Appendix III-Figure 10: Vessel types characteristic of the Sanxingdui Culture

595 Pages·2013·25.65 MB·English

UCLA
UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Title
Pottery Production and Social Complexity of the Bronze Age Cultures on the Chengdu Plain,
Sichuan, China
Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3hs2d6k8
Author
Lin, Kuei-chen
Publication Date
2013

Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation
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Pottery Production and Social Complexity of the Bronze Age Cultures on the Chengdu
Plain, Sichuan, China

A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the
requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy
in Archaeology

by

Kuei-chen Lin

2013
© Copyright by
Kuei-chen Lin
2013
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION
Pottery Production and Social Complexity of the Bronze Age Cultures on the Chengdu
Plain, Sichuan, China

By
Kuei-chen Lin
Doctor of Philosophy in Archaeology
University of California, Los Angeles, 2013
Professor Lothar von Falkenhausen, Co-chair
Professor Dwight W Read, Co-chair

This dissertation attempts to explain the organization of pottery production on the ancient
Chengdu Plain during the early and middle Bronze Age (ca. 1800-800 BC) and its
relationship with social complexity. It investigates the formation of production controls
and traditions in different dimensions and at various manufacturing stages of pottery
production, and compares and classifies ceramics mainly from three site clusters,
Sanxingdui, Shi’erqiao, and Jinsha, using a series of analyses. First, metric measurement
and coefficients of variation are used to assess the degree of standardization in vessels
and whether the metric dimensions form specific model values. The results suggest that
ii
different production loci, while producing the same type of pottery vessels, had varying
degrees of production control over these metric dimensions and distinctive concerns
about production details. Second, mineralogical and chemical analyses show that, under
the same cultural influence, potters in different locations processed and fabricated their
generally available raw materials in distinctive fashions and according to unique
formulae. If we broaden our point of comparison to the Sichuan Basin and beyond, the
cultural idiosyncrasy of these social groups is even clearer, which forces us to consider
the circumstances of individual production traditions.
The spatial arrangements and use contexts of multiple categories of craft production
in these settlements reveal that the production activities of the Chengdu Plain were
loosely organized at co-residential households or at the community level in response to
local subsistence and social needs. Despite such loose organization and the lack of
managing supervision, working groups in different loci interacted to some degree and
shared manufacturing ideas. Production norms and traditions, on such occasions, were
thus most likely shaped by repetitive practices of routine production procedures, rather
than by institutionalized power. The accumulation of local communications allowed these
domestic economies to produce intensively and distribute products across a large
geographic area, signaling mutual influence across the Chengdu Plain and its neighboring
regions. Through this intensive communication, social relations were created, altered, and
integrated into complex networks.
iii
The dissertation of Kuei-chen Lin is approved.
David C Schaberg
Min Li
Dwight W Read, Committee Co-chair
Lothar von Falkenhausen, Committee Co-chair

University of California, Los Angeles
2013
Committee Page
iv
To my parents and siblings
Dedication Page
v
Table of Contents

Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii
Committee Page ................................................................................................................. iv
Dedication Page .................................................................................................................. v
Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi
List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... x
List of Tables .................................................................................................................. xvii
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... xix
Vita .................................................................................................................................. xxv
I. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1
1. Pottery production of the ancient Chengdu Plain ................................................... 1
2. Research questions .................................................................................................. 5
3. Hypotheses and methodology ................................................................................. 8
3.1. Craft production, cultural control, and social complexity ................................ 8
3.2. Domestic economies ......................................................................................... 9
3.3. Sourcing the changing social meanings of artifacts ....................................... 11
4. Plan of writing....................................................................................................... 12
II. Craft production, its significance, and its relevance to ancient economies and social
complexity......................................................................................................................... 14
1. Introduction: craft production and social complexity ........................................... 14
2. Craft specialization and organization .................................................................... 18
2.1. Standardization and practice theory ............................................................... 24
2.1.1. Variations and types ................................................................................ 30
2.1.2. Chaîne opératoire and practice ................................................................ 34
2.2. Technological changes and conservatism in production ................................ 36
2.3. Organization of production ............................................................................. 41
2.3.1. Site functions and spatial relations .......................................................... 41
2.3.2. The control of the production organization ............................................. 45
2.4. Household and domestic economies ............................................................... 48
3. Production and social relations ............................................................................. 54
3.1 Exchange and social boundaries ..................................................................... 55
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3.2. The social role of things and the manipulation of power relations ................ 59
4. Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 62
III. Natural settings of the Chengdu Plain and related archaeological cultures .......... 70
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 70
2. Chengdu Plain before the Shi’erqiao 十二橋 Culture (before ca. 1250 BC) ....... 76
2.1. Baodun 寶敦 Culture (ca. 2700-1700 BC) ..................................................... 77
2.2. Sanxingdui 三星堆 Culture (1700-1150 BC) ................................................. 81
3. The Shi’erqiao Culture in the Chengdu Plain (1250-600 BC) .............................. 88
3.1. Shi’erqiao site cluster ..................................................................................... 88
3.1.1. Shi’erqiao type site .................................................................................. 90
3.1.2. Zhihuijie 指揮街 ................................................................................... 100
3.1.3. Fangchijie 方池街 ................................................................................. 104
3.1.4. Minjiang Xiaoqu 岷江小區 .................................................................. 107
3.1.5. Shuiguanyin 水觀音 in Xinfan 新繁 .................................................... 108
3.1.6. Zhengyincun 正因村 in Xindu 新都 ..................................................... 111
3.1.7. Shaxi 沙溪 in Ya’an 雅安 ..................................................................... 115
3.1.8. Maiping 麥坪 and Majiashan麻家山 sites in Hanyuan 漢源 .............. 117
3.1.9. Zhuwajie 竹瓦街 hoards in Pengzhou 彭州 ......................................... 120
3.1.10. Xinyicun 新一村 ............................................................................... 123
3.1.11. Qingyanggong 青羊宮 and Shangwangjiaguai 上汪家拐 ................ 131
3.2. Jinsha 金沙 site cluster ................................................................................. 134
3.2.1. Meiyuan 梅苑 ........................................................................................ 138
3.2.2. Sanhe Huayuan 三合花園, Huangzongcun 黃忠村 ............................. 141
3.2.3. Lanyuan 蘭苑, Shufeng Huayuan 蜀風花園, Boyatingyun 博雅庭韻, and
Xinghelu Xiyanxian 星河路西延線 ................................................................... 143
3.2.4. Peripheral sites, northwest of Chengdu City ......................................... 146
3.3. Other perspectives of the ancient environment-- faunal and floral resources of
the Chengdu Plain ................................................................................................... 148
4. Relevant archaeological sites and finds to the Chengdu Plain ........................... 153
4.1. Chongqing -Three Gorges ............................................................................ 153
4.1.1. Linshi 藺市, Zhen'an 鎮安, and Shituo 石沱 in Fuling 涪陵 ............... 154
4.1.2. Ganjinggou 洽井溝site cluster in Zhongxian 忠縣 ............................. 159
甘
4.1.3. Zhongbazi 中壩子 and Maliutuo 麻柳沱 in Wanzhou 萬州 ............... 165
4.1.4. Lijiaba 李家壩 in Yunyang 雲陽 .......................................................... 168
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4.1.5. Xinpu 新浦 in Fengjie 奉節 .................................................................. 169
4.1.6. Tiaoshi 跳石and Shuangyantang 雙堰塘 in Wushan 巫山 ................. 170
4.1.7. Chaotianzui朝天嘴 in Zigui秭歸 and Zhongbaodao 中堡島 in Yichang
宜昌 174
4.1.8. Lujiahe 路家河 in Yichang 宜昌 .......................................................... 178
4.1.9. Xianglushi 香爐石 in Changyang 長陽 (ca. 2000-1000 BC) ............... 181
4.2. Sites east of the Three Gorges Area ............................................................. 184
4.2.1. Jingnansi 荊南寺 in Jingzhou 荊州 ...................................................... 185
4.3. Shaanxi ......................................................................................................... 188
4.3.1. Hanzhong漢中 Basin, the Upper Han River (late second millennium BC)
188
4.3.2. Yu 弓魚 state cemeteries in Baoji 寶雞, Shaanxi .................................... 192
5. Discussion ........................................................................................................... 198
5.1. The influence of natural environments ......................................................... 198
5.2. Material culture and cultural influence ......................................................... 201
IV. Pottery production in the ancient Chengdu Plain ............................................... 220
1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 220
2. Datasets—vessel types ........................................................................................ 224
2.1. Pointed-bottom saucers (jiandi zhan) ........................................................... 224
2.2. Pointed-bottom cups (jiandi bei) and pointed-bottom jars (jiandi guan) ..... 231
3. Data analysis ....................................................................................................... 237
3.1. Physical features by visual examination and metric measurements ......... 239
3.1.1. Building/forming techniques ................................................................. 239
3.1.2. Clay and tempering ............................................................................... 241
3.1.3. Color ...................................................................................................... 245
3.1.4. Measures of dimension, performance characteristics ........................... 249
3.2. Mineralogical analyses ................................................................................. 297
3.2.1. X-ray powder diffraction analysis (XRD) ......................................... 298
3.2.2. Petrographic analysis ......................................................................... 302
3.3. Chemical analysis— X-ray fluorescence (XRF) .......................................... 315
3.4. Thermal analysis ........................................................................................... 335
4. Discussion ........................................................................................................... 343
4.1. Discovering patterns and classification ........................................................ 343
4.2. Analytical methods and future work ............................................................ 349
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