UCL INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY
ARCLG278
Social Complexity in Early China: from Neolithic to Early Empire
2014-2015 Handbook
[Term 2]
MA Archaeology and Heritage of Asia, optional, 15 credits
Co-ordinators: Dr. Yijie Zhuang
[email protected]
Room B10, 020 7670 1092
Other contributors: Prof. Dorian Fuller ([email protected])
Dr. Xiuzhen (Janice) Li ([email protected])
1 OVERVIEW
1.
Schedule
Date
1. January 15
2. January 22
3. January 29
4. February 5
5. February 12
6. February 19
7. February 26
8. March 5
9. March 12
10. March 19
11. March 26
Topic
Introduction to the course: theories,
approaches and problems
Yangshao culture settlements and social
organization
Neolithic cemeteries and ritual activities:
Yangshao, Dawenkou and Hongshan
The emergence of walled sites in the late
Neolithic
Craft production, long-distance trade
and regional interaction
READING WEEK
Agricultural development in the late
Neolithic: new phenomena and new
perspectives
Student Powerpoint presentations
Technological development and craft
production during Eastern Zhou
Erlitou and debate on state formation
The Great Shang and the Great Zhou
Instructor
Yijie Zhuang
Yijie Zhuang
Yijie Zhuang
Yijie Zhuang
Yijie Zhuang
No class meeting
Dorian Fuller
Yijie Zhuang/Xiuzhen
(Janice) Li
Xiuzhen (Janice) Li
Yijie Zhuang
Yijie Zhuang
Methods of assessment
The course is assessed by means of:
(a): one powerpoint presentation (15 minute length). The hard copy of your powerpoint will
be marked and this will constitute of 35% of the final mark of the course; IT IS
IMPORTANT THAT YOU PROVIDE A HARDCOPY OF YOUR NOTES AS WELL AS
A PRINTOUT OF THE POWERPOINT TO ME.
(b): one essay of 2,850-3,150 words, which will constitute 65% of the final grade for the
course. The essay is due by the second Friday of Term Three (8th May 2015).
Teaching methods
Lectures take place every week (except Reading Week)
Each lecture lasts for 2 hours. It will consist of about 70 minute lecturing and 30 minute
discussion. Each student will be assigned one reading task in the previous week and is
expected to give a short summary of the article/chapter she/he reads and discuss.
Workload
There will be 20 hours of lectures and discussion. Students will be expected to undertake
around 115 hours of reading for the course, plus 15 hours preparing for and producing the
essay. They add up to a total workload of some 150 hours for the course.
Prerequisites
Chinese language is an advantage, but not an essential prerequisite for this course.
2 AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND ASSESSMENT
Aims and Objectives
This course will explore key issues in the archaeology of later Prehistoric and Early
Historic China, with a particular focus on the understanding of changing patterns of social
complexity as revealed through archaeological evidence from excavations and objects. The
period covered will range from the early agricultural societies of the Neolithic to the eve of
the unification of China in the Qin Empire (3rd c. BC). Major themes will include the
emergence of social complexity, craft production, and trade. The course will include an
overview of the major categories of material culture, including ceramics, jades and bronzes in
terms of their production, stylistics and exchange. Students will explore recent debates
concerning how such artefacts are related to the creation of Chinese hierarchical societies and
settlement patterns as revealed through archaeology. Sessions will combine lecture and
seminar discussion. Students will also contribute by preparing shorter presentations for a
student-led discussion.
Further important information on all courses at the Institute of Archaeology, is found at
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/administration/students/handbook and in the general
MA/MSc handbook. It is your responsibility to read and act on it. It includes information
about originality, submission and grading of coursework; disabilities; communication;
attendance; and feedback.
Aims of the course
To develop knowledge of the basic chronological frameworks for China’s major regions from
the Early Holocene up to the Qin/Han period and an understanding of environmental
constraints on cultural development. Themes covered will include in particular:
•
•
•
•
•
Differing trajectories to agriculture and sedentism across Chinese regions
Differing regional trajectories to craft production, trade and evidence for social
hierarchy
Varied trajectories to complex societies and hypotheses of state formation
Processes of initial urbanization in China and how it has been defined and recognized
Differing regional chronologies of technological innovations, including agriculture,
bronze metallurgy, jade carving, porcelain production, writing, horses and chariots,
iron working
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the course students should be able to demonstrate/have
developed:
• critical reflection of Western theoretical archaeological approaches to Chinese
archaeology
• a basic knowledge of the data
• the ability to write an essay on selected topic
• the ability to compare the knowledge acquired during the course with other
cultures
Course information
This handbook contains the basic information about the content and administration of the
course. Additional subject-specific reading lists and individual session handouts will be
given out at appropriate points in the course. If students have queries about the objectives,
structure, content, assessment or organisation of the course, they should consult the Course
Co-ordinator.
