Edited By Department of Archaeology, National Museum of China

 

 

  This report is the last achievement of the subject “The research of settlement archaeology in the Yuanqu Basin, Shanxi”, which was an important research subject sponsored by the National Bureau of Chinese Cultural Relics in 2000. This subject was organized by Professor Tong Weihua, and the members of the subject group include Professor Zhang Sulin, Dr. Dai Xiangming and Mr. Wang Yueqian.

  The aim of this subject is to investigate the changes of settlement patterns from the Neolithic to the early Bronze Age (the Erligang period) in the Yuanqu Basin, including the studies of settlement attributes, interrelationships among settlements, structures of social organizations, and relationships between ancient human beings and environments in different periods. This study is based on the regional surveys and excavations of some crucial sites in the Yuanqu Basin, and employs the methods of analyses in micro – settlement patterns and micro – settlement patterns.

  This subject was carried out by two stages. The first included the field surveys of four seasons from 2001 to 2003. Due to various complex topographic features, the full – coverage survey strategy is not suitable for the Yuanqu Basin. We adopted the method of combining the regional surveys with the traditional archaeological surveys, and collected a variety of information for each site by surface surveying, measuring, coring, section investigation, artifact collecting, and so on. The surveyed region subsumes a few river valleys. We recorded the location and topographic and ecological features of each site, and identified the settlement areas of different periods in the same site.

  The second stage included data analyses, synthetic research, and report writing. The relevant work addressed making various tables and figures, and using computers for statistics and analyses.

  The report contains five chapters:

  Chapter One: Introduction

  Chapter Two: Site Surveys

  The Surveys in the Basin can be divided into five parts: the Yellow River Valley, the Boqing River Valley, the Yun River Valley, the Hanjia River Valley, and the Xiyang River Valley.

  Chapter Three: Investigation of Settlement Patterns in Different Periods

  This chapter includes seven cultural periods: Early Yangshao, Middle Yangshao, Late Yangshao, Miaodigou Ⅱ, Longshan, Erlitou, and Erligang.

  Chapter Five: Conclusions

  On the basis of analyzing data of all sites and examining settlement clusters of every period in the Yuanqu Basin, this research report discusses the following issues:

  1. By investigating the area, scale, cultural deposit, cultural contents, and distribution of various features of 85 sites from the Neolithic to the Shang dynasty in the Yuanqu Basin, we identify the settlement of different period contained in each site, group and compare the synchronic settlements, and make out the settlement numbers, scale and overall arrangement of every period in the Basin.

  2. We evaluate the spatial distribution of contemporary settlements, divided the settlement clusters for every period, examine the settlement hierarchy and relationships between central places and other settlements, and clarify the distribution patterns of settlement clusters and the structures of social organizations reflected by them.

  3. We study the layout, date, nature, and function of the central settlements for each period, and explore their basic patterns and functional relations with other settlements, especially social organizations represented by them.

  4. Based on analyzing and comparing settlement clusters for every period, we investigate the settlement numbers, population scales, transfer of settlement clusters, and changes of central areas and social organizations in different periods. We focus on revealing the process of social evolution in the Basin, namely the process from the origin of agriculture to the beginning of sedentism and formation of early states.

  5. After analyzing the settlement clusters, we summarize some general rules of settlement development: the settlement clusters and the central place in a certain period had the relatively stable spatial area, but they often changed their locations in different periods; it is unbalanced for the development of settlement clusters and their social organizations in different regions; settlement hierarchy did not gradually increase with the development of social complexity.

  6. By investigating the geographic environment and topographic features of each settlement, we compare the similarities and difference in these aspects among contemporary settlements, and explore the relations between settlements and natural environments in different periods.

  This report of settlement archaeology is a new attempt, which expands the research field and builds a solid foundation for the study on the process of social evolution in the Yuanqu Basin. This study is very important for exploring the interrelations between this small region and the heartland of the Central Plains, as well as the background, basis and process of the formation of ancient civilization and early states in the Central Plains. By analyzing the long – term evolutionary process from the appearance of settlements in the mid – Neolithic to the formation of early states in the Yuanqu Basin, we can observe how human societies developed from the simple tribal societies to the complex chiefdom societies and state societies. This is undoubtedly very significant for revealing the general evolutionary processes for ancient China and even the whole early human societies.

  We are very thankful to Professor Yan Wenming of Beijing University, who wrote the preface for this report. Professor Xia Zhengkai and Tang Xiaofeng of Beijing University directed the research of site environments. Professor Chang Chengyong of Chinese Academy of Petroleum Exploration identified the material texture of the stone tools of the Late Yangshao period discovered in Nanbutou. Professor Liu Changjiang of the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences identified the carbonic millets discovered in Nanbutou. We would like to extend our gratitude to all these scholars for their support and help.