The Analysis Of Sacrificial Pottery Of The Dawenkou And The Longshan Cultures

The Dawenkou Culture and the Longshan Culture are two of the most developed prehistorical cultures in Haidai region. Quite many elements of civilization can be found in both of the two cultures. Based on one fact that pottery sacrificial vessels are the most developed and characteristic part of the Dawenkou and the Longshan Cultures’remains, we decided to choose pottery sacrificial vessels as the objects of study. Considering the problem that the previous research showed a lack of systematic theory to be a support, we try to use historical documents, data of excavations, previous research achievement, as well as archaeological method to draw a conclusion about the pottery sacrificial vessels of the Dawenkou and the Longshan Cultures.The thesis comprises six parts, which are stated as follows.Part1:Introduction. In this part we make a review of the previous research and introduce our method of analysis.Part2:Discussion of sacrificial rituals and sacrificial vessels. This part is the key points and difficult points of this thesis. We make a try to explain the meaning and origin of the sacrificial rituals, and we also make our own definition and classification of sacrificial vessels.Part3:General situation of The Dawenkou Culture and the Longshan Culture. In this part we introduce the research of chronology, regional types, and the situation of social developments of the both cultures.Part4:The analysis of pottery sacrificial vessels of the Dawenkou and the Longshan Cultures. This is the central part of the thesis. We classify the pottery sacrificial vessels of the Dawenkou and the Longshan Cultures into three categories: the vessels of the early Dawenkou period, the middle and late Dawenkou period, and the Longshan period. After that, we interpret the process of the transformation, as well as the classic vessel assemblages and their characteristics of each period.Part5:The spread and influence of pottery sacrificial vessels of the Dawenkou and the Longshan Cultures. We concentrate on the influence of pottery sacrificial vessels of the Dawenkou and the Longshan Cultures on the surrounding cultures, such as of Zhongyuan region, Liaodong peninsula and Jiangzhe region. We can find that the influence of the prehistorical and historical cultures of Zhongyuan region is much greater than of other regions. We can also see that the style of pottery sacrificial vessels of the Dawenkou and the Longshan Cultures influenced surrounding cultures much greater than influenced by these cultures.Part6:Conclusion and Epilogue. In this part we draw a conclusion about pottery sacrificial vessels of the Dawenkou and the Longshan Cultures, and point out the problems to be solved in the following research.