{"title":"What lies beyond rituals? Exploring the role of pottery in the chiefly polities of Lingjiatan","authors":"Wenjing Wang , Weihong Wu , Haoshen Yu , Wenpeng Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100557","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Exploring the multivariate factors and their interrelationships in the development of early complex societies is crucial for understanding the diverse pathways these societies took. Previous studies have shown that Lingjiatan societies (c. 5700–5300 BP) in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River of China may have developed around ritual power, but other dimensions of social complexity, such as the role of pottery, have yet to be explored. Through morphological and compositional analysis of a large number of pottery sherds, this study assesses the production, distribution, and consumption of pottery across local and supra-local communities at Lingjiatan. The findings reveal that while the largest district did not possess exquisite pottery, its central community, where public works were concentrated, shows a greater prevalence of serving and fine-paste vessels, indicating its role in hosting ritual and ceremonial gatherings rather than wealth accumulation. The study also indicates that pottery production at Lingjiatan was dispersed, but the central community in the largest district had better access to a broader variety of pottery, reflecting a level of economic vibrancy driven by ritual activities. Our research underscores the crucial influence of ceremonial practices and belief systems in the development of Lingjiatan societies, with pottery playing a nuanced role, primarily in connection with these practices within the broader sociopolitical integration at Lingjiatan.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100557"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Archaeological Research in Asia","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352226724000588","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"ARCHAEOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Exploring the multivariate factors and their interrelationships in the development of early complex societies is crucial for understanding the diverse pathways these societies took. Previous studies have shown that Lingjiatan societies (c. 5700–5300 BP) in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River of China may have developed around ritual power, but other dimensions of social complexity, such as the role of pottery, have yet to be explored. Through morphological and compositional analysis of a large number of pottery sherds, this study assesses the production, distribution, and consumption of pottery across local and supra-local communities at Lingjiatan. The findings reveal that while the largest district did not possess exquisite pottery, its central community, where public works were concentrated, shows a greater prevalence of serving and fine-paste vessels, indicating its role in hosting ritual and ceremonial gatherings rather than wealth accumulation. The study also indicates that pottery production at Lingjiatan was dispersed, but the central community in the largest district had better access to a broader variety of pottery, reflecting a level of economic vibrancy driven by ritual activities. Our research underscores the crucial influence of ceremonial practices and belief systems in the development of Lingjiatan societies, with pottery playing a nuanced role, primarily in connection with these practices within the broader sociopolitical integration at Lingjiatan.
期刊介绍：
Archaeological Research in Asia presents high quality scholarly research conducted in between the Bosporus and the Pacific on a broad range of archaeological subjects of importance to audiences across Asia and around the world. The journal covers the traditional components of archaeology: placing events and patterns in time and space; analysis of past lifeways; and explanations for cultural processes and change. To this end, the publication will highlight theoretical and methodological advances in studying the past, present new data, and detail patterns that reshape our understanding of it. Archaeological Research in Asia publishes work on the full temporal range of archaeological inquiry from the earliest human presence in Asia with a special emphasis on time periods under-represented in other venues. Journal contributions are of three kinds: articles, case reports and short communications. Full length articles should present synthetic treatments, novel analyses, or theoretical approaches to unresolved issues. Case reports present basic data on subjects that are of broad interest because they represent key sites, sequences, and subjects that figure prominently, or should figure prominently, in how scholars both inside and outside Asia understand the archaeology of cultural and biological change through time. Short communications present new findings (e.g., radiocarbon dates) that are important to the extent that they reaffirm or change the way scholars in Asia and around the world think about Asian cultural or biological history.
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