A Study Of Ash Pit Burials In The Yellow River Basin In The Neolithic Age

Ash pit burial refers to the use of ash pits as a collective term for the placement of the dead or the treatment of human bones.It appeared in the cultural development stage of the Yellow River basin in the middle,late and late Neolithic era.The study of the characteristics,nature and development of the gray burial is helpful for the deep understanding of the Neolithic cultural characteristics of the Yellow River Basin,and it is also very important for exploring the issues of ancient Chinese civilization.A total of 112 ash burials have been discovered in the Yellow River Basin of the Neolithic Age.According to the differences in the characteristics of human bones and coexisting relics,they can be divided into three types:burial,treatment pit and sacrificial pit.The shape of the pits are mainly round bags,followed by round tubes.Among them,there are 41 burial burials,mostly adults,and the main burial is flexion.The coexisting relics are mainly pottery,a total of 17 pieces,and there are few stone tools and bone tools,including 4 stone tools and 1 bone tool.There is also one buffalo horn and one antler.There were 57 ash pits buried in the nature of the treatment pit,and 93 bones were unearthed,of which 33%were male,3%were female,and 64%were of unknown gender.In addition,adults account for 37%,minors 9%,and unknown age 54%.No coherent relics have been seen in the ash burials of this nature.There are 14 ash pits in the nature of sacrificial pits,with a total of 71 human bones,89%of whom are of unknown gender,and 50%of which are of unknown age.The number and types of coexisting relics are rich,mainly with pottery.From the middle of the Neolithic Age to the end of the Neolithic Age in the Yellow River Basin,the development of the ash burial can be divided into six phases.The first phase is equivalent to the Dadiwan cultural period,the second phase is the half-slope type of Yangshao culture;the third phase is Yangshao The period of cultural Miaodigou type;the fourth period is mainly the type period of Xiwang Village and Dahe Village in the late Yangshao period;the fifth period is the second period cultural period of Miaodigou;the sixth period is the period of coexistence of cultures in the Longshan period of Central Plains.The first phase was only found in the Guanzhong area,including 10 burial ash burials and 4 burial ash burials.The tomb burials are mainly burial,but the sacrificial burial burials are not seen.From the second phase to the fourth phase,the burial burials are gradually shifted from Guanzhong area in Shaanxi to western Henan area.Among them,there are 9 tomb burials.11 tomb burials,and 4 burial burial burials.There are more burial burials in the treatment pit;The western Henan and southern Jinan areas are more concentrated,mainly dealing with ash pit burials of the pit nature,followed by ash burial rites of the sacrificial nature,and few tomb burials;65 ash burials were found in various cultures of the sixth phase of the Longshan era.Mainly the Shaanxi Guanzhong area and the western Henan area are the most concentrated,with a total of 51,accounting for 79%of the total.Qijia culture in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and Shandong Longshan culture in the lower reaches are less distributed,accounting for only 21%.Among them,burial burial burials accounted for 29%of the total burial burials during the period,treatment crater burials were 57%,and sacrificial burial burials accounted for 14%.The coexisting relics are mainly pottery,followed by bones,and there are also domestic animals such as pigs and dogs used for bone burial and sacrifice.The ash burial originated from the Dadiwan culture in the Guanzhong region.The ash burial in the Yangshao culture is inherited from the Dadiwan culture.At the same time,the ash burial in the Majiayao culture on the upper reaches of the Yellow River and the Beixin culture and Dawenkou culture on the lower reaches The burial should be caused by the influence of Yangshao culture.The ash burial in the second phase of Miaodigou culture should be inherited from the Yangshao culture in Guanzhong,Jinnan,and western Henan.After the Longshan era,the Kexingzhuang culture and the Wangwan third-phase culture and Taosi culture of the same period;from the perspective of the distribution of ash burials,they were concentrated in Guanzhong,Western Henan,and Jinnan.Period of cultural development.The Qijia culture in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and the ash burials in the Shandong Longshan culture in the lower reaches are affected by this area.Therefore,the development of ash burial throughout the middle to late Neolithic period of the Yellow River Basin was mainly developed in Guanzhong,Shaanxi,Southwest Shanxi,and West Henan.Regarding the development trend of ash burials,ash burials have also been found in some sites in Erlitou culture,which are basically the same in shape and nature as those in the Neolithic Yellow River Basin.The H111 of the Erligang in Zhengzhou in the Shang Dynasty is basically the same as the ash burial in the Neolithic age in terms of shape and nature.It can be seen that the ash burial is still partly continued in the Shang Dynasty.The sacrificial ash burial reflects the ancient people's ideology different from any kind of sacrificial nature,such as house worship,tomb worship and ancestral worship,but more close to the nature of worship,expressing the prehistoric people's The awe and attention of nature.Knowledge about the social information reflected in the ash burial.From the Yangshao Cultural Period to the Longshan Cultural Period,with the emergence of private ownership of property,conflicts and contradictions among tribes of different clans and within clans proliferated,and the number of ash pit burials dealing with the nature of pits and sacrificial rites was increasing,regardless of whether they were dealing with aliens The prisoners of war are still ash burials that impose punishment on their own people,or ash burials that may have a sacrificial nature.all of which reflect the increasingly fierce class divisions within the clan tribes and the increasingly fierce conflicts between the ethnic groups.It is a change from the primitive society to the civilized society.miniature.