Pottery specialization and household interdependence in Hongshan core Zone: Evidence from the Dongshanzui site

Abstract

This study investigates household interdependence and economic differentiation in the Hongshan core zone through geochemical analysis of 231 sherds from six Late Hongshan (3500–3000 BCE) household units in the Dongshanzui area, western Liaoning, northeast China. The compositional analysis reveals that pottery was produced from a limited number of local clay sources, with hierarchical clustering analysis identifying three hypothetical production source units (PSU01, PSU02, and PSU03). This indicates a moderately centralized production system where a relatively small number of specialized households supplied a larger consumer community, confirming a moderate degree of pottery specialization and household interdependence. Households obtained pottery from different production source units and intermingled spatially within the Dongshanzui area; however, a north–south spatial gradient in resource access was identified. Southern households, including the higher-status unit D109, preferentially utilized the clay source PSU02, particularly for fine-paste ceremonial tongxingqi vessels, which showed markedly less compositional variability than utilitarian wares. Altogether, our findings challenge models where elites directly controlled production, suggesting instead that social differentiation was expressed through preferential access to high-quality goods within exchange networks.