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UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Bronze Age UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Bronze Age Economic and Social Practices in the Central Eurasian Borderlands of China (3000-1500 BC): An Archaeological Investigation A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the Requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Archaeology by Chenghao Wen 2018 © Copyright by Chenghao Wen 2018 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Bronze Age Economic and Social Practices in the Central Eurasian Borderlands of China (3000-1500 BC): An Archaeological Investigation by Chenghao Wen Doctor of Philosophy in Archaeology University of California, Los Angeles, 2018 Professor Lothar von Falkenhausen, Chair It is a widely accepted fact that the cultural interaction between Northwest China and its westerly Eurasian counterparts about 2000 BC generated far-reaching impacts on both sides. Through the study of material culture in its archaeological contexts it is often possible to identify what goods were exchanged by way of which routes. However, less attention has been paid to exploring the cultural mechanisms that explain the nature, extent and specific cultural processes behind these cultural interactions. Taking Northwest China as its point of departure, this dissertation attempts to understand long term developments in Bronze Age Central Eurasia from a multi-scalar spatial perspective by focusing on the socio-economic dynamics among the region’s various cultural communities. Based on analysis of currently available mortuary data, I reconstruct the middle-range oasis societies along the Hexi corridor, characterized by a low degree of social differentiation and an agnate-centered or patrilineal organization. Meanwhile, the comparative analysis on ii contemporaneous cemeteries also reveals the underlying heterogeneity of these middle-range oasis communities, which gave rise to social tensions and was enmeshed with mobility and interaction on a regional scale. In addition, a dynamic social life is reflected by the social practice of communal activities and gatherings at both intra- and inter-community scales; this can also be observed archaeologically through the lens of a study of drinking vessels. Seeking to understand material-culture distribution patterns in Northwest China with a focus on the Qijia culture and its neighbors from a bottom-up perspective and with an emphasis on human agency, I interpret their interactions by means of a trade-diaspora model. Moreover, I revist the longstanding controversy over the Seima-Turbino technological phenomenon and reveal the underlying socio-economic processes in the transmission of metallurgy across Eurasia through an investigation of the development of metallurgy in the Eurasian Metallurgical Province. Comparative study of the Andronovo cultural-historical community in present-day Siberia and Kazakhstan and analogous remains in Northwest China suggests the formation of interregional economic complexity under the stimulus of metallurgy under the Andronovo horizon. By scrutinizing this interconnected economic network, this dissertation provides an alternative perspective for understanding the macro-cultural processes that developed throughout the first half of the second millennium BC, both in Northwest China, (which is culturally a part of Central Eurasia), and in the East Asian heartland. iii The dissertation of Chenghao Wen is approved. Nancy Levine John K. Papadopoulos Min Li Lothar von Falkenhausen, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2018 iv To my beloved family, my mother, father and brother ii Table of contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii List of figures ............................................................................................................................... viii List of tables ................................................................................................................................. xiv Acknowledgments......................................................................................................................... xv Vita ............................................................................................................................................... xxi Notes on transliteration ............................................................................................................... xxii Chapter I Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 Chapter II Conceptual framework and theoretical perspectives ................................................ 4 Chapter III Setting the stage: the natural landscape of Central Eurasia .................................... 19 III.1 A brief history on geographic concepts: Central Asia, Inner Asia, and Central Eurasia .. 19 III.2 The physical geography of Central Eurasia ...................................................................... 23 III.2.1 Western Siberia .......................................................................................................... 23 III.2.2 Southern Siberia and Circum-Altai areas .................................................................. 34 III.2.3 Northwest China ........................................................................................................ 46 Chapter IV Setting the stage: the cultural landscape of Bronze Age Central Eurasia ............... 57 IV.1 The archaeology of Central Eurasia in the Bronze Age: a brief review of tempo-spatial framework and some critical issues .......................................................................................... 57 IV.1.1 Southern Urals ........................................................................................................... 59 iii IV.1.2 Trans-Urals ................................................................................................................ 67 IV.1.3 Ob-Irtysh River Interfluves........................................................................................ 70 IV.1.4 Circum - Altai Region ............................................................................................... 76 IV.1.5 Northwest China ........................................................................................................ 83 IV.2 Concluding remarks .......................................................................................................... 96 Chapter V A reconstruction of Bronze Age societies in Northwest China: mortuary analysis in the Hexi corridor ........................................................................................................................... 98 V.1 Huoshaogou Cemetery ....................................................................................................... 98 V.1.1 Demographic structure .............................................................................................. 101 V.1.2 Burial facility ............................................................................................................ 103 V.1.3 Body treatment .......................................................................................................... 106 V.1.4 Social organization .................................................................................................... 109 V.1.5 Grave goods .............................................................................................................. 111 V.1.6 Summary ................................................................................................................... 132 V.2 The Siba cemetery at Donghuishan: a ritual economic perspective ................................ 136 V.3 Concluding remarks ......................................................................................................... 149 Chapter VI Social dynamics in Bronze Age Northwest China through the lens of drinking .. 152 VI.1 Drinking as a social practice ........................................................................................... 152 VI.2 Drinking in ethnographic context: empirical evidence ................................................... 154 VI.2.1 The production of drinking ...................................................................................... 154 iv VI.2.2 The consumption of drinking as social theater ........................................................ 158 VI.3 Drinking in an archaeological context: a case study on the Siba pottery ....................... 160 VI.3.1 Introduction: archaeological context ....................................................................... 162 VI.3.2 A technological study of neckless jars..................................................................... 163 VI.3.3 Capacity measurement of Siba pottery vessels ........................................................ 168 VI.4 Organic residue analysis of neckless jars ....................................................................... 178 VI.4.1 Method ..................................................................................................................... 180 VI.4.2 Results...................................................................................................................... 183 VI.4.3 Discussion ................................................................................................................ 189 VI.5 A broader look at neckless jars in Northwest China......................................................
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