Coursework
Each student has to write ONE essay of 2,850-3,150 words. Late submission without good
cause and permission will incur a penalty.
Students are not permitted to re-write and re-submit essays in order to try to improve their
marks. However, students may be permitted, in advance of the deadline for a given
assignment, to submit for comment a brief outline of the assignment.
The Course Co-ordinator is willing to discuss an outline of the student's approach to the
assignment, provided this is planned suitably in advance of the submission date.
Strict new regulations with regard to word-length were introduced UCL-wide with effect
from 2013:
For submitted coursework, where a maximum length has been specified, the following
procedure will apply:
i) The length of coursework will normally be specified in terms of a word count
ii) Assessed work should not exceed the prescribed length.
iii) For work that exceeds the specified maximum length by less than10% the mark will be
reduced by ten percentage marks; but the penalised mark will not be reduced below the pass
mark, assuming the work merited a pass.
iv) For work that exceeds the specified maximum length by 10% or more, a mark of zero will
be recorded. .
Word counts
The following should not be included in the word-count: title page, contents pages, lists of
figure and tables, abstract, preface, acknowledgements, bibliography, lists of references,
captions and contents of tables and figures, appendices, and wording of citations in the text.
Penalties will only be imposed if you exceed the upper figure in the range. There is no
penalty for using fewer words than the lower figure in the range: the lower figure is simply
for your guidance to indicate the sort of length that is expected.
Submission procedures (coversheets and Turnitin, including Class ID and password)
Students are required to submit hard copy of all coursework to the course co-ordinator’s
pigeon hole via the Red Essay Box at Reception by the last Friday of the teaching term. The
coursework must be stapled to a completed coversheet (available from the web, from outside
Room 411A or from the library)
Students should put their Candidate Number on all coursework. This is a 5 digit
alphanumeric code and can be found on Portico: it is different from the Student Number/ ID.
Please also put the Candidate Number and course code on each page of the work.
It is also essential that students put their Candidate Number at the start of the title line on
Turnitin, followed by the short title of the coursework..
Please note the stringent UCL-wide penalties for late submission given below . Late
submission will be penalized in accordance with these regulations unless permission has been
granted and an Extension Request Form (ERF) completed.
Date-stamping will be via ‘Turnitin’ (see below), so in addition to submitting hard copy,
students must also submit their work to Turnitin by the midnight on the day of the deadline.
Students who encounter technical problems submitting their work to Turnitin should email
the nature of the problem to [email protected] in advance of the deadline in order that
the Turnitin Advisers can notify the Course Co-ordinator that it may be appropriate to waive
the late submission penalty.
If there is any other unexpected crisis on the submission day, students should telephone or
(preferably) e-mail the Course Co-ordinator, and follow this up with a completed ERF.
Please see the Coursework Guidelines on the IoA website for further details of penalties.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/administration/students/handbook/submission .
The Turnitin 'Class ID' is 783779 and the 'Class Enrolment Password' is IoA1415 Further
information is given on the IoA website.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/administration/students/handbook/turnitin
Turnitin advisers will be available to help you via email: [email protected] if needed.
UCL-WIDE PENALTIES FOR LATE SUBMISSION OF COURSEWORK
UCL regulation 3.1.6 Late Submission of Coursework
Where coursework is not submitted by a published deadline, the following penalties will
apply:
i) A penalty of 5 percentage marks should be applied to coursework
submitted the calendar day after the deadline (calendar day 1).
ii) A penalty of 15 percentage marks should be applied to coursework submitted on calendar
day 2 after the deadline through to calendar day 7.
iii) A mark of zero should be recorded for coursework submitted on calendar day 8 after the
deadline through to the end of the second week of third term. Nevertheless, the assessment
will be considered to be complete provided the coursework contains material than can be
assessed.
iv) Coursework submitted after the end of the second week of third term will not be marked
and the assessment will be incomplete.
vii) Where there are extenuating circumstances that have been recognised by the Board of
Examiners or its representative, these penalties will not apply until the agreed extension
period has been exceeded.
viii) In the case of coursework that is submitted late and is also over length, only the lateness
penalty will apply.
Timescale for return of marked coursework to students.
You can expect to receive your marked work within four calendar weeks of the official
submission deadline. If you do not receive your work within this period, or a written
explanation from the marker, you should notify the IoA’s Academic Administrator, Judy
Medrington.
