Ancient society and metallurgy: A comparative study of Bronze Age societies in Central Eurasia and North China.

摘要

This dissertation advances a new trajectory of early social evolution and a new understanding of the role of metallurgy in this evolution. Essentially it raises the following three propositions. (1) The community as a kin group and a residential group is the basic social unit and an autonomous agent in political, economic, and cultural spheres; (2) The path of early social evolution is that the inter-community differentiation at the tribal stage transform into the inter-community stratification at the chiefdom and state stages; (3) Metal production as a form of economy is a major force driving the rise of the inter-community differentiation. To test the three propositions, archaeological data pertaining to Bronze Age societies in Central Eurasia and the Late Shang kingdom in North China are subjected to a detailed analysis. The similarities and differences between the two regions are taken to enlighten the two primary issues.; The first and second propositions are proved to be valid. Individual communities are highly visible in archaeological data from both Central Eurasia and the Late Shang kingdom. They express their cultural characteristics in various ways, in settlement plan, cemetery layout, burial rites, and artifact styles. In both Central Eurasia and the Late Shang kingdom, social differentiation exists among communities and within communities and the inter-community differentiation is the primary one. But while social differentiation is spontaneous and rudimentary in Central Eurasia, it is institutionalized in the Late Shang kingdom. Thus the Central Eurasian societies are ascribed to the tribal stage and the Late Shang kingdom to the state stage. The common community-based social organization yet contrasting developmental stages in the two regions ascertain that early social evolution occurs when the inter-community differentiation at the tribal stage transforms into the inter-community stratification at the chiefdom and state stages.; The third proposition is not entirely valid. In both Central Eurasia and the Late Shang kingdom, metallurgy does not explain social differentiation at all levels, but it does explain it in a general sense. In Central Eurasia it accounts for the inter-community differentiation at the cross-regional scale. Communities in the ore-rich sub-regions generally rank higher than those in the ore-deficient ones. Communities in the Eastern Urals sub-region, a sub-region blessed with the highly demanded polymetallic ores, accrue greater wealth than their counterparts in the other sub-regions by engaging in metal production and trade of copper ingots, and metal artifacts. In the Late Shang kingdom, the royal house maintains its supreme status by controlling bronze foundries and metalworking communities.