Periodization Research On The Hemudu Culture

Hemudu culture,firstly discovered in 1970 s,is one of the neolithic archaeological cultures along the Lower Yangzte.The archaeological sites belonging to Hemudu culture mainly spread from Ningbo-Shaoxing plain to Zhoushan Islands,especially in the Yao river basin.The studies on Hemudu culture are mainly concentrating on Hemudu site,especially its third and fourth layers,other than the whole culture so far.A few new archaeological sites have been discovered and excavated recently and they can supply more information for the analysis and researches of Hemudu culture.Therefore,this dissertation explores the period definition,the interactions with other archaeological cultures around and the origin of Hemudu culture with the aim to contribute to get a more knowledge and give a relative faithful interpretation of the culture based on the archaeological evidences.This dissertation consists of five chapters:First: Introduction.It introduces the chronological framework and geographic distribution of Hemudu culture.It also includes the summary of the studies on Hemudu culture during the 40 years since it was discovered and outline the aim and topic of this dissertation.Second: Period definition and date determination of Hemudu culture.The evolution of the representative potteries from Hemudu site can be divided into four periods and six phrases by the methods of stratigraphy and typology.We can infer the evolution process of the whole Hemudu culture via the pottery comparison between Hemudu site's and other archaeological sites' belonging to this culture.Third: The relationships between Hemudu culture and other archaeological cultures around.It mainly focus on the relationships between Hemudu culture and Majiabang and Songze cultures.It can be inferred that Hemudu culture dominated in the interaction with Majiabang culture in its early stage while it was unidirectionally influenced by Majiabang and Songze cultures in its late stage.Fourth: The discussion about the origin of Hemudu culture.We should focus our research on the local archaeological cultures in order to explore the origin of Hemudu culture and Kuahuqiao and Shangshan cultures are essential for this question.Kuahuqiao and Hemudu cultures were not in the same culture system as the differences between them are much more than their similarities via comparing the pottery combinations and features between the two cultures.Fifth: Conclusion.It is a conclusion of what the dissertation has discussed including the the period definition,the relationships with other archaeological cultures around and the origin of Hemudu culture.