Keeping copies
Please note that it is an Institute requirement that you retain a copy (this can be electronic) of
all coursework submitted. When your marked essay is returned to you, you should return it
to the marker within two weeks.
Citing of sources
Coursework should be expressed in a student’s own words giving the exact source of any
ideas, information, diagrams etc. that are taken from the work of others. Any direct
quotations from the work of others must be indicated as such by being placed between
inverted commas. Plagiarism is regarded as a very serious irregularity which can carry
very heavy penalties. It is your responsibility to read and abide by the requirements for
presentation, referencing and avoidance of plagiarism to be found in the IoA ‘Coursework
Guidelines’ on the IoA website
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/administration/students/handbook
AVOIDING PLAGIARISM
The term “plagiarism” means presenting material (words, figures etc.) in a way that
allows the reader to believe that it is the work of the author he or she is reading, when it is in
fact the creation of another person.
In academic and other circles, plagiarism is regarded as theft of intellectual property.
UCL regulations, all detected plagiarism is to be penalized and noted on the student’s record,
irrespective of whether the plagiarism is committed knowingly or unintentionally. The whole
process of an allegation of plagiarism and its investigation is likely to cause considerable
personal embarrassment and to leave a very unpleasant memory in addition to the practical
consequences of the penalty. The penalties can be surprizingly severe and may include failing
a course or a whole degree. It is thus important to take deliberate steps to avoid any
inadvertent plagiarism.
Avoiding plagiarism should start at the stage of taking notes. In your notes, it should
be wholly clear what is taken directly from a source, what is a paraphrase of the content of a
source and what is your own synthesis or original thought. Make sure you include sources
and relevant page numbers in your notes.
When writing an essay any words and special meanings, any special phrases, any
clauses or sentences taken directly from a source must be enclosed in inverted commas and
followed by a reference to the source in brackets. It is not generally necessary to use direct
quotations except when comparing particular terms or phrases used by different authors.
Similarly, all figures and tables taken from sources must have their origin acknowledged in
the caption. Captions do not contribute to any maximum word lengths.
Paraphrased information taken from a source must be followed by a reference to the
source. If a paragraph contains information from several sources, it must be made clear what
information comes from where: a list of sources at the end of the paragraph is not sufficient.
Please cite sources of information fully, including page numbers where appropriate, in order
to avoid any risk of plagiarism: citations in the text do not contribute to any maximum word
count.
To guard further against inadvertent plagiarism, you may find it helpful to write a
plan of your coursework answer or essay and to write the coursework primarily on the basis
of your plan, only referring to sources or notes when you need to check something specific
such as a page number for a citation.
COLLUSION, except where required, is also an examination offence. While
discussing topics and questions with fellow students is one of the benefits of learning in a
university environment, you should always plan and write your coursework answers entirely
independently.
3 SCHEDULE AND SYLLABUS
Teaching schedule
Lectures will be held 9-11am in room 209 every Thursday.
Syllabus
Week 1. Introduction to the course: theories, approaches and problems
Recent theoretic development in social complexity will be reviewed, followed by a
discussion on what different lines of archaeological evidence can be used for studies of social
complexity and thus what approaches we should adopt. The second half the lecture will
briefly introduce what will be covered throughout the course.
Essential reading:
Campbell, R. (ed.). in press. Violence and Civilization: a Deep Historical View. Available
from:
https://www.academia.edu/2234835/_Violence_and_Civilization_a_Deep_Historical_View_
Li, X.W. 2008. Development of Social Complexity in the Liaoxi Area, Northeast China.
Oxford: BAR. Chapter two.
Smith, M.E (ed.). 2012. The Comparative Archaeology of Complex Societies. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. Chapter 2.
Trigger, B.G. 2003. Understanding Early Civilizations: A Comparative Study. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. Introduction chapter.
Feinman, G. & J. Marcus. 1998. Archaic States. Santa Fe: School of American Research
Press. Introduction Chapter.
Optional reading
Flannery, K. & J. Marcus. 2012. The Creation of Inequality: How Our Prehistoric Ancestors
Set the Stage for Monarchy, Slavery, and Empire. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard
University Press.
Hayden, B. 2001. Richman, poor man, beggarman, chief: the dynamics of social inequality.
In Price, T.G. (ed.). Archaeology at the Millennium: A Sourcebook. New York: Kluwer
Academic/Plenum.
Liu, L. & X.C., Chen. 2003. State Formation in Early China. London: Duckworth.
