A Study On The Longshan Settlements And Societies In Southeastern Region Of Song Mountains

Reconstruction of Longshan society and settlement patterns in the southeast region of Henan Province’s Song Mountain can help us to better understand the development of social complexity and the emergence of states in China’s Central Plain. This dissertation employs a multi-scale perspective, drawing on the theory and methods of both settlement and household archaeology. A detailed intra-site analysis of artifact distribution pattern was carried out for Wangchenggang, Wadian, Xinzhai, and Haojiatai, four sites in the Song Mountain’s southeast region with relatively abundant data. This dissertation investigates each Longshan sites’settlement patterns and social complexity. In addition to these small-scale, intra-site analyses this research also examines the Song Mountain’s southeast region’s Longshan site’s regional settlement pattern to investigate the dynamic relationship between multiple centers.This paper consists of seven parts:The introduction includes the reasons for selecting this research area and time period and details how the different paradigm shifts have influenced research on Longshan settlement and society in this region. It also introduces the research questions and the theories and methods used to answer these questions. The research approach employed here focuses on analyzing feature distribution and the patterning of household pottery, fine alcohol and food vessels and other highly-valued artifacts, animal and plant remains, tools of production, remains of craft production, weapons, oracle bones and other artifacts related to ideology, and the roles that they played in this research. The distribution pattern research also discussed the connections and relationships between all kinds of artifacts and social group with different social ranks and human behavior.The second through the fourth parts primarily focus on answering questions about settlement patterns, historical evolution, social stratificaton, agricultural tools and craft production, and other related issues by analyzing settlement patterns and the distribution patterns and styles of household pottery, fine food and drink vessels and other highly-valued artifacts, dietary remains, and tools of production at the sites of Wangchenggang, Wadian, and Xinzhai.The fifth part demonstrates Haojiatai settlement’s military role through mortuary analysis and research on the distribution patterns of projectile points, household pottery, highly-valued pottery, spindle whorls, and tools of productions. These data are used to discuss Haojiatai military settlement’s social structure, the diachronic evolution of this military settlement, and Haojiatai settlement’s craft production.Drawing on the intra-site data from these four sites, the sixth part focuses on regional comparisons and comprehensive research. This section first establishes a detailed chronological framework for these four sites discussing in detail the relationship between the different phases at Wangchenggang, Wadian, Xinzhai, and Haojiatai. It also discusses how diversity in the Song Mountain’s southeast region’s Longshan period’s settlement patterns, household and community organization, and social stratification suggests that there were distinct, varied polities at this time. Finally, based on this micro-scale study, it examines Longshan culture and the Xinzhai Phase, and the dynamic interaction between the Song Mountain’s Southeast central settlements as well macro-patterns and processes of regional integration.The seventh part is the conclusion of this dissertation.