Study On The Spatial Pattern Of Settlement Sites Supported By GIS In Liangzhu Ancient City,Zhejiang Province

The archaeological research of Liangzhu ancient city,Zhejiang province has been carried out for more than eighty years.The comprehensive use and analysis of huge amounts of archaeological data were difficult,especially the inner relationship between relic settlements and the natural environment due to the lack of spatial database.Therefore,the study on the spatial pattern of Liangzhu sites was still in its infancy.In this paper,we conducted the settlement archaeological research in the Liangzhu area with the support of archaeological spatial database and spatial analysis based on geographic information system.We built the spatio-temporal framework of the relic settlement sites,and analyzed the characteristics of the settlement pattern in Liangzhu area,from multiple perspectives of the size,grade,type,function of the settlements,as well as the spatial distribution of settlements,the relationship among different settlements and groups.Besides,we also discussed the inner relationship between the development of civilization in the Liangzhu era and the climate environment change.The main research contents and results are as follows:(1)We digitalized the archaeological data and constructed the spatial database of Liangzhu archaeological sites.The data from different sources,types and formats,such as digital surface model and high resolution remote sensing image data,as well as the data from field excavation and survey in the Liangzhu area were collected,and organized in the spatial database.So the integrated storage,management and reuse of archaeological data were realized.The spatial database of Liangzhu archaeological sites fully considered the overall sites in Liangzhu ancient city area and the characteristics of the unearthed artifacts,all kinds of heritage,and also gave attention to the general characteristics of spatial database.Thus,the regional analysis of settlement archaeology,comprehensive environmental archaeology will be strongly supported based on the spatial distribution of the ruins and sites.(2)We comprehensively analyzed the types and grades of the relic sites in the Liangzhu ancient city with various spatial analysis methods with the help of the spatial database and the field materials.Factors,including elevation,slope,aspect,the area and the unearthed artifacts of 135 sites were quantitatively analyzed,their inner relationship and dependence on the natural environment were revealed and explained.At the same time,we also understood the planning of Liangzhu ancient city from the perspective of function of sites.The functional division of different sites in Liangzhu ancient city is closely related to its elevation.The elevation in foothills of Dazheshan in northern ancient city is high,and this area has wide field of vision.However,the slope of this area is also steep,so it is not very suitable as the residential areas which serve for frequent producting and living activities of a large population,while building platforms as the observation places of celestial or the altar of worships in this area are appropriate.For the inner part of the ancient city,its center,the highest area of the whole ancient city,is used to build palaces for kings and nobles to symbolize its highest ruling status.The western and northern parts of the center are also higher than those in the south and east,they are used as burial sites for kings and nobles,in order to distinguish from general cemeteries for civilian.There are a large number of residential sites and cemeteries in the flat terrain of the east and southeast outside the core area of the Liangzhu ancient city.(3)We also conducted the analysis of spatial pattern of the relic settlements in Liangzhu ancient city based on clustering analysis,site domain analysis,central place theory,and theissen polygon methods.The spatial clustering features and distribution characteristics of the settlements in Liangzhu ancient city had been revealed.And we determined five settlement groups including the ancient city group,the Tangshan group,the Yaoshan group,the Shiqianwei group and the Miaoqian group,discussed the spatio-temporal and evolution characteristics of sites and groups.Results showed that in terms of spatial layout,the groups showed a high degree of standardization,and a three level control model was formed.The secondary groups(the Tangshan group and the Yaoshan group)and the tertiary groups(the Shiqianwei group and the Miaoqian group)are obvious governed and controlled by the first group(the ancient city group).But the subordinate relationship between the secondary groups and the tertiary groups was not clear,it was found that the distribution pattern of the settlements in Liangzhu showed the trait of 'many centers under one big center'.Besides,the expansion of the settlements in the study area in different periods was not from the ancient city to its neighborhood,it was along the eastern export of the C shape basin.The expansion embodied the adaptability of the ancients to the natural environment.Thus,the environmental factors such as the terrain,climate,sea level change and rainfall were discussed to interpret the intrinsic response between environmental change and the rise and fall of civilizations in the Liangzhu area.To sum up,the quantitative and qualitative spatial analysis in this paper had provided solid foundation for deepening the research on development and evolution process of Liangzhu civilization.