Mortuary Ritual and Social Hierarchy in the Longshan Culture. Li, L. Early China, 21:1–46, 1996.
Mortuary Ritual and Social Hierarchy in the Longshan Culture [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
The mortuary data from the Longshan culture provide crucial information for understanding the process of socio-political change from non-stratified to stratified societies in late Neolithic China. This article identifies the variables in Longshan burials that can be correlated with social rank, and then studies four Longshan burial sites (Taosi, Chengzi, Yinjiacheng, and Zhufeng) in two steps. The first step is to classify the evidence for determining burial rank; the second step is to analyze intra-cemetery spatial patterns through time, including the location of graves within a site, the distribution of differently ranked graves and spatial relationships between graves and associated features (houses and pits), the diachronic changes observed in a site, and the depositional practices relating to ritual activities. The results of these analyses suggest that kinship-based Longshan communities were internally and externally stratified in their social structure; that this social stratification was ideologically legitimized by ritual activities that emphasized ancestor worship; and that their society was politically reinforced by an elite exchange network of high status goods at both regional and interregional levels. These social, political, and religious relationships formed the foundation for the development of civilization in prehistoric North China. , 龍山文化的墓葬材料爲研究中國新石器時代晚期社會向分層結構發展的過程提供了重要資料.本文首先分析龍山文化墓葬中代表社會等級的考古遺存,然后分兩步討論四個龍山墓地(陶寺,呈子,尹家 城,朱封)的考古材料:(1)墓葬等級的分類及(2)墓地平面布局的分析. 後者包括墓葬在墓地中的分布,不同等級墓葬的分布,墓葬與房屋,灰坑之間的分布關系,同一墓地中墓葬在不同時期分布的變化,墓地中文化遺存的埋藏過程與宗敎儀式之間的關系.本文的分析結果顯示龍山文化以親緣關系爲基礎的社會組織已具備了分層結構,以祖先崇 拜爲主導的宗敎禮儀爲社會分層提供了意識形態基礎,而各地區貴族之間進行社會等級象徵物品的交換活動則在政治上加強了分層的社會結構.這些關系爲史前中國北方的文明社會發展奠定了社會,政治,和宗敎基礎.
@article{li_mortuary_1996,
	title = {Mortuary {Ritual} and {Social} {Hierarchy} in the {Longshan} {Culture}},
	volume = {21},
	issn = {0362-5028, 2325-2324},
	url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0362502800003394/type/journal_article},
	doi = {10.1017/S0362502800003394},
	abstract = {The mortuary data from the Longshan culture provide crucial information for understanding the process of socio-political change from non-stratified to stratified societies in late Neolithic China. This article identifies the variables in Longshan burials that can be correlated with social rank, and then studies four Longshan burial sites (Taosi, Chengzi, Yinjiacheng, and Zhufeng) in two steps. The first step is to classify the evidence for determining burial rank; the second step is to analyze intra-cemetery spatial patterns through time, including the location of graves within a site, the distribution of differently ranked graves and spatial relationships between graves and associated features (houses and pits), the diachronic changes observed in a site, and the depositional practices relating to ritual activities. The results of these analyses suggest that kinship-based Longshan communities were internally and externally stratified in their social structure; that this social stratification was ideologically legitimized by ritual activities that emphasized ancestor worship; and that their society was politically reinforced by an elite exchange network of high status goods at both regional and interregional levels. These social, political, and religious relationships formed the foundation for the development of civilization in prehistoric North China.
          , 
            龍山文化的墓葬材料爲研究中國新石器時代晚期社會向分層結構發展的過程提供了重要資料.本文首先分析龍山文化墓葬中代表社會等級的考古遺存,然后分兩步討論四個龍山墓地(陶寺,呈子,尹家 城,朱封)的考古材料:(1)墓葬等級的分類及(2)墓地平面布局的分析. 後者包括墓葬在墓地中的分布,不同等級墓葬的分布,墓葬與房屋,灰坑之間的分布關系,同一墓地中墓葬在不同時期分布的變化,墓地中文化遺存的埋藏過程與宗敎儀式之間的關系.本文的分析結果顯示龍山文化以親緣關系爲基礎的社會組織已具備了分層結構,以祖先崇 拜爲主導的宗敎禮儀爲社會分層提供了意識形態基礎,而各地區貴族之間進行社會等級象徵物品的交換活動則在政治上加強了分層的社會結構.這些關系爲史前中國北方的文明社會發展奠定了社會,政治,和宗敎基礎.},
	language = {en},
	urldate = {2021-09-30},
	journal = {Early China},
	author = {Li, Liu},
	translator = {莉, 劉},
	year = {1996},
	pages = {1--46},
}

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