A Study On Prehistoric Taojia In The Middle Reaches Of Yellow River

Taojia is one of the most typical artifacts of the Longshan period in the middle reaches of the Yellow River.Archaeological excavations show that Taojia first appeared in the second phase of Miaodigou Culture and has been throughout the entire Longshan period,and its lower limit has entered the Xia Dynasty.On the basis of summarizing and combing the existing research results,this paper constructs a new classification system based on the external morphological characteristics of the Taojia in the middle reaches of the Yellow River,and uses the methods of stratigraphy and typology to divide the Taojia into Fuxingjia,Guanxingjia and Penxingjia.There are three types of Taojia,each of them can be subdivided into different subcategories.Various types of Taojia have different evolution characteristics and can represent independent evolutionary sequences.Based on the typological research,referring to the age of the unearthed Taojia site,the evolution process is divided into three phases and six stages,and the evolution law of different types of Taojia in time and region is investigated.There are many controversies about the functions of Taojia,such as cooking utensils,wine utensils,and water boilers.Based on the evolution methods and unearthed information of different types of Taojia,this paper uses design methods,observation of usage traces,and other methods to explore the relationship between the core function of Taojia and grain-fermented liquor,and use this as a point to explore the principles of brewing liquor in the Jiandiping.It is finally believed that Taojia has the functions of secondary separation and precipitation,accumulation of residues,and heat sterilization in the treatment of grain fermented liquor.In the process of the development of the surrounding culture,the Fuxingjia differentiated into the Guanxingjia and Penxingjia.Besides,in the long-term development and evolution process of Taojia,the extreme differentiation of the derived functions eventually led to the appearance of the Taoli and Taojia with cooking function.With the advancement of society and the accumulation of pottery technology and brewing technology,the region of central-southern Shanxi and western Henan in the middle reaches of the Yellow River was stimulated by external factors.Based on the three hollow feet of Taogui,the earliest Taojia was innovated.In terms of function,it replaced the Jiandiping and became the main liquor precipitation and separation tool in the Longshan era.The use of different types of Taojia in the central-southern Shanxi and Guanzhong areas with the Yellow River as the boundary reflects the cultural differences between the East and the West and different cultural identities.The Three-North region has become the main cultural interaction area in this process.