Erlitou Culture , China Exercise 二 里头 文化 , pinyin : èrlǐtóu wénhuà - urban archaeological culture of the early Bronze Age , which existed on the territory of China in the period 2100 - 1800 (1500?). BC e. [1] The archaeological zone is located about ten kilometers east of the city of Luoyang , which for many centuries was the capital or was in the very center of the country's life.
The culture was named after the archaeological site discovered at the excavation of the Yin sites in 1958 in Erlitou (二 里頭 村) in Yanshi , Henan Province. It was originally widely distributed in the territory of the modern provinces of Henan and Shanxi , later also spread to the provinces of Shaanxi and Hubei . Chinese archaeologists often identify the culture of Erlitou with the Xia Dynasty , although due to the lack of written sources this connection is not controversial. This culture played a decisive role in the process of the formation of the Late Niin civilization (see in detail the Xia-Shan-Zhou Chronological Project ).
Content
Culture
Erlitou was the largest settlement in China and throughout East Asia until about 1500 BC. e. To date, Erlitou is considered the earliest reliably established administrative center of China, where the ruins of palaces and workshops for bronze smelting were discovered. [2] Erlitou played an important role in the transition of China from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. Along with Erligan, it is considered an example of an urban revolution in China. [3]
Erlitou's culture seems to have developed on the basis of the Henan Longshan culture and, possibly, the Shandong Longshan. [four]
Archeology
The archaeological zone was opened in 1959 by the archaeologist Xu Xiuang , first of all, the palace and the workshop of bronze vessels were discovered. The 2.4 x 1.9 km city was located at the confluence of the Lohe and Ihe rivers. Archaeologists have identified four phases of cultural development, each of which took about a century.
During the first phase, a growing settlement of 100 hectares arose in Erlitou, which however has not yet become a city. . [five]
During the second phase, the settlement reached an area of 300 hectares and began to take urban features. Four roads framed a 12-hectare palace. To the south of the palace complex was a warehouse of bronze vessels. [five]
During the third phase, the heyday of the city, whose population is estimated at 18-30 thousand inhabitants. The palace complex was surrounded by an earthen rampart 2 m thick; more palaces were built. [five]
The fourth phase characterizes the decline, although recent excavations show that the development of the city continued. Around 1600 BC e. in Yanshi , about six kilometers from Erlitou, another walled city was built. [five]
In Erlitou (on the Ilou River, a tributary of the Luhe River) there was a mass production of ritual bronze vessels and other bronze products, unlike Lodamyao. In the initial excavations of bronze items, there were very few and all were possibly imported (knives, awls, arrowheads, bells). [6]
An essential element of the purely Yin cultural traditions discovered in Erlitou were construction methods, in particular khan-tu . A T-shaped foundation was found up to 100 m in length and width - something like a common central area with several buildings, rather than a separate structure.
Typical forms of ceramics: tetrapods ding and pan, zen steam pot, chia tripods with handles. The ceramics are gray, black and white, the vessels are coarse and thin, primitive and artsy. Most important was the development of the stamp - carved, very skillful. with intricate carvings and high artistic skill. Images are symbolic, ideological. Images of dragons and monsters (on separate vessels), taota masks began to appear. [7]
After the ascension of the Shang dynasty, Erlitou significantly decreases in size, but at the early stage of this dynasty it still remains populated. The size of the ancient city was about 2.4 by 1.9 km, of which only about 3 km² were preserved due to the fact that other areas were affected by floods. [2] The palaces are located on the southeastern section of the ancient city. Palace 3 and Palace 5 were the first structures in the city, larger than Palaces 1 and 2, built on top of their foundations. Palace 3 is of particular interest; It consisted of 3 yards along a 150-meter axis. [2]
Notes
- ↑ Fairbank, 35.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Li, 2009
- ↑ Cambridge History of Ancient China 1999: 141
- ↑ Vasiliev L. S. "Problems of the Genesis of Chinese Civilization. - M., 1976.," Science, p. 304
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Liu Li, pp. 229-233
- ↑ Vasiliev L. S. "Problems of the Genesis of Chinese Civilization. - M., 1976.," Science, p. 305
- ↑ Vasiliev L. S. Problems of the Genesis of Chinese Civilization. - M., 1976., Science, pp. 305-306
Literature
- Fairbank, John King and Merle Goldman (1992). China: A New History; Second Enlarged Edition (2006). Cambridge: MA; London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-01828-1
- Liu, Li. The Chinese Neolithic: Trajectories to Early States , ISBN 0-521-81184-8
- http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/chbro_bron.shtm The Golden Age of Chinese Archeology
- Allan, Sarah, Erlitou and the Formation of Chinese Civilization: Toward a New Paradigm , The Journal of Asian Studies, 66: 461-496 Cambridge University Press, 2007
- Liu, L. & Xiu, H., Rethinking Erlitou: legend, history and Chinese archaeology , Antiquity, Volume: 81 Number: 314 Page: 886–901, 2007
- Li, Jinhui Stunning Capital of Xia Dynasty Unearthed (link unavailable) . China Through a Lens (November 10, 2003). Date of treatment February 3, 2009. Archived March 21, 2015.