The Anyang Xibeigang Shang royal tombs revisited: a social archaeological approach

• Mizoguchi, Koji

  Faculty of Social and Cultural Studies, Kyushu University

• Uchida, Junko

  Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica

Abstract

The Shang Dynasty has attracted much archaeological research, particularly the renowned ‘royal tombs’ of the Xibeigang cemetery at Anyang Yinxu, the last Shang capital. Understanding of the social strategies informing Shang mortuary practices is, however, very limited. A new reconstruction of the detailed chronology of the cemetery is presented here, allowing social theory to be applied, and reveals the strategic social decisions behind the placement of the tombs in relation to each other. The results of this analysis are important not only for the reconstruction of the social structure and organisation of the late Shang dynasty, but also for understanding the relationship between mortuary practices and the functioning of early states in other regions.

Journal

• Antiquity

  Antiquity 92 (363), 709-723, 2018-06

  Cambridge University Press

Keywords

• China
• Anyang
• Shang dynasty
• Xibeigang cemetery
• mortuary archaeology

Details

• CRID: 1050861482658293376
• NII Article ID: 120006636082
• NII Book ID: AA00033763
• DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2018.19
• ISSN: 17451744
• ISSN: 0003598X
• HANDLE: 2324/2244064
• Web Site: https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0003598X18000194
• Text Lang: en
• Article Type: journal article
• Data Source:
  • IRDB
  • Crossref
  • CiNii Articles
  • KAKEN