Liu, L. 2003. The products of minds as well as of hands: Production of prestige goods in the
Neolithic and early state periods of China. Asian Perspectives, vol. 42:1-40.
Stone, E.C. 2007. Settlement and Society: Essays Dedicated to Robert McMormick Adams.
Los Angeles: UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.
Zhang, H., A., Bevan. & D.S., Guo. 2012. The Neolithic Ceremonial Complex at Niuheliang
and Wider Hongshan Landscapes in Northeastern China. Journal of World Prehistory, vol.
26: 1-24.
Week 2. Yangshao culture settlements and social organization
The Yangshao culture, lasting for about 2000 years, has long been depicted as a
homogeneous, continuously progressive cultural entity across vast areas of North China and
was very influential to adjacent areas. This lecture we will first investigate how such a strong
opinion was formed and through which how the so-called Chinese school of archaeology is
shaped. We will then re-examine past and recent archaeological discoveries in different
regions of North China in chronological orders, covering a wide range of subjects, including
settlements, houses, craft production, economic subsistence and related aspects. Problems
resulting from methodological and theoretic limitation will be discussed. The final part of this
lecture will address how we can use this suite of new data to re-interpret the Yangshao
cultures and the beginning of social complexity in its prolonged discourse.
Essential reading
Liu, L. 2004. The Chinese Neolithic: The Trajectories to Early States. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. Chapter 3.
Liu, X.W. 2013. The later Neolithic period in the Central Yellow River Valley are, c. 40003000 BC. In Underhill, A.P. (ed.) A Companion to Chinese Archaeology. Malden: WileyBlackwell.
Underhill, A.P. 2002. Craft Production and Social Change in Northern China. New York:
Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. Chapter one.
von Falkenhausen, L. 1995. The regionalist paradigm in Chinese archaeology. In Kohl, P. &
C. Fawcett (eds.). Nationalism, Politics, and the Practice of Archaeology. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Optional reading
Chang, K.C. 1986. The Archaeology of Ancient China, 4th edn. New Haven: Yale University
Press. Chapter 3.
Dai, X.M. 2006. Pottery Production, Settlement Patterns and Development of Social
Complexity in the Yuanqu Basin, North-Central China. Oxford: Archaeopress. Chapter 4.
Hung, L.Y. 2011. Pottery Production, Mortuary Practice, and Social Complexity in the
Majiayao Culture, NW China (ca. 5300-4000 BP). PhD dissertation. Washington University
in St Louis. Sections 1.4 & 5.3. Available online.
Liu, L. & X.C., Chen. 2012. The Archaeology of China: From the Late Paleolithic to the
Early Bronze Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 6.
Ma, X.L. 2005. Emergent Social Complexity in the Yangshao Culture: Analyses of Settlement
Patterns and Faunal Remains from Lingbao, Western Henan, China (c. 4900-3000 BC).
Oxford: Archaeopress.
Week 3. Neolithic cemeteries and ritual activities: Yangshao, Dawenkou and Hongshan
A clear pattern of change in mortuary practice throughout the Yangshao period can be
observed. How this can be viewed in the light of the development of social complexity?
Similarly, the Dawenkou culture (began slightly later than the Yangshao culture) in the
Lower Yellow River is characterized by its rich remains in mortuary practices and by the late
Dawenkou period, evidence of social inequality appears. These two mortuary traditions will
be discussed and compared. Issues concerning why and how we should/can use mortuary
evidence for the investigation of social complexity will then be dealt with. A contrasting
example to these mortuary traditions is the Hongshan ceremonial complex, which is widely
considered as an unambiguous evidence of a milestone development in social complexity.
The second half of the lecture will discuss how the study of these ceremonial features can
shed light to social complexity within a wider regional context and whether this tradition is
related to contemporary and later archaeological cultures in China.
Essential reading
Allard, F. 2001. Mortuary ceramics and socialization in the Dawenkou and Majiayao cultures.
Journal of East Asian Archaeology, vol. 3:1-22.
Fung, C. 2000. The drinks are on us: ritual, social status, and practice in Dawenkou burials,
North China. Journal of East Asian, vol. 2: 67-92.
Liu, L. 2004. The Chinese Neolithic: Trajectories to Early States. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. Chapter 5.
Pearson, R.1988. Chinese neolithic burial pattern: problems of method and interpretation.
Early China 13: 1-45.
Optional reading
Drennan, R.D. & C.E. Peterson. 2005. Patterned variation in prehistoric chiefdoms. PNAS,
vol.103: 3960-3967.
