essay

The Erlitou culture

companion to chinese archaeologyChichester, West SussexPublished In 2013 • Pages: 300-322

By: Xu, Hong.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This document provides a broad overview of the Erlitou subtradition of northern Henan and southern Shanxi, and discusses some of the findings from excavations (systematic probing) at the capital site of Erlitou. This state society influenced a large area of China, and created the first cast bronze objects in eastern China and the earliest bronze ritual vessels. The bronze vessels would have been important for in ceremonies that strengthened royal authority. The royal family controlled both bronze and turquoise production at a workshop attached to the palace grounds.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Culture summary
Acculturation and culture contact
Nonferrous metal industries
Public structures
Settlement patterns
Miscellaneous facilities
Government enterprises
Theological systems
traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Yellow River Bronze Age
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Asia
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
East Asia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Archaeologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Sarah Berry; 2020
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
no date given
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
3850 BP-3550 BP
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Erlitou site, Erlitoucun, Luoyang, Henan, China
NotesAdditional notes
Xu Hong
Includes bibliographical references (p. 319-322)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
2012036668
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Yellow River Bronze Age