The production and use of stone tools at the Longshan period site of Liangchengzhen, China

This dissertation focuses on the role of technology, specifically the production and use of stone tools, in one of the first complex societies in China, the Longshan (ca. 2600-1900 BC). The Longshan period of Late Neolithic China existed just prior to the rise of the Xia and Shang Dynasties and, as such, is a crucial period relevant to the understanding of the rise of complex society. Specialized production of ceramics, jade and other wealth items, along with the appearance of walled towns, proto-writing and incipient bronze metallurgy, are seen as hallmarks of the period. Research on ground and polished stone objects has been biased towards those tools of fine craftsmanship, such as jade yue "battle axes" and other stone items thought to represent prestige goods. This dissertation concerns itself mainly with utilitarian tools and the domestic economy. It addresses the analysis of 2,557 ground and polished stone tools and 2,043 chipped stone tools and associated debris that were excavated from the large Longshan town of Liangchengzhen in southeastern Shandong province.; I focus on two major aspects of emerging civilization within the context of late Neolithic China at the site of Liangchengzhen: (1) defining the nature of production and use of primarily utilitarian stone tool forms, and (2) the application and advancement of ethnoarchaeological, technological and use-wear studies to ground stone tools. Through these analytical methods I am able to describe the organization of utilitarian stone tool production at Liangchengzhen. I argue that the production and use of the utilitarian stone tools was largely autonomous of direct elite involvement. I further argue that the production of certain tool types, like projectile points and the yue "battle axe," were highly symbolic artifacts even for the non-elite members of society. As the result of the comprehensive use-wear studies, replication of tools, and spatial and technological analyses, I demonstrate that the non-elite members of the "neighborhood" that was excavated were engaged in part-time specialization of certain tool types.