Liu, L. & X.C., Chen. 2012. The Archaeology of China: From the Late Paleolithic to the
Early Bronze Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 6 & 7
Luan, F.S. 2013. The Dawenkou culture in the Lower Yellow River and Huai River Basin
Area. In Underhill, A.P. (ed.) A Companion to Chinese Archaeology. Malden: WileyBlackwell.
So, J.F. & J., Douglas. 1998. Understanding and identifying jades from the Hongshan culture.
In Tang, C. (ed.). East Asian Jade: Symbol of Excellence. Vol. 1. Hong Kong: The Chinese
University o Hong Kong.
Underhill, A.P. 2000. An analysis of mortuary ritual at the Dawenkou site, Shandong, China.
Journal of East Asian Archaeology, vol. 2: 93-127.
Zhang, H., A., Bevan. & D.S., Guo. 2012. The Neolithic Ceremonial Complex at Niuheliang
and Wider Hongshan Landscapes in Northeastern China. Journal of World Prehistory, vol.
26: 1-24.
Week 4. The emergence of walled sites in the late Neolithic
The late-Neolithic period in both north and south China witnessed the construction of many
walled sites in a relatively short time span. This lecture will first investigate the location of
these walled sites. Different types of relationships between these walled sites and their local
environments will be discussed. Internal structures of these sites as revealed by recent
archaeological discoveries will be presented, as well as the emerging evidence of urban lives
at these sites. The second half of this lecture will be dedicated to the survey of settlement
patterns amongst these large walled sites and adjacent smaller sites in different regions.
Essential reading
Liu, L. & X.C., Chen. 2012. The Archaeology of China: From the Late Paleolithic to the
Early Bronze Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 6 & 7
He, N. 2013. The Longshan period site of Taosi in Southern Shanxi Province. In Underhill,
A.P. (ed.) A Companion to Chinese Archaeology. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
Qin, L. 2013. The Liangzhu culture. In Underhill, A.P. (ed.) A Companion to Chinese
Archaeology. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
Sun, B. 2013. The Longshan culture of Shandong. In Underhill, A.P. (ed.) A Companion to
Chinese Archaeology. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
Optional reading
Zhang, C. 2013. The Qujialing-Shijiahe culture in the Middle Yangzi River Valley. In
Underhill, A.P. (ed.) A Companion to Chinese Archaeology. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
Zhao, C.Q. 2013. The Longshan culture in central Henan Province, c. 2600-1900 BC. In
Underhill, A.P. (ed.) A Companion to Chinese Archaeology. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
Week 5. Craft production, long-distance trade and regional interaction
Evidence of massive scale craft production and specialization during this period also
appeared, which is closely related to agricultural intensification and social evolution. The
latter point is less well understood. This lecture will discuss recent archaeological discoveries
and research on mass-produced colour-painted pottery in northwest China, lithic workshops
found in central China, and the wide-spread distribution of some types of jade artefacts.
Long-distance trade and regional interaction at different scales and in different forms and
how they were related to social development will then be discussed in a wider context.
Essential reading
Boivin, N., D.Q., Fuller, & A. Crowther. 2012. Old world globalization and the Columbian
exchange: comparison and contrast. World Archaeology, vol. 44: 452-469.
Dai, X.M. 2006. Pottery Production, Settlement Patterns and Development of Social
Complexity in the Yuanqu Basin, North-Central China. Oxford: Archaeopress. Chapter 4.
Liu, L. 2003. The products of minds as well as of hands: Production of prestige goods in the
Neolithic and early state periods of China. Asian Perspectives, vol. 42:1-40.
Underhill, A.P. 2002. Craft Production and Social Change in Northern China. New York:
Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. Chapter One.
Optional reading
Bellwood, P. 2006. Asian farming disporas? Agriculture, languages, and genes in China and
Southeast Asia. In Stark, M.T. (ed.). Archaeology of Asia. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
Hung, L.Y. 2011. Pottery Production, Mortuary Practice, and Social Complexity in the
Majiayao Culture, NW China (ca. 5300-4000 BP). PhD dissertation. Washington University
in St Louis. Sections 1.4 & 5.3. Available online.
Jones, M., H., Hunt, E., Lightfoot, D., Lister, X., Liu, G., Motuzaite-Matuzeviciute. 2011.
Food globalization in prehistory. World Archaeology, vol. 43: 665-675.
Sherratt, A. 2006. The trans-Eurasian exchange: the prehistory of Chinese relations with the
west. In Mair, V.H. (ed.). Contact and Exchange in the Ancient World. Honolulu: University
of Hawai’i Press.
