| Salt Production and Social Hierarchy in Ancient China: An Archaeological Investigation of Specialization in China's Three Gorges Contributor(s): Flad, Rowan K. (Author) |
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ISBN: 1107009413 ISBN-13: 9781107009417 Publisher: Cambridge University Press OUR PRICE: $114.00 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: July 2011 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Archaeology - History | Asia - China |
| Dewey: 951.38 |
| LCCN: 2011001955 |
| Physical Information: 0.8" H x 6" W x 9" (1.27 lbs) 312 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Chinese |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This book examines the organization of specialized salt production at Zhongba, one of the most important prehistoric sites in the Three Gorges of China's Yangzi River valley. Rowan K. Flad demonstrates that salt production emerged in the second millennium BCE and developed into a large-scale, intense activity. As the intensity of this activity increased during the early Bronze Age, production became more coordinated, perhaps by an emergent elite who appear to have supported their position of authority by means of divination and the control of ritual knowledge. This study explores evidence of these changes in ceramics, the layout of space at the site, and animal remains. It synthesizes the data retrieved from years of excavation, showing not only the evolution of production methods, but also the emergence of social hierarchy in the Three Gorges region over two millennia. |
Contributor Bio(s): Flad, Rowan K.: - Rowan K. Flad is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University. He is actively engaged in archaeological field work in China and has lectured widely on Chinese archaeology. He co-edited a book on specialization in the series Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association and has contributed articles to many edited volumes and journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Current Anthropology, the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology and the Journal of Field Archaeology. |