The Archaeology of Early China: From Prehistory to the Han Dynasty

Description

This volume aims to satisfy a pressing need for an updated account of Chinese archaeology. It covers an extended time period from the earliest peopling of China to the unification of the Chinese Empire some two thousand years ago. The geographical coverage includes the traditional focus on the Yellow River basin but also covers China's many other regions. Among the topics covered are the emergence of agricultural communities; the establishment of a sedentary way of life; the development of sociopolitical complexity; advances in lithic technology, ceramics, and metallurgy; and the appearance of writing, large-scale public works, cities, and states. Particular emphasis is placed on the great cultural variations that existed among the different regions and the development of interregional contacts among those societies. Binder1 frontmatter 2-dedication Blank Page 3-contents 4-figures 5-acknowledgments 6-introduction chapter 1-geographic_and_environmental_background Chapter 2-before_cultivation_human_origins_and_the_incipient_development_of_human_culture_in_china Chapter 3-transition_to_food_production_variability_and_processes Chapter 4-development_of_agriculture_and_sedentary_life_in_north_china Chapter 5-shift_to_agriculture_and_sedentism_in_central_and_south_china Chapter 6-emergence_and_development_of_sociopolitical_complexity Chapter 7-stepping_into_history Chapter 8-shang_dynasty_the_emergence_of_the_state_in_china Chapter 9-regional_variation_and_interregional_interactions_during_the_bronze_age_center_and_periphery_or_interaction_spheres Chapter 10-societies_and_cultures_of_the_zhou_period_processes_of_globalization_and_the_genesis_of_local_identities Chapter 11-son_of_heaven_and_the_creation_of_a_bureaucratic_empire Conclusion 1-notes 2-references 3-index