Sanzuodian: the structure, function and social significance of the earliest stone fortified sites in China

Abstract

The authors present new research on the Chifeng area of north-eastern China where they have been studying the remains of a society of the second millennium BC. This northern region, which saw the introduction of agriculture at the same time as the Yellow River basin experienced a brief and intensive period of fortification in the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age: natural ridges above the valleys were ringed with double stone walls and semicircular towers enclosing clusters of round houses with yards. Using large-scale survey and analysis of the structures at the key site of Sanzuodian, they place this phenomenon in its cultural and social context.

Earliest hydraulic enterprise in China, 5,100 years ago

“…For each such task, we estimated that one person could be responsible for handling 1 m 3 of material per day, given 8-10 working hours per day. These parameters were comparable with the results of an experimental study with the clays in the same region (20), and they were more conservative than the independent estimates for building the ancient walled towns in other parts of China (21)(22)(23)(24) and Mesopotamia (25).…”

Complexity as Integration: Pastoral Mobility and Community Building in Ancient Mongolia

“…Similar corridors of contact existed between central and east central Mongolia and major regions within Inner Mongolia such as the Ordos Loop and the northern Dalan Khar Mountains where concentrations of prone burial cemeteries have been discovered (Ma 2017). In fact, the recent discoveries and dating of major fortified centers from western Xinjiang to Chifeng including the Bortala Valley hillforts (Jia et al 2017), Shimao (Guo and Sun 2017), and Sanzuodian (Shelach et al 2011) demonstrate the signifi-cance of these steppe interaction spheres as early as the late third and early second millennium BC. The evidence that these zones of interaction continued to be of major importance throughout the second and first millennium BC is attested by the appearance of steppe technologies and resources in elite contexts of Erlitou through Western Zhou political periods of Central Plain China (Rawson 2017).…”

When peripheries were centres: a preliminary study of the Shimao-centred polity in the loess highland, China

“…According to previous analyses, building stone-walled fortifications, such as that at the Sanzuodian site in Inner Mongolia (2000–1200 BC), required more labour than the rammed-earth constructions that were traditional in the Central Plains (Shelach et al . 2011). Although the stone boulders used at Sanzuodian were unshaped (Shelach et al .…”

“…Although the stone boulders used at Sanzuodian were unshaped (Shelach et al . 2011), those at Shimao were carefully dressed (Figