On Shang Culture 's Turning And Burying

Prone burial is a very common burial posture of tomb in Shang culture. The research of it is to obtain a better understanding the system of the tomb. This paper divided prone burial into different types by tomb’s owner, martyrdom and sacrifice,and discussed the characteristics of them. A comprehensive analysis is carried out by comparing between prone burial and other burial posture in Shang culture. Using cultural elements analysis method, the thesis also approached the relationship of prone burial between Shang and other surrounding culture and the headstream of prone burial. By analyzing various kinds of buried material, I summarized the development and evolution characteristics of different prone burial types, and discussed the similarities and differences of them.Although some differences in the prone burial and other burial forms, there are more common factors. Even prone burial in Shang culture and other surrounding cultures share the same burying posture,the difference between them is more obvious. This paper compared prone burials of shang Dynasty with Erlitou and Western Zhou Dynasty.Conclusion is made that some features of Shang culture’s prone burial were from Erlitou and pre-Shang culture, and further developed during Western Zhou Dynasty in Fenggao region.