A Research On The Physical And Cultural Adaptation Of Liangzhu Residents At Guangfulin Site

Lake Tai region is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, a special geographical area between the southern and northern handover of China. So it has been an important region where northern and-southern ancient cultures intersected, integrated and collided here. In this region, prehistoric archaeological culture was very complex in economy, social organization, the physical structure of these residents was quite distinct as well. The dissertation is trying to use human bones unearthed from the Guangfulin site at Songjiang District in Shanghai, to extract as much useful information as possible to enclose physical conditions of residents during the Liangzhu period. On the basis of physical analyses and cultural ecology, the author would like to make an overall discussion on the issues such as prehistoric human physique and its adaptive mechanism. The full text is divided into 11 chapters.Chaptersâ… andâ…¡briefly explain and introduce the significances and purposes, research background, methodology, theoretical consideration, human bone data and analyzing procedure.Chapterâ…¢to Chapterâ…©cover the observation, measurement of the bones, ethnology, multivariate statistics, ancient recipes and pathology analysis. The author made systematical and comprehensive osteological research on the examples derived from the Guangfulin in order to reveal an overall physical feature of the Liangzhu residents. The evident indicates that average age of mortality was quite young. The number of male were more than female. A general physical characteristics are mainly medium-cranial with high and narrow cranial, small upper facial height and medium-sized bizygomatic breadth, medium upper facial index, medium proportion of facial height and basi-bregmatic height, medium orbital, slightly width of nose, short jaw, width Palate, slightly face flat, medium and sudden bigonial. The ethnicity belongs to ancient southern China types, also resembles to ancient Zhongyuan types, the Southern Asia and East Asia types of modern Mongolians races. Worn teeth, oral and vertebra diseases are very common and serious. Slim limb, short stature, exodontias prevailed. Phytophagous indicated that rice might have been the staple food.Chapterâ…ªdiscusses physical characteristics and cultural adaptation, providing a fresh insight into the Liangzhu social conditions. By using physical research results the author is trying to reconstruct original lifestyle of Guangfulin ancestors about 4000 years ago. On the basis of the theory of cultural ecology, the dissertation discusses three issues in terms of environment, flora, fauna archaeology and other related materials: 1) The ancient ethnic groups in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River was generally consistent with regional cultural development. In the Lake Tai region and the Ningbo-Shaoxing plain where Gangfulin community is represented. The ethnic characteristics show a somewhat continuous and stable trace. In the Lixia River and Ningzhen region, however, the ethnic evidence indicates a mixed and embedded picture. The development of the former historic culture in former region show a continuous process, but the latter witnesses an interrupted one.2) The subsistence pattern and social organization of Liangzhu culture seem to have been confined by environment. In the early Liangzhu periods, dry and cold climate led to the decreasing of mammalian resources. The Liangzhu residents might have had to rely on intensive rice cultivation; The patched landscape like butterfly depression around Lake Tai region might have caused settlements small in size, unstable and sensitive to environmental change leading to the formation of small communities of the Liangzhu culture in the region..3) Social complexity and theocratic nature during the Liangzhu period exacerbate the social labor intensity exerting considerable impact on physique and health of Liangzhu inhabitants. During this period, the community as a whole might have had to increase their surplus, improve facilities and tools, dig a large number of wells, create symbolic items, construct public monuments and so on. And hard working conditions also left a clear physique imprints on human bones.Finally, the author summarizes the shortage of this research, the difficulties and shortcomings during the preparation of this dissertation, analyzing the causes of these problems and suggesting the orientation and e exploration for the future.