Interpreting the Diffusion of Bronze Mirrors in Ancient China across Time Using the S-Shaped Curve

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The s-shaped curve in the social network context is a model proposed to reveal dynamic changes over time among members in a network when accepting a new idea/product. The s-shaped curve has been mainly used in social sciences to model the diffusion of objects or ideas using current empirical data. However, it is rarely applied to archaeology because such data in the past is not often available. With caution and recognition of certain assumptions, diffusion theory and models such as the s-shaped curve can be useful to interpret archaeological findings in an innovative social network way. In this study, the s-shaped curve is used to describe the invention (a few people join initially), the introduction (individuals influence a few others), the spread (the number of adopters rises rapidly), and the acceptance (the growth tapers off) of bronze mirrors across social classes in ancient China from the Neolithic period to the later feudal dynasties (~2000 BCE - ~1900 CE). To apply the s-shaped curve, the social strata is used as a proxy for how prevalent bronze mirrors were accepted by the society. This study can help archaeologists better understand ancient Chinese societies through the lens of bronze mirrors.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36484.0