Longshan-Era Urbanism: The Role of Cities in Predynastic China

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dc.contributor.authorDematte, Paola
dc.date.accessioned2010-08-04T19:48:27Z
dc.date.available2010-08-04T19:48:27Z
dc.date.issued1999
dc.description.abstractOne of the key features in the development of social complexity in ancient China was the emergence of urbanism and the construction of large, fortified settlements of increasing size and complexity This trend predates the earliest dynastic period in China and is associated with the Longshan era dating to c. 2600-2000 B.C. A new construction technology involving rammed-earth walls and platforms was developed and was increasingly employed to create large walls surrounding Longshan settlements, some of which were as much as 30 ha in size. Several of these large, fortified centers are now known along the middle and lower Yellow River basin, as well as from coastal regions, Inner Mongolia, and to the south along the Yangzi River. Both archaeological and textual sources from China are surveyed, and the geographic distributions of early urban settlements and their associated polities are described. Several hypotheses are advanced to interpret the organization and development of these early city-states and their relationship to the later and larger dynastic states of early historic China. KEYWORDS: Chinese archaeology, middle and lower Yellow River, Longshan era, urbanism, social complexity, the state.
dc.identifier.citationDematte, P. 1999. Longshan-Era Urbanism: The Role of Cities in Predynastic China. Asian Perspectives 38 (2): 119-53.
dc.identifier.issn1535-8283 (E-ISSN)
dc.identifier.issn0066-8435 (Print)
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10125/17124
dc.publisherUniversity of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu)
dc.relation.ispartofseriesVolume 38
dc.relation.ispartofseriesNumber 2
dc.subjectChinese archaeology
dc.subjectmiddle and lower Yellow River
dc.subjectLongshan era
dc.subjecturbanism
dc.subjectsocial complexity
dc.subjectthe state
dc.subject.lcshPrehistoric peoples--Asia--Periodicals.
dc.subject.lcshPrehistoric peoples--Oceania--Periodicals.
dc.subject.lcshAsia--Antiquities--Periodicals.
dc.subject.lcshOceania--Antiquities--Periodicals.
dc.subject.lcshEast Asia--Antiquities--Periodicals.
dc.titleLongshan-Era Urbanism: The Role of Cities in Predynastic China
dc.typeArticle
dc.type.dcmiText

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Asian Perspectives, 1999 - Volume 38, Number 2 (Fall)