Sanzuodian: The structure, function and social significance of the earliest stone fortified sites in China

Gideon Shelach*, Kate Raphael, Yitzhak Jaffe

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

The authors present new research on the Chifeng area of north-eastern China where they have been studying the remains of a society of the second millennium BC. This northern region, which saw the introduction of agriculture at the same time as the Yellow River basin experienced a brief and intensive period of fortification in the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age: Natural ridges above the valleys were ringed with double stone walls and semicircular towers enclosing clusters of round houses with yards. Using large-scale survey and analysis of the structures at the key site of Sanzuodian, they place this phenomenon in its cultural and social context.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)11-26
Number of pages16
JournalAntiquity
Volume85
Issue number327
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2011

Keywords

  • China
  • Complexity
  • Early Bronze Age
  • Fortification
  • GIS
  • Inner Mongolia
  • Labour investment
  • Late Neolithic
  • Lower Xiajiadian culture
  • Manchuria
  • Second millennium BC

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