Bronze Age China
“Xia Dynasty Axe” – Shanghai Museum
Chinese scholars associate
the Xia Dynasty with the
Erlitou Culture of the
Yiluo River Basin. They
are convinced that it
was a state-level society,
and the only question
for them is the identity
of the Xia capital site
represented by the
remains found at the
site of Erlitou.
Palatial area alone at Erlitou is
7.5 ha in extent
Later bronze bell
Western Scholars are not convinced that:
1. The Xia Dynasty actually existed.
2. That the Erlitou Culture represents the
remains of a state-level society.
3. That the Shang Dynasty capitals represent a
single state.
Theory: Zhou historians simplified and recast the
past to prefigure the origins of the Zhou
state.
• In response to these questions the latest
generation of Chinese scholars argue that the
huge scale of the Erlitou site and the existence
of a four-level settlement hierarchy attests
persuasively for the existence of a state at this
time.
• Since Erlitou shares similarities in material
culture with Shang sites, it is often called Early
Shang.
The Shang Dynasty
• The Shang dynasty is the first Chinese political
system that can be independently confirmed
with texts recovered from their sites by
archaeological investigations.
• These texts are the famous oracle bones:
turtle shells and cattle scapulae that have
been inscribed with the question and answer
delivered by a divination ritual.
To date 160,000
Inscriptions have been
recovered.
Peter Bellwood’s Language Dispersal
Theory
Shang city of
Yanshi, Early
Shang Period
Excavated
1996-99
This is the
earliest Shang
dynasty city.
Zhengzhou
Middle Shang
Anyang, The Late Shang capital of Yin
1300-1050 BCE
State Organization during the Shang
Dynasty
• The Shang state possessed a sacred capital
which did not shift location.
• It also possessed a secular capital which
moved frequently.
• The Shang dynasts established secondary
centers to extract local resources for the
capital. The Shang kings presented gifts of
finished ritual bronzes to dependent elites.
Shang Ritual Bronzes
• Apart from shamanism and divination rituals,
Shang elites invested enormous resources in
rituals surrounding ancestor veneration. The
rituals involved the presentation of meals and
beverages in bronze containers, and the
playing of music on hanging sets of stone
chimes and bronze bells.
Zun (wine vessel)
ding
Recent Archaeological Discoveries
• Excavations outside of Henan province have
revealed potential state-level societies
contemporary with the Shang states; e.g. at
Sanxingdui in Sichuan Province. This area was
inhabited by the Shu people. A walled city was
discovered with associated sacrificial pits.
Sanxingdui
• Ritual pits were discovered in 1986 while
excavating a large enclosed settlement.
• They contained thousands of artifacts that had
been intentionally deposited in layers, and
intentionally damaged.
• Pits date to 1250-1100 BCE
This pit
produced
over 4000
items of
bronze, gold,
jade, and
stone.
Statue
is 8’
tall
Lately there has been a proliferation of
collaborative regional surveys in China
conducted by American and Chinese scholars.
One such project conducted a full coverage
survey of southeastern Shandong province
This survey has discovered thousands of sites, and
revealed the existence of a 4 tiered settlement
hierarchy. None of these sites are referred to by
historical records.