Английская Википедия:Erlitou culture

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Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Distinguish

Шаблон:Infobox archaeological culture Шаблон:Coord

The Erlitou culture (Шаблон:Zh) was an early Bronze Age society and archaeological culture. It existed in the Yellow River valley from approximately 1900 to 1500 BC.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn (A 2007 study of radiocarbon dating proposed a narrower date range of 1750 to 1530 BC.Шаблон:Sfn) The culture is named after Erlitou, an archaeological site in Yanshi, Henan. It was widely spread throughout Henan and Shanxi and later appeared in Shaanxi and Hubei. Most archaeologists consider Erlitou the first state-level society in China.Шаблон:Sfn Chinese archaeologists generally identify the Erlitou culture as the site of the Xia dynasty, but there is no firm evidence, such as writing, to substantiate such a linkage,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn as the earliest evidence of Chinese writing dates to the late Shang dynasty.

Erlitou site

Файл:Yue (weapon) inlaid with cross pattern. Shanghai Museum.jpg
Bronze ceremonial axe (yuè 鉞) with pattern of crosses inlaid in turquoise, dated between 1800 and 1500 BC[1]

The Erlitou culture may have evolved from the matrix of Longshan culture. Originally centered around Henan and Shanxi province, the culture spread to Shaanxi and Hubei provinces. After the rise of the Erligang culture, the site at Erlitou diminished in size but remained inhabited.Шаблон:Sfn

Discovered in 1959 by Xu Xusheng,Шаблон:Sfn Erlitou is the largest site associated with the culture, with palace buildings and bronze smelting workshops. Erlitou monopolized the production of ritual bronze vessels, including the earliest recovered dings.Шаблон:Sfn The city is on the Yi River, a tributary of the Luo River, which flows into the Yellow River. The city was Шаблон:Convert; however, because of flood damage only Шаблон:Convert are left.Шаблон:Sfn

The Erlitou Relic Museum, located in Luoyang, Henan province, which has more than 2,000 items excavated from the Erlitou site in its collection, opened in October 2019.[2]

Phases

Файл:二里头一号宫殿平面图 zh hant.png
Architectural layout of palace 1 (phase III)

The site's growth is divided into four phases.Шаблон:Sfn

During Phase I, covering Шаблон:Convert, Erlitou was a rapidly growing regional center with an estimated population of several thousand people,Шаблон:Sfn but not yet an urban civilization.Шаблон:Sfn

Urbanization began in Phase II, expanding to Шаблон:Convert with a population of around 11,000.Шаблон:Sfn A palace area of Шаблон:Convert was demarcated by four roads. It contained the Шаблон:Convert Palace 3, composed of three courtyards along a 150-metre axis, and Palace 5.Шаблон:Sfn A bronze foundry was established to the south of the palatial complex and was controlled by the elite.Шаблон:Sfn

The city reached its peak in Phase III, and may have had a population of around 24,000.Шаблон:Sfn The palatial complex was surrounded by a two-meter-thick rammed-earth wall, and Palaces 1, 7, 8 and 9 were built. Palace 1, the largest, had an area of Шаблон:Convert.Шаблон:Sfn Palaces 3 and 5 were abandoned and replaced by Palace 2, measuring Шаблон:Convert, and Palace 4.Шаблон:Sfn

In Phase IV, the population decreased to around 20,000, but building continued. Palace 6 was built as an extension of Palace 2, and Palaces 10 and 11 were built. Phase IV overlaps with the Lower Phase of the Erligang culture (1600–1450 BC). Around 1600 BC, a walled city was built at Yanshi, about Шаблон:Convert northeast of Erlitou.Шаблон:Sfn

Production of bronzes and other elite goods ceased at the end of Phase IV, at the same time as the Erligang city of Zhengzhou was established Шаблон:Convert to the east. There is no evidence of destruction by fire or war, but, during the Upper Erligang phase (1450–1300 BC), all the palaces were abandoned, and Erlitou was reduced to a village of Шаблон:Convert.Шаблон:Sfn

Bronzeworking

The Erlitou culture is the earliest large-scale bronze producing culture in China, with the new-fashioned section-mold process there to produce ritual vessels and other bronzes.[3]

Although the remains of bronze have been found in the Qijia and Siba Cultures, Erlitou bronzes are significantly more advanced and prolific. The Erlitou culture not only has bronze tools and bell musical instruments, but also bronze weapons and unique animal-faced plaques, especially more than ten kinds of bronze vessels have been unearthed. This shows that the bronze casting of Erlitou is diverse and systematic.

