A Comparative Study on Ceramic Production from Central Plain China and South China in Early Shang Dynasty

Summary

The site of Panlongcheng is located 450 kilometers south of Zhengzhou in present-day Hubei province serves as the join point between the Central Plain Culture and the Lower and the southern regions of Yangtze River. Unlike almost all of more than twenty bronzes vessel shapes are represented in the Panlongcheng finds, there are three different ceramic types discovered at Panlongcheng: Typical Central Plain style(Erligang style), local style and numerous stoneware/hardware(some glazed). In pursuit of studying of ceramic production system on both sites, this Paper presents a comparative petrographic study of full range of variation of ceramic samples from Zhengzhou and Panlongcheng. The results of this research suggest that, despite similarities in type,form and stylistic attributes, the ceramic vessels form Panlongcheng are significantly different from Zhengzhou in terms of temper composition and fire temperature.The significant difference between stoneware and other type of ceramics may suggest that

stoneware were non-local production.The results of petrographic analyses of ceramic thin sections from both sites may make us rethink the relationships among function, style, pattern,technology and ethnicity in production of ceramic.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Lifeways in Bronze Age China

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16742