Week 7. Agricultural development in the late Neolithic: new phenomena and new
perspectives
Parallel with the unprecedented development within the late-Neolithic societies in China is
the evidently improved agricultural practices, which are generally depicted as an agricultural
intensification. This improvement in agriculture began in the preceding period, however. This
lecture thus will first summarize important recent archaeobotanical discoveries dating to the
Yangshao period in the north and contemporary cultures in the south. This will followed by a
thorough discussion of the development and spread of both dry-land farming and rice farming,
the introduction of wheat farming (along with probably other cultural elements as a package)
to China and the ecological modification and adaptation these different farming regimes had
to face when introduced to other places. A special emphasis will be placed on the relationship
between labour investment, agricultural development and societal evolution. This will
eventually facilitate the development of a new perspective on the relationship between social
complexity and prehistoric agriculture.
Essential reading
Flad, R., S.C. Li., X.H., Wu, & Z.J. Zhao. 2010. Early wheat in China: results from new
studies at Donghuishan in the Hexi corridor. The Holocene, vol. 20: 955-965.
Fuller, D.Q., E., Harvey, & L, Qin. 2007. Presumed domestication? Evidence for wild rice
cultivation and domestication in the fifth millennium BC of the Lower Yangtze region.
Antiquity, vol. 81: 316-331.
Fuller, D.Q. & L., Qin. 2009. Water management and labour in the origins and dispersal of
Asian rice. World Archaeology, vol. 41: 88-111.
Jones, M., H., Hunt, E., Lightfoot, D., Lister, X., Liu, G., Motuzaite-Matuzeviciute. 2011.
Food globalization in prehistory. World Archaeology, vol. 43: 665-675.
Yuan, J., R. Flad, & Y.B., Luo. 2005. Meat-acquisition patterns in the Neolithic Yangzi River
valley, China. Antiquity, vol. 82: 351-366
Optional reading
Fuller, D.Q & M., Rowlands. 2011. Ingestion and Food Technologies: Maintaining
differences over the long-term in West, South and East Asia. In Bennet, J., Sherratt, S.,
Wilkinson, T. C. (Eds.). Interweaving Worlds - systematic interactions in Eurasia, 7th to 1st
millennia BC. Essays from a conference in memory of Professor Andrew Sherratt ( pp.37-60).
Oxford: Oxbow Books Ltd.
Liu, L. & X.C., Chen. 2012. The Archaeology of China: From the Late Paleolithic to the
Early Bronze Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 5 & 6.
Pei, A.P. 2013. The Pengtoushan culture in the Middle Yangtze River Valley. In Underhill,
A.P. (ed.) A Companion to Chinese Archaeology. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
Song, J.X., Z.J., Zhao, & D.Q., Fuller. 2013. The archaeobotanical significance of immature
millet grains: an experimental case study of Chinese millet crop processing. Vegetation
History and Archaeobotany. Vol. 22: 141-152.
Sun, G.P. 2013. Recent research on the Hemudu culture and the Tianluoshan site. In
Underhill, A.P. (ed.) A Companion to Chinese Archaeology. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
Zhang, J.Z. 2013. The Jiahu site in the Huai River Area. In Underhill, A.P. (ed.) A
Companion to Chinese Archaeology. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
Zhao, Z.J. 2011. New Archaeobotanic Data for the Study of the Origins of Agriculture in
China. Current Anthropology, Vol. 52, S4.
Week 8. Student presentations
1. Discuss Neolithic pottery production and cultural identity (using Yangshao,
Majiayao or other examples);
2. Appearance of walled sites and its significance;
3. Compare different trajectories of social complexity in East Asia (choosing
Neolithic or Bronze Age examples);
4. Shang chariots and their significance;
Week 9. Technological development and craft production during Eastern Zhou
The Eastern Zhou (770-221 BC, including the Spring and Autumn, and Warring States
periods) is a critical period of technological transition from the Bronze Age to Iron Age
China. It witnessed a dramatically social and political change predating the establishment of
the First Chinese Empire. How did the craft production and technological changes reshape
the society? The archaeological evidence shows that the bronze and iron technologies were
overlapped, combined and interacted during this period, with the flourish of gold and silver
decorations. These provide a rare opportunity to investigate craft production, labour division,
cultural interaction, and social complexity. In addition, the mass production of ceramics,
including sculptures of figurines and the construction materials for the magnificent palaces,
temples, and mausoleums, not only reshaped the agriculture based society but also triggered
further development of social complexity.
Essential reading
Lu, L. 2005 The Eastern Zhou and the Growth of Regionalism. In Kwang-chih Chang and Xu
Pingfang (ed.), The formation of Chinese Civilisation – A Archaeological Perspective. New
Haven/London: Yale University and New World Press.
