Settlement Spatial Organization In Central Plains China During The Period Of Transition From Late Neolithic To Early Bronze Age(ca.2500-1050B.C.)

Settlement spatial organization in China has yet to be intensively investigated for the criticaltransition between the end of the Neolithic to the beginning of the Bronze Age, two periods whichusuallyconstitute separate fields in Chinese academia. In order to conduct a thorough studyof thistransition, this dissertation synthesizes the vast and growing corpus of excavation and mappingdata of archaeological sites in order to highlight variations of spatial occupation and changes ofpopulation dynamics. This includes a comprehensive definition of the chronological andgeographical parameters of these periods that integrates previous research with a systematic GISdatabase. A statistical and spatial analysis of settlement distribution within the entire CentralPlains shows the exchanges network that structured the human occupation. A subsequentregional-scale analysisallowsustoanalyze spatial occupationdensityanddemographic evolution.These analyses help to build new paradigms for understanding multi-rhythm temporality in earlyChina and redefine the main characteristics of the significant transition period between the end ofthe Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age.