How Were Stones Used in a Bronze Age Society? A Case in the Middle Yangtze River

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Resources and Society in Ancient China" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Numerous previous archaeological discoveries and studies have shown that rulers from the Central Plains during the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600–1050 BC) were motivated to systematically construct settlements and operate in the Jianghan Area of the Middle Yangtze River drainage at least in part in order to control metal resources in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Some recent studies are also revealing this; for example, some scholars found that the Middle Yangtze River Valley is tentatively identified to be the provenance of the copper used at the Early Shang Capital in Zhengzhou by studying lead isotopes in crucibles and a metal droplet unearthed in Zhengzhou. But, to what extent these same rulers affected the exploitation of other resources is an open question. I will investigate whether we can see evidence of top-down centralized control of ubiquitous resources necessary for everyday life in the region by focusing on the acquisition and use of stone raw materials used in this region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Resources and Society in Ancient China   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38577.0