Production,Exchange And Consumption:Bone Working At Shimao Site

The Shimao site is located in Gaojiabao Town,Yulin City,Shaanxi Province.It is composed of three walls of Huangchengtai,Inner City and Outer City.The main cultural remains of the Shimao site belong to the Longshan period,with an absolute age ranging from 2300 BC to 1800 BC.This article attempts to analyze the bone materials unearthed from the northern section of Huangchengtai eastern wall at Shimao site from the perspective of production,exchange and consumption,and then discuss the political and economic model of Shimao’s political system.A total of 18,759 pieces of semifinished products and finished products of bone production tools,living tools and ornaments were unearthed from the orthern section of Huangchengtai eastern wall at Shimao site.Among them,16137 pieces of semi-finished and finished bone needles accounted for 86.02%of the total number of unearthed bone production.In addition,it also includes bone arrowhead,bone awls,bone spatulas,bone chisel,bone shovel,bone hairpin,bone needles container,bone flute,bone rings,bone combs and other instruments.A large number of semi-finished and finished products of bone needles unearthed at Shimao site provide physical data for the study of Shimao bone-making handicraft industry.This article mainly analyzes bone needles unearthed in the ruins and the related remains during the process of making the bone needles,and combines the time background of the ruins and the related materials of the surrounding sites in the same period,It is expected to analyze the craftsmanship of Shimao bone-making,the organizational form of the handicraft industry,political economy and other issues reflected.The research results show that bone needles mostly uses sheep metacarpal/metatarsal as raw materials,and there is a phenomenon that a small number of bone organs made from other mammalian bones are modified.The processing tools mainly use stone knives and stone drills made of flint.By restoring the procedure of bone needles,it is found that the procedure of bone needles mainly includes the steps of material preparation,cutting,blank forming,drilling,and polishing.Its processing technology includes smashing,cutting,grinding,drilling,polishing and so on.The analysis of the standardization degree of the bone needles found that the overall production process of the Shimao bone neddles was in a low standardization period.The analysis of the bone needles unearthed from different layers showed that the standardization degree of the spiculation production process remained at a relatively constant level from morning to night.The higher range is the low standardization stage.Based on the unearthed background of the bone-making remains,we speculate that there should be a bone-making workshop on the top of the Huangcheng,at Shimao site,which is mainly used for making bone needles,which is controlled by the upper layer or the nobles.A full-time craftsman may already exist at the site.At the same time,based on the comprehensive analysis of the large number of discarded bone needles unearthed from the ruins and some secondary use bone needles combined with the bone needles unearthed from surrounding sites,Shimao bone needles may be used locally on the one hand,and may also be circulated through other means on the other hand.