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From local to long-distance: Neolithic and Bronze Age ceramic networks in north-western China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2023

Andrew Womack Open the ORCID record for Andrew Womack [Opens in a new window] ,
Xinwei Li ,
Zhiwei Guo ,
Hui Wang ,
Jing Zhou  and
Rowan Flad Open the ORCID record for Rowan Flad [Opens in a new window]
Andrew Womack*
Affiliation:
Department of Asian Studies and Department of Anthropology, Furman University, Greenville, USA
Xinwei Li
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China
Zhiwei Guo
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China
Hui Wang
Affiliation:
Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology, Fudan University, Shanghai, P.R. China
Jing Zhou
Affiliation:
Gansu Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Relics, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, P.R. China
Rowan Flad
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
*
*Author for correspondence ✉ andrew.womack@furman.edu
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Abstract

During the Neolithic and Bronze Age, goods and ideas moved between Central Asia and the Chinese Central Plain via north-western China. While the crops, animals and technologies exchanged are well documented, the local and social bases of these interactions are poorly known. Here, the authors use petrographic analysis of ceramic sherds from Gansu Province, China, to document the local production of pottery vessels and their circulation between sites. Individual vessel forms are associated with multiple paste recipes indicating the production of similar products by different communities of practice. It is argued the circulation of these vessels forged inter-community relationships. In aggregate, these local networks underpinned longer-distance exchange between Central and East Asia.

Keywords

East AsiaNeolithicEarly Bronze Agepottery productioncommunities of practiceexchange networks

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 97 , Issue 395 , October 2023 , pp. 1119 - 1137
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd.

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