Research On Neolithic Urn Burial In Middle Han River

Research on Neolithic Urn burial in Middle Han RiverUrn burial was an important burial method in the Neolithic age, great amount of which had been found in Yellow River and The Yangtze River, concentrated especially in the Middle of the two rivers. Due to the differences in archaeological culture between the two regions, urn burial also had its own characters in each one. Locating between the two regions, Middle Han River is rounded by various archaeological cultures, inevitably influenced by the cultural communication; the change of the form of urn burial was one result of the influences. Based on all of that, this dissertation would make a study on the urn burial in Middle Han River in the Neolithic age, trying to get some information on the communications among cultures.The article is constituted by five parts:Chapter1is preface, which contains a brief introduction of the Physical Geography in Middle Han River and a review of the research has been made in the topic of urn burial. This part is a preparation for a further study.Chapter2is the sequence of archaeological culture in Middle Han River in the Neolithic age. Based on the result of a former research, which divided the Neolithic culture into five stages, this article analyses the pottery of other sites which were excavated recently and which were not contained in the former study, and ranks them into their ages.Chapter3is a overview of the urn burial in Middle Han River, there are five aspects involved, such as the distribution of urn burial, the shape of the pit, the age of the death, the makeup of the pottery, burial accessories and the spiritual significance reflected by urn burial.Chapter4is made up by two parts. First is a typology analysis of the potteries which make up the urn burial, combining with the age and site, these potteries can be distinguished by cultural factors. Based on that, associating the sequence of the archaeological culture, we can concluded that in different ages, along with the process of communication, various cultures from several directions such as northern Henan and southern Hebei, central Henan, Guanzhong region, Jianghan Plain and western Hubei had given effect to the urn burial in Middle Han River. The change in urn burial was only one of the results of the intercommunion.Chapter5is a conclusion, which summarizes and evaluates the dissertation.