Pottery Production and Use at the Shang Dynasty Village of Guandimiao

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences 2024" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Shang Dynasty is widely regarded as China’s first historical dynasty and has been a focal point for archaeological research for nearly 100 years. While extensive excavations at the late Shang capital at Anyang, as well as other large Shang sites, have provided a window into many aspects of urban society, relatively little is known about groups living under Shang control outside of major political centers. Excavations at the late Shang site of Guandimiao revealed a nearly complete village with the most striking attribute being the high number of pottery kilns, which outnumber houses. However, the economic role of this community within the wider Shang economy, as well as the organization of ceramic production at the site, remains unknown. Here I present the results of the first large-scale study of use-alteration and forming marks on nearly 200 whole vessels from the site, which provides insight into vessel construction, learning, production organization, use, and overall economic organization at Guandimiao.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences 2024

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37786.0