The Archaeology of Early China: From Prehistory to the Han Dynasty by Gideon Shelach-Lavi

The Archaeology of Early China: From Prehistory to the Han Dynasty by Gideon Shelach-Lavi

Author:Gideon Shelach-Lavi [Shelach-Lavi]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2014-12-09T16:00:00+00:00


Bronze Industry and State-Level Ceremonies

The bronze production at Erlitou clearly surpasses anything seen elsewhere in China before or during this period in regard to sophistication and quantity. The size and number of bronze tools excavated at the site, and especially the size and sophistication of the bronze vessels, suggest production at a considerable scale and degree of sophistication. This conclusion is supported by the amounts of production debris found at the bronze workshop. Nevertheless, it appears that the scale of this production is sometimes exaggerated. During fifty years of excavations at the site, only 117 bronze artifacts dated from all four phases have been found (Liang and Sun 2004). Even the largest artifacts, the bronze vessels, are relatively small (no taller than 20 cm) and other objects are even smaller. It would not be an exaggeration to estimate that all the bronze artifacts recovered from three hundred years of inhabitation at Erlitou weigh less than a single Early Shang (Erligang) bronze vessel (Chapter 8).

The functions of Erlitou bronze vessels are inferred by comparing them with the known ritual functions of Shang and Zhou period vessels, and such comparisons are offered as evidence for the development of state-level ceremonies (Lee 2004: 176). However, this is an anachronistic interpretation that projects back on to this period a state of affairs that we know only from the texts and inscriptions of later periods. In reality, the inventory of bronze paraphernalia from the beginning of the Shang was much more varied than that of Erlitou. Moreover, bronze vessels were much more numerous overall, and found in many more sites in comparison to Erlitou. If anything, the resemblance of Erlitou bronze vessels to Late Neolithic ceramic vessels in shape suggests the continuation of Late Neolithic rituals rather than the emergence of new state-level traditions.



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