Salt production and distribution from the Neolithic period to the Han dynasty in the Eastern Sichuan Basin, China

This dissertation focuses on salt production and distribution in the Eastern Sichuan Basin from the Neolithic (ca. 3500 B.C--2000 B.C.) to the Han Dynasty (206 B.C--A.D. 220). There are two major objectives in this dissertation. First, I reassess the traditional opinion that treats salt as a strategic material in all contexts while at the same time acknowledging the importance of the production and distribution of salt to the emergence of Chinese civilization. Based on an examination of information from oracle bones, bronze inscriptions, bamboo and wooden strips, silk manuscripts, and transmitted classical texts, I argue that salt has changed from a luxury/prestige good to a mundane, necessary commodity in Chinese history.{09}The meaning of salt control also changed from the political/ideological realm to the economic realm over time.; The second objective is an examination of the diachronic regional cultural history of the Eastern Sichuan from the Neolithic period to the Han Dynasty according to the perspective of salt production and distribution. I focus on archaeological analyses of sites with abundant salt production debris in the Ganjing Valley, Chongqing.{09}Through a comparison with primitive salt production remains from other parts of the world, I illustrate the development of salt production in the Ganjing Valley. I also discuss changes in salt distribution during different periods, with a particular focus on the relationships between the Chu culture in the Middle Yangtze River and the cultures in the Eastern Sichuan during the Eastern Zhou period. Instead of the traditional "military occupation model", I propose a "trade diaspora model" to explain the political and economic interactions between these two regions.