Erlitou bronzes have obvious features imitating pottery, with plain surfaces or simple geometric patterns. In the third phase of the Erlitou culture, the perforated decoration that was very popular throughout the Erlitou culture appeared on the bronze jue.[4]

Many archetypal Chinese artifacts were first found in Erlitou culture sites. The earliest bronze ding in China were found in the fourth stage of the Erlitou culture, decorated with striped grid patterns.[5] The earliest metal bells, with one found in the Taosi site, and four in the Erlitou site, dated to about 2000 BC, may have been derived from the earlier pottery prototype.Шаблон:Sfnp The first bronze dagger-axe or ge appeared at the Erlitou site,Шаблон:Sfnp where two were found among over 200 bronze artifacts (as of 2002) at the site.Шаблон:Sfnp Three jade ge were also discovered from the same site.Шаблон:Sfnp

Jadeworking

Like other contemporaneous cultures in China, jade was worked into ritual objects at Erlitou sites. These included ceremonial blades (zhang) as well as ritual dagger-axes (ge).

Symbols

Symbols on ceramic pieces have been found at Erlitou culture sites, leading to speculation about possible connections with early Chinese characters, which appear several centuries later in the same region. However, no clear linkage has been proven yet, thus the symbols are currently considered markings or proto-writing.

Relation to traditional accounts

Файл:Erlitou sites and Xia capitals.svg
Erlitou sites (black) and Xia capitals identified in traditional sources (red, with numbers for those from the "current text" version of the Bamboo Annals)

A major goal of archaeology in China has been the search for the capitals of the Xia and Shang dynasties described in traditional accounts as inhabiting the Yellow River valley.Шаблон:Sfn These originally oral traditions were recorded much later in histories such as the Bamboo Annals (Шаблон:Circa) and the Records of the Grand Historian (1st century BC), and their historicity, particularly regarding the Xia, is an area of debate for the Doubting Antiquity School of Chinese history.Шаблон:Sfn The discovery of writing in the form of oracle bones at Yinxu in Anyang definitively established the site as the last capital of the Shang, but such evidence is unavailable for earlier sites.Шаблон:Sfn

When Xu Xusheng first discovered Erlitou, he suggested that it was Bo, the first capital of the Shang under King Tang in the traditional account.Шаблон:Sfn Since the late 1970s, archaeologists in China have tended to identify the site with Zhenxun, the last Xia capital.[6][7][8]Шаблон:Sfn The traditional account of the overthrow of the Xia by the Shang has been identified with the ends of each of the four phases of the site by different authors. The Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project identified all four phases of Erlitou as Xia, and the construction of the Yanshi walled city as the founding of the Shang.Шаблон:Sfn Other scholars, particularly outside China, point to the lack of any firm evidence for such an identification, and argue that the historiographical focus of Chinese archaeology is unduly limiting.Шаблон:Sfn

Archaeological evidence of a large outburst flood at Jishi Gorge that destroyed the Lajia site on the upper reaches of the Yellow River has been dated to about 1920 BC. This date is shortly before the rise of the Erlitou culture in the middle Yellow River valley and the Yueshi culture in Shandong, following the decline of the Longshan culture in the North China Plain. The authors suggest that this flood may have been the basis for the later myth, and contributed to the transition of cultures. They further argue that the timing is further evidence for the identification of the Xia with the Erlitou culture.[9] However, no evidence of contemporaneous widespread flooding in the North China Plain has yet been found.[10]

See also

Шаблон:Portal

References

Шаблон:Reflist

Works cited

Further reading

External links

Шаблон:Commons category Шаблон:Wiktionary

Шаблон:Prehistoric cultures of China

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  1. ↑ Shanghai Museum
  2. ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
  3. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
  4. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
  5. ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
  6. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
  7. ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
  8. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
  9. ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
  10. ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
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