Ledderose, L. 2001. Ten Thousand Things: Module and Mass Production in Chinese Art.
Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Li, X. 1985. Eastern Zhou and Qin civilisation, translate, K. C. Chang. New Haven, Conn.:
Yale Univeristy Press.
von Falkenhausen, L. 2006. Chinese Society in the Age of Confucius (1000-250 BC): The
Archaeological Evidence. Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA. Chapters
Five, Seven and Eight.
Optional reading
Bagley, R. 1995. What bronze from Hunyuan tell us about the foundry at Houma.
Orientations, 26 (1) : 46-54.
von Falkenhausen, L. 1999. The Waning of the Bronze Age: Material Culture and Social
Development, 770-481 BC. In Loewe, M. and L.E., Shaughnessy (eds.). The Cambridge
History of Ancient China – From the origins of civilization to 221 BC. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Han, R. and Duan, H. 2009. An early iron-using centre in the ancient Jin state region (8th-3rd
century BC). In Mei Jianjun and Rehren Thilo (ed.), Metallurgy and Civilisation – Eurasia
and Beyond. London: Archetype Publications.
Li, F. 2013. Early China: A Social and Cultural History (p161-181). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Linduff, Catheryn M. 2009. Production of signature artifacts for the nomad market in the
state of Qin during the late Warring States period in China (4th -3rd century BCE). In Mei
Jianjun and Rehren Thilo (ed.), Metallurgy and Civilisation – Eurasia and Beyond. London:
Archetype Publications.
Mei, J. 2004. Metallurgy in Bronze Age Xinjing and its cultural context. In Katheryn Linduff
(ed.), Metallurgy in Ancient Eastern Eurasia from the Urals to the Yellow River, 173-88.
New York: Edwin Mellen Press Ltd.
Needham, J. 1954. Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 1 (P90-99). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Shen, Chen. 1994. Early urbanization in the Eastern Zhou in China (770-221 BC): an
archaeological view. Antiquity, 68: 724-744.
Wagner, D. B. 2003. The earliest use of iron in China. In Bulletin of the Museum of Far
Eastern Antiquities 75: 127-169.
Wu, H. 1999. The art and architecture of the Warring States Period. In Loewe, M. and L.E.,
Shaughnessy (eds.). The Cambridge History of Ancient China – From the origins of
civilization to 221 BC. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Xu, P. 2005. The formation of the Empire by the Qin and Han Dynasties and the unification
of China. In Kwang-chih Chang and Xu Pingfang (ed.), The formation of Chinese Civilisation
– A Archaeological Perspective. New Haven/London: Yale University and New World Press.
Week 10. Erlitou and debate on state formation
Erlitou is long been regarded as the urban center of the first state in China. The beginning of
the lecture will examine the formation of such an idea. This will be followed by the
discussion of recent discoveries from the ongoing excavations and survey. The focus will go
back to the debate about state formation in early China and how we can interpret the
archaeological materials in a sound, robust socio-political framework. The last part of this
lecture deals with the relationship between the Erlitou site and contemporary sites in its
vicinities and different regions, focusing on the regional interactions amongst them and how
these processes were related to the increasing social complexity during this period.
Essential reading
Liu, L. & X.C., Chen. 2012. The Archaeology of China: From the Late Paleolithic to the
Early Bronze Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 8.
Liu, L. 2009. State emergence in early China. Annual Review of Anthropology, vol. 83:217232.
Xu, H. 2013. The Erlitou culture. In Underhill, A.P. (ed.) A Companion to Chinese
Archaeology. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
Optional reading
Liu, L. & X.C., Chen. 2003. State Formation in Early China. London: Duckworth.
Liu, L. 2009. Academic Freedom, Political Correctness, and Early Civilization in Chinese
Archaeology: the debate on Xia-Erlitou Relations. Antiquity, vol. 83: 831-843.
Liu, L. & H. Xu. 2007. Rethinking Erlitou: Legend and history in Chinese archaeology.
Antiquity, vol. 81: 886-901.
Xu, H. 2007. Archaeological research on the settlement patterns of the Erlitou site and its
periphery. In IA, CASS (ed.) Archaeology in the East and the West: Papers Presented at the
Sino-Sweden Archaeology Forum, Beijing in September 2005. Stockholm: National Heritage
Board.
