A Study Of The Location Of Funerary Objects Among The Shang Cultural Tombs

Shang dynasty is in the heyday of slavery, productivity has improved greatly, and the social economy has experienced unprecedented prosperity. Shang cultural tombs can be said as a microcosm of the social reality of this historical period. A large number of tombs were found in the Shang Dynasty rule the region and the parties to the country, numerous funerary objects were unearthed, including bronze, jade, pottery, and there are a large number of sacrifices.The funerary objects are located in a different way, for example, it maybe placed on the dead’s body or side, or placed on the side of the martyrdom’s body, or placed in a coffin near, or placed the waist pits, head pit, and foot pit, or placed on the second floor of the stage, or placed in a niche or placed into the ramp, or placed in the pit which buried with the dead outside the tomb.The funerary object location of the shang culture tomb was a dynamic process of development, each stage presents different characteristics.The first stage, the burial objects of the shang’s tomb placed in the position more concentrated in the dead’s body or side of the tomb, as for the higher grade Shang cultural tombs, the burial objects placed on the second floor of the stage and the martyrdom found in the two—story units and coffin top.The second stage, the new changes were that funerary objects more near to the coffin transfer, and filling objects began to appear in the individual regions to set head pit and foot pit in the higher level of tombs.The third stage, new changes have the frond of the dead’s head set the main niche, shellfish begins placed in the dead’s mouth, the earliest tomb passage may appear. In this stage, the pottery placed in more than the front of the dead’s head or a niche which in the front of the dead’s head and the second floor of the stage, the bronze always placed near the coffin or in the coffin, and the sacrificed animals start placed in the filling.The fourth stage, the new changes in the main edge, angle of the pit began to appear, in the niche not only artifacts was placed but also start place human sacrifice, in some areas began to place the headbox to lay aside the artifacts and the place side boxes to lay aside the human sacrifice, the buried pit located around large tomb which open the first of its kind in placing the funerary objects and the tomb in different points.The regularity of performance of the burial objects placement of the Shang cultural tombs in the development process:From a longitudinal point of view, significant changes often seen in the late Shang Dynasty. From the horizontal point of view, the special placement generally appear in the region of peripheral or Fang area, and the central area and the region of peripheral and Fang areas influence each other, imitate each other. From the status of funerary objects, bronze ritual placement of more and more prominent, and weighing equipment have been carefully arranged.In same level of burial because the burial area and shape, the number of funeray objects were roughly the same, the placement of the funerary objects were about the same. The higher the level of the tombs, the stronger defensive measures on the space layering.The funerary objects placement of the Shang cultural tomb have telltale for the dead and the gender, the relationship and the duties of the martyrdom, and also provides reference information for the ramp function and the value of the funerary objectsThe funerary objects positioned to reflect the man of shang attention of the ritual activities and respected to the festival of the wine.