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The Emergence of Walled Towns and Social Complexity in the Taojiahu-Xiaocheng Region of Jianghan Plain China

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The Emergence of Walled Towns and Social Complexity in the Taojiahu-Xiaocheng Region of Jianghan Plain China THE EMERGENCE OF WALLED TOWNS AND SOCIAL COMPLEXITY IN THE TAOJIAHU-XIAOCHENG REGION OF JIANGHAN PLAIN CHINA by Dongdong Li B. S., Wuhan University (China), 2006 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2016 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH KENNETH P. DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Dongdong Li It was defended on April 15, 2016 and approved by Loukas W. Barton, PhD, Assistant Professor, Anthropology Marc Bermann, PhD, Associate Professor, Anthropology Co-chairs & Dissertation Advisors: Robert D. Drennan, PhD, Distinguished Professor, Anthropology Katheryn M. Linduff, PhD, Professor, History of Art and Architecture ii Copyright © by Dongdong Li 2016 iii Co-chairs: Professor Robert D. Drennan Professor Katheryn M. Linduff THE EMERGENCE OF WALLED TOWNS AND SOCIAL COMPLEXITY IN THE TAOJIAHU-XIAOCHENG REGION OF JIANGHAN PLAIN CHINA Dongdong Li, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2016 The especially early emergence of Neolithic walled towns in the Jianghan Plain is widely used as an indicator of social complexity. In recent decades, research on walled towns has focused on their role in the origin of Chinese civilization and in the formation of early states in China. Several models have been suggested to explain the emergence of walled towns: inter-regional conflicts between the Central Plain and the Jianghan Plain, intra-regional conflicts among walled towns in the Jianghan Plain, and control of flooding in the Neolithic period. The trajectories of developing social complexity of these earliest walled towns and the relationships that existed among them have not previously been systematically investigated from the perspective of demographic distributions. The full-coverage systematic regional survey presented here included two of the earliest walled towns in the Jianghan Plain: Taojiahu and Xiaocheng. It was designed to illuminate their social trajectories and by extension those of their counterparts elsewhere in the Jianghan Plain and areas adjacent to it. The regional survey revealed spatial and temporal variations in the settlement patterns of an area of 58 km2 from 3900 BCE to 600 CE. Population distribution patterns were documented iv for each period in this time span to investigate the dynamic forces behind social and settlement changes. Different approaches to understanding the emergence of early walled towns were evaluated through the analysis of population distribution and its relationships to environmental variables. The conclusions of the research include the following. First, the emergence of the Taojiahu and Xiaocheng walled towns was a process of the in situ population increase from initial small communities rather than pulling together people spread throughout the landscape in different communities. Second, throughout their histories, Taojiahu and Xiaocheng contained the vast majority of the population of their territories; there was little or no hinterland population or settlement hierarchy around them. Third, economic activities and the development of economic interdependence involving both subsistence and non-subsistence products were of particular importance at Taojiahu and Xiaocheng. Fourth, Xiaocheng might have served as an economic outpost of Taojiahu focused on the production of rice and other goods. v TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 THE EMERGENCE OF WALLED TOWNS IN NEOLITHIC CHINA....... 2 1.2 GEOPHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF PROPOSED STUDY AREA ............... 8 1.3 RESEARCH BACKGROUND OF WALLED TOWNS IN THE JIANGHAN PLAIN ............................................................................................................. 9 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................... 15 1.5 RESEARCH PLAN ........................................................................................... 16 2. CERAMIC CHRONOLOGY ................................................................................... 20 2.1 THE YOUZILING PERIOD ............................................................................ 21 2.2 THE QUJIALING PERIOD ............................................................................. 22 2.3 THE SHIJIAHE PERIOD ................................................................................ 24 2.4 THE SHANG AND ZHOU PERIODS ............................................................ 25 2.5 THE HAN PERIOD .......................................................................................... 28 2.6 THE WEI-JIN PERIOD ................................................................................... 29 3. GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS AND SETTLEMENT DISTRIBUTION ......................................................................................................................... 31 3.1 THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN THE JIANGHAN PLAIN ............. 31 3.2 CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PAST 10,000 YEARS ................................... 33 vi 3.2.1 The Chengbeixi period ............................................................................... 34 3.2.2 The Daxi period ........................................................................................... 35 3.2.3 The Qujialing period................................................................................... 36 3.2.4 The Shijiahe period ..................................................................................... 36 3.2.5 The Shang-Zhou period .............................................................................. 37 3.2.6 The Han-Tang period ................................................................................. 37 3.3 SETTLEMENT AND DEMOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AND CHANGE ..............................................................................................................................37 3.3.1 Population estimation ................................................................................. 37 3.3.2 Settlement and demographic distribution and change ............................ 52 3.3.2.1 Youziling (3900-3100 BCE) ................................................................ 52 3.3.2.2 Qujialing (3100-2500 BCE) ................................................................ 62 3.3.2.3 Shijiahe (2500-2000 BCE) .................................................................. 77 3.3.2.4 Shang (1600-1046 BCE) ...................................................................... 90 3.3.2.5 Western Zhou (1046-776 BCE) .......................................................... 94 3.3.2.6 Eastern Zhou (775-255 BCE) ........................................................... 103 3.3.2.7 Han (202 BCE-220 CE)..................................................................... 111 3.3.2.8 Wei-Jin (220-589 CE)........................................................................ 118 4. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND SETTLEMENT DISTRIBUTION .......................................................................................... 126 4.1 BASIC ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ............................................... 126 4.2 ELEVATION AND RIVER VALLEY FLOOR ........................................... 127 vii 4.3 CATCHMENT ANALYSIS ON ARABLE LAND EXPLOITATION FOR RICE PLANTING ............................................................................................................ 137 5. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 152 5.1 EMERGENCE OF WALLED TOWNS AND SOCIAL COMPLEXITY (RESPONSE TO RESEARCH QUESTION 1) ............................................................. 153 5.2 DEMOGRAPHY INVESTIGATION (RESPNSE TO RESEARCH QUESTION 2, 3 AND 4) .................................................................................................. 159 5.3 ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS (RESPONSE TO RESEARCH QUESTION 5) ................................................................................................................... 161 5.4 COMPARISONS TO WALLED TOWNS IN OTHER REGIONS............ 162 5.4.1 Walled towns in the Jianghan Plain ........................................................ 162 5.4.2 Walled towns in the Central Plain ........................................................... 166 5.4.3 Walled towns in Eastern China ............................................................... 169 5.4.4 Walled towns in Northeastern China ...................................................... 170 5.4.5 Comparative conclusions ......................................................................... 170 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 176 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1. Outliers of sherds densities from systematic collection ............................................... 41 Table 3.2. Scales of population estimation in different periods by applying Chifeng method ..... 46 Table 3.3. Estimated populations in different periods by applying Rizhao method ..................... 47 Table 3.4. Comparison of estimated population produced by Chifeng method and Rizhao Method ....................................................................................................................................................... 47 Table 3.5. Comparison of adjusted population
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