Globalization and world systems as alternative modes of cultural transmission in the eastern China, 5000-2500 BC

Summary

An eastern crescent zone of the Middle to Lower Yangtze and upwards to Shandong can be defined as a zone of Globalization processes in the Neolithic that was eventually broken down into a number of cores in a world system. The globalization model operates through Neolithic networks, that had no clear political centre but nevertheless promoted shared practices and cultural values over large distances. This is illustrated by the spread of food cultures: crops, cooking methods and ceramic repertoires. By 3000 B.C. regional centers emerged which fragmented this spread into cores of political and symbolic power from which privileged crafts and their understanding were dispersed by a more centralizing World System process. The latter can be illustrated by jades and eggshell ware, the forms, decorations and use of which all reinforced centrality in power, production and exchange.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Guava Cat Archaeology: Papers in memory of Prof. Pochan Chen

Keywords

Spatial Coverage