Journal
ANTIQUITY
Volume 92, Issue 364, Pages 1008-1022Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2018.31
Keywords
China; Shimao; Bronze Age; loess highland; civilisation; monument
Categories
Funding
- National Funds of Social Science, China [15CKG007]
- state scientific survey project 'Geological records of environmental changes and evidence for human activities in Chinese deserts' [2017FY101001]
- key project of Songshan Civilization Foundation [2015K-2]
- Zhengzhou University [2015SKQD27]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Chinese civilisation has long been assumed to have developed in the Central Plains in the mid to late second millennium BC. Recent archaeological discoveries at the Bronze Age site of Shimao, however, fundamentally challenge traditional understanding of peripheries' and centres', and the emergence of Chinese civilisation. This research reveals that by 2000 BC, the loess highland was home to a complex society representing the political and economic heartland of China. Significantly, it was found that Later Bronze Age core symbols associated with Central Plains civilisations were, in fact, created much earlier at Shimao. This study provides important new perspectives on narratives of state formation and the emergence of civilisation worldwide.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available