all of which affected their respective regional developments. Such communication cannot be simplified as (secondary) core-periphery relationships. The western Sichuan highlands were also not isolated from foreign cultures, but rather selectively accepted features from them. Therefore, Xueshan Mountain, despite being described by the poet Tu Fu as a cloudy fairyland or thought of as the cultural origin of the Chengdu Plain, was inhabited by real people whose agency in cultural exchange should not be neglected. They were not necessarily passive receivers subordinate to the plain but played an active role in networks of exchange, which also influenced the peoples of the Chengdu Plain.
In this study, we conducted carbon, strontium, and oxygen isotope analyses on tooth enamel from h... more In this study, we conducted carbon, strontium, and oxygen isotope analyses on tooth enamel from human and pig remains that were excavated from the Chengdu Plain and its western highlands in Sichuan to investigate the dietary patterns of the peoples and possible population movements in these areas. The analyses of carbon isotope showed that the dietary patterns in these areas support our previous understanding that, while rice was an important food source for the peoples on the Chengdu Plain, millets played a crucial role at the mountainous sites. Moreover, the same dietary patterns in these two regions lasted from the late Neolithic Age to at least the Bronze Age. The result of strontium analyses suggests that the bioavailable strontium baseline of the Chengdu Plain is 0.71197–0.71400. Based on this strontium ratio and δ13C value ranges derived in this study, several unusual cases were identified. We also note an interesting difference in the oxygen isotope values between the late Neolithic and the early Bronze Age sites, which we suspect to be related to climate change in around 2000 BC. This finding, however, requires more data for verification. Overall, this is the first time isotopic analysis was used to test human and faunal remains in a more extensive manner and to enhance our understanding of the paleodietary patterns, human dynamics, and climatic changes in ancient Sichuan. The results provide information about the sites when other sources of evidence are lacking and suggest a baseline for future comparisons.
abstract:Analysis of settlement pattern and production organization of the Jinsha settlement sugg... more abstract:Analysis of settlement pattern and production organization of the Jinsha settlement suggests that it was less strictly organized than the Sanxingdui settlement and that it was inhabited by heterogeneous social groups during the early Bronze Age. Measuring and evaluating the standardization of two types of pottery vessels (i.e., jars with small bases [xiaopingdi guan 小平底罐] and saucers with pointed bottoms [jiandizhan 尖底盞]) reveal that potters employed different patterns for products to be used in different contexts. Vessels are more standardized at loci close to the sacrificial zone (where ritual paraphernalia were buried), while vessels used as burial goods tend to be smaller. Pottery production was loosely organized, ranging between individual and nucleated workshops, and widely distributed across loci both near the sacrificial zone and on the periphery of Jinsha. The sacrificial zone at the center of the settlement apparently created needs that promoted production activities. The presentation of multiple types of production in the Jinsha core, together with religious activities and public buildings, suggests not only multiple chaînes opératoires for objects but also communal activities and entangled social relations. Such gatherings and driving forces enabled different social groups to redress social tensions while promoting consensus. Crafters might have cooperated when necessary, but they were otherwise organized in a flexible manner, maintaining at most a loose network of production.
Author(s): Lin, Kuei-chen | Advisor(s): VON FALKENHAUSEN, LOTHAR; READ, DWIGHT W | Abstract: This... more Author(s): Lin, Kuei-chen | Advisor(s): VON FALKENHAUSEN, LOTHAR; READ, DWIGHT W | Abstract: This dissertation attempts to explain the organization of pottery production on the ancient Chengdu Plain during the early and middle Bronze Age (ca. 1800-800 BC) and its relationship with social complexity. It investigates the formation of production controls and traditions in different dimensions and at various manufacturing stages of pottery production, and compares and classifies ceramics mainly from three site clusters, Sanxingdui, Shi'erqiao, and Jinsha, using a series of analyses. First, metric measurement and coefficients of variation are used to assess the degree of standardization in vessels and whether the metric dimensions form specific model values. The results suggest that different production loci, while producing the same type of pottery vessels, had varying degrees of production control over these metric dimensions and distinctive concerns about production details. Secon...
Analysis of settlement pattern and production organization of the Jinsha settlement
suggests tha... more Analysis of settlement pattern and production organization of the Jinsha settlement
suggests that it was less strictly organized than the Sanxingdui settlement and that it was inhabited by heterogeneous social groups during the early Bronze Age. Measuring and evaluating the standardization of two types of pottery vessels (i.e., jars with small bases [xiaopingdi guan小平底罐] and saucers with pointed bottoms [jiandizhan尖底盞]) reveal that potters employed different patterns for products to be used in different contexts. Vessels are more standardized at loci close to the sacrificial zone (where ritual paraphernalia were buried), while vessels used as burial goods tend to be smaller. Pottery production was loosely organized, ranging between individual and nucleated workshops, and widely distributed across loci both near the sacrificial zone and on the periphery of Jinsha. The sacrificial zone at the center of the settlement apparently created needs that promoted production activities. The presentation of multiple types of production in the Jinsha core, together with religious activities and public buildings, suggests not only multiple chaînes opératoires for objects but also communal activities and entangled social relations. Such gatherings and driving forces enabled different social groups to redress social tensions while promoting consensus. Crafters might have cooperated when necessary, but they were otherwise organized in a flexible manner, maintaining at most a loose network of production.
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suggests that it was less strictly organized than the Sanxingdui settlement and that it was inhabited by heterogeneous social groups during the early Bronze Age. Measuring and evaluating the standardization of two types of pottery vessels (i.e., jars with small bases [xiaopingdi guan小平底罐] and saucers with pointed bottoms [jiandizhan尖底盞]) reveal that potters employed different patterns for products to be used in different contexts. Vessels are more standardized at loci close to the sacrificial zone (where ritual paraphernalia were buried), while vessels used as burial goods tend to be smaller. Pottery production was loosely organized, ranging between individual and nucleated workshops, and widely distributed across loci both near the sacrificial zone and on the periphery of Jinsha. The sacrificial zone at the center of the settlement apparently created needs that promoted production activities. The presentation of multiple types of production in the Jinsha core, together with religious activities and public buildings, suggests not only multiple chaînes opératoires for objects but also communal activities and entangled social relations. Such gatherings and driving forces enabled different social groups to redress social tensions while promoting consensus. Crafters might have cooperated when necessary, but they were otherwise organized in a flexible manner, maintaining at most a loose network of production.
suggests that it was less strictly organized than the Sanxingdui settlement and that it was inhabited by heterogeneous social groups during the early Bronze Age. Measuring and evaluating the standardization of two types of pottery vessels (i.e., jars with small bases [xiaopingdi guan小平底罐] and saucers with pointed bottoms [jiandizhan尖底盞]) reveal that potters employed different patterns for products to be used in different contexts. Vessels are more standardized at loci close to the sacrificial zone (where ritual paraphernalia were buried), while vessels used as burial goods tend to be smaller. Pottery production was loosely organized, ranging between individual and nucleated workshops, and widely distributed across loci both near the sacrificial zone and on the periphery of Jinsha. The sacrificial zone at the center of the settlement apparently created needs that promoted production activities. The presentation of multiple types of production in the Jinsha core, together with religious activities and public buildings, suggests not only multiple chaînes opératoires for objects but also communal activities and entangled social relations. Such gatherings and driving forces enabled different social groups to redress social tensions while promoting consensus. Crafters might have cooperated when necessary, but they were otherwise organized in a flexible manner, maintaining at most a loose network of production.