Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Social Differentiation among Non-Elites in China's Central Plains, 1735-1530 BCE: A household archaeology perspective on the Erlitou site

Social Differentiation among Non-Elites in China's Central Plains, 1735-1530 BCE: A household archaeology perspective on the Erlitou site

Li, Xiang

Paperback

Series: International, Book 3242

AnthropologyArchaeology

ISBN10: 1407363689
ISBN13: 9781407363684
Publisher: British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd
Published: Nov 28 2025
Pages: 106
Weight: 0.80
Height: 0.29 Width: 8.27 Depth: 11.69
Language: English

Since its discovery in 1959, research on the Erlitou site has revealed China's first territorial state, dating from 1753 to 1530 BCE according to the latest C-14 dating. The capital's large rammed-earth structures and enclosed inner city suggest strong royal economic and labor-organizing capacities. The southern workshop enclosure housed elite-sponsored crafts like bronze casting and turquoise working. The city's settlement system relied on resource acquisition and tribute. However, existing studies lack focus on internal social complexity, especially bottom-up social differentiation. This book challenges the notion of a homogeneous non-elite class, being the first to study Erlitou society via household archaeology, focusing on non-elite households in the capital. Using multi-dimensional scaling, it uncovers the majority, overshadowed by elites and splendid artifacts, expanding household archaeology's application in China's Bronze Age.

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