Week 11. The Great Shang and the Great Zhou
The archaeology of the Shang and Zhou periods in the past decades has been stuck by the
endless and often pointless debate about validity of textural evidence in informing aspect of
past societies and to what degree we should use pottery typology for chronological
reconstruction. This lecture will hold a different perspective. In presenting recent excavations
at Anyang (the Great Shang Settlement) and Zhouyuan (Great Zhou Settlement), capital
centers for the late Shang and Western Zhou, respectively, not only features and remains
related to elite or aristocrat classes will be included, but archaeological finds pointing to the
ordinary people, daily lives and economic activities will also be discussed. The examination
of these two inter-related aspects will shed new lights to the discourse of social complexity in
variable scales and aspects.
The last part of the lecture is devoted to an increasingly important topic: the interaction
between “China” and the steppes. Emphasis will be placed the exchange of technology,
ideology and products between China and the steppes and how these activities would have
influenced social development on both sides.
Essential reading
Bagley, R. 1999. Shang Archaeology. In Loewe, M. and L.E., Shaughnessy (eds.). The
Cambridge History of Ancient China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Campbell, R., Z.P., Li, Y.L., He, & Y., Jing. 2011. Consumption, exchange and production at
the Great Settlement Shang: bone-working at Tiesanlu, Anyang. Antiquity, vol. 85: 12791297.
Flad, R. 2008. Divination and Power: A Multi-regional View of the Development of Oracle
Bone Divination in Early China. Current Anthropology 49(3): 403-437.
Jing, Z.C., J.G., Tang, G. Rapp, & J. Stoltman. 2013. Recent discoveries and some thoughts
on early urbanization at Anyang. In Underhill, A.P. (ed.) A Companion to Chinese
Archaeology. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
Rowson, J. 1999. West Zhou archaeology. In Loewe, M. and L.E.,
Shaughnessy (eds.). The Cambridge History of Ancient China. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
von Falkenhausen, L. 2006. Chinese Society in the Age of Confucius (1000-250 BC): The
Archaeological Evidence. Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA. Chapter
One.
Optional reading
Bagley, R. 2004. Anyang Writing and the Origin of the Chinese Writing System. In Stephen
D. Houston (ed.). The First Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bagley, R. 2008. Max Loehr and the Study of Chinese Bronzes: Style and Classification in
the History of Art. Ithaca, NY: Cornell East Asia Series.
Barnes, G. 1993. China, Korea and Japan: The Rise of Civilization in East Asia. London:
Thames and Hudson. Chapter 6, pp. 93-97, 103-107.
Campbell, R. 2009. Toward a Networks and Boundaries Approach to Early Complex Polities:
The Late Shang Case. Current Anthropology, vol. 50 (6): 821-848.
Keightley, D.N. 2000. The Ancestral Landscape: Time, Space, and Community in Late Shang
China (ca. 1200-1045 B.C.) Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of
California at Berkeley.
Keightley, D.N. 2004. The Making of the Ancestors: Late Shang Religion and Its Legacy." In
John Lagerwey (ed.). Religion and Chinese Society. Vol. 1. Hong Kong: cole Francaise
d'Extrme-orient and the Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 3-63.
Keightley, D.N. 2002. Epistemology in Cultural Context: Disguise and Deception in Early
China and Early Greece." In Steven Shankman and Stephen Durrant (eds.). Early
China/Ancient Greece: Thinking Through Comparisons. Albany, State University of New
York Press, 119-53.
Li, F. 2006. Landscape and Power in Early China: The Crisis and Fall of the Western Zhou
(1045-771 B.C.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Li, F. 2008. Bureaucracy and the state in early China: governing the western Zhou.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Li., Y-T., & M-C., Hwang. 2013. Archaeology of Shanxi during the Yinxu period. In
Underhill, A.P. (ed.) A Companion to Chinese Archaeology. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
Puett, M. 2002. To Become a God: Cosmology, Sacrifice and Self-Divinization in Early
China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center.
So, J. and Bunker, E. 1995. Traders and Raiders on China's Northern Frontier. Seattle:
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, in association with University of
Washington Press.
Thorp, R.L. 2006. China in the Early Bronze Age: Shang Civilization. Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press.
Trigger, B.G. 2003. Understanding Early Civilizations: A Comparative Study. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Yuan, G.K. 2013. The discovery and study of the early Shang culture. In Underhill, A.P. (ed.)
A Companion to Chinese Archaeology. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
Essay topics:
1. Craft production in the late Neolithic of China and its social implications;
2. Grave analysis and social complexity: Yangshao and Longshan periods;
3. Compare jade artefacts from different Neolithic cultures and their social implications;
4. Agricultural intensification and social complexity (use examples from Hemudu,
Longshan or other periods and regions);
5. Metallurgy, bronze vessel and social roles during the Shang period;