A Study On The Minors Burial From The Longshan Period To Yinxu Period In Central Plains

Minor burial refers to the burial of the tomb owner at the age of 15 or below,which can be divided into urn coffin burial and earth pit tomb.According to incomplete statistics,the number of juvenile tombs in the central plains from Longshan age to Yinxu period is about 700.According to the chronological order,this paper sorts out and analyzes the distribution,shape,evolution and other contents of minors' burials.This paper is divided into six chapters:The first chapter is the introduction.This chapter defines the scope of time and space,specific concepts,research history and current situation,research purposes and methods of juvenile burials from Longshan age to Yinxu period in central plains.The second chapter mainly studies the minor tombs of Longshan period in central plains.This period can be divided into early and late stages.In the early period,there were few discoveries,which were mainly distributed in the eastern plains of Shaanxi guanzhong.In the late period,the discovery of Luanshitan type in Wangwan third stage culture is the most,which is mainly distributed in the southwest of Henan province.The third chapter mainly studies the minor tombs of Erlitou period in central plains.The obvious change in this period is that although the number of minor tombs decreased as a whole,the proportion of urn coffin burials and earth pit burials was basically the same,and compared with the discovery of Longshan period,earth pit burials also showed an increasing trend.Urn coffins are mainly found in the Xiawanggang type,distributed in southwest area Henan province.Earth pit tombs are mainly found in the Erlitou culture of Donglongshan,which is distributed in the eastern plains of Shaanxi guanzhong.The fourth chapter mainly studies the minor burial of Shang dynasty in the central plains.It includes three stages: the Erligang period,Huanbei period and Yinxu period.From early to late,there was a trend that earth pit tombs gradually decreased and urn coffins suddenly increased in the late period.In Erligang period,the numberof minor burials was small,and the number of earth pit burials was far more than that of urn coffin burials.Urn coffin burials were mainly distributed in southern area of Shanxi province and eastern plains of Shaanxi guanzhong.,while earth pit burials were mainly distributed in Zhengzhou.In the Huanbei period,the number of tombs for minors increased slightly,mainly are earth pit tombs,and most of them are connected with the construction process of buildings,with foundation attribute.The number of minor burials in Yinxu period is increased greatly,mainly are urn coffins.A group of earth pits tombs with waist pits and funerary objects found in eastern area of Qijiazhuang are very special,and their burial customs are basically the same as those of general adult burials.They should represent the burials of minors of a certain level,but they have not formed an independent burial area.The fifth chapter is related research.Mainly discusses the changes of the minor's funeral customs in the central plains.Looking from the distribution of minors' tombs,they mainly distribute in the central and southwestern regions of Henan province,and the discovery of earth pit burials exited from the Longshan age to Yinxu period,the urn coffin in the Erlitou culture is rare,but in the late shang dynasty suddenly increase a lot,which maybe indicates the inheritance,and formed new characters.The funerary objects basically were common daily use potteries,its combination forms in different areas also show the difference.In addition,the burial methods of minors with foundation attribute were discussed as well,and it was found that most of the foundation remains were urn coffins.The sixth chapter is the conclusion.