Studies Of Songze Culture

Songze culture is an important archaeological data to study the change of neolithic society from equal society to unequal society in the lower Reaches of the Yangtze River.According to the analysis of typology of typical pottery unearthed from five Songze cultural sites,Xingang in Changzhou,Dongshancun in Zhangjiagang,Songze in Shanghai,Nanhebang in Jiaxing and Pishan in Huzhou,the songze culture was divided into four stages: early,middle,late and final phase.According to the accumulation of sites and objects in different regions,as well as the geographical features and water system of The Taihu Basin,the songze culture can be roughly divided into five regional types: the south bank of the Yangtze River,the east Taihu Lake,the southeast Taihu Lake,the southwest Taihu Lake and the hangzhou Bay.The regional characteristics of Songze culture were gradually developed along with the environmental replacement of Taihu Basin and the migration of prehistoric population.The regional types of Songze culture formed sooner or later,and the five regional types had been fully formed by the late period of Songze culture.In the formation of the regional characteristics of Songze culture,geology,landform and water system environment play an important role.The differences of regional environment and social environment lead to different development paths of Songze culture in the north and south of Taihu Lake.Under the extensive competition and communication between songze culture in the north of Taihu Lake and surrounding culture,pottery and jade ware lay particular stress on simple shape and practical function,and attached importance to military power and royal power in the social development,and entered the "heroic Age" of military democracy earlier.Songze culture in the south of Taihu Lake is greatly influenced by the natural environment.In the process of fighting against natural disasters,sorcerer class and primitive religion are derived.The pottery and jade in the south of Taihu Lake contain more elements of symbolism and spiritual belief.The earliest altar of Songze culture was born,which reflects the worship and worship of nature of Songze people.The path of songze cultural theocracy in the south of Taihu Lake is quite different from that in the north.It laid the foundation for the formation of a developed and prosperous ancient Liangzhu state with distinct features and the integration of god and king in this area in the future.The formation of Songze culture is a complicated and long process,which is the result of environmental,economic and social factors.The major changes in the climate and environment from Ma Jia Bang to Songze resulted in a huge change in the way of livelihood of prehistoric people,which objectively led to the acceleration of the spread of Songze culture,and the extensive exchanges with surrounding cultural technologies and resources led to the productivity reform of Songze culture itself.The process of the transformation from Ma Jia Bang culture to Song Ze culture includes not only the abandonment of traditions,but also the fusion and remolding of foreign cultures.The early Songze culture was in the wave of multiple cultural transmission,drawing on each other's strengths and drawing on each other's weaknesses,gradually forming its own characteristic "Songze style".The synchronization of songze cultural graveyards and settlements in different regions shows that Songze society has undergone a dynamic change from an equal society to a stratified society.The social units represented by cemeteries and settlements changed from aggregation to dispersion,and the social structure changed from binary class society to ternary class society.Songze tomb changed from a single public cemetery in the early period to several related tomb groups in the late period.Tomb groups vary in size,composition and affluence.There is also a significant stratification within the tomb group.The residence generally experienced the process from gathering to dispersive,from large house to small house,showing the transformation from family group to individual family.The social differentiation process of Songze extends from the north to the south of Taihu Lake.The stable and reasonable social structure and the sustainable development of social process in the late songze period in the south of Taihu Lake were the important prerequisites for the development of Liangzhu culture in the south of Taihu Lake.However,the unreasonable social stratum structure and the unbalanced social order in the south bank of the Yangtze River and the east Of Taihu Lake were the main reasons for the failure of the development in the north and east of Taihu Lake.Songze Cultural Earthen platform is a kind of cultural adaptation to the natural environment.In the southeast of Taihu Lake,the earliest form of earth platform for living appeared.Later,the earthen stage was endowed with more functions,and the appearance of the sacrificial altar symbolized that earthen stage was gradually sanctified.After the end of Songze culture,the structure of small tutai around the tomb marked the significant enhancement of family independence within the settlement.Liangzhu culture followed the form of Songze culture earthen platform,formed three architectural forms of residence,gaotai cemetery and altar.Represented by jade and stone tools,the handicraft settlement in Songze culture has complete structure,strict functional division and clear operation chain,which reflects the progress of jade and stone industry in Songze period and lays a foundation for the jade and stone industry developed in Liangzhu culture.In short,Songze culture plays a crucial role in the process of civilization in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River,from an equal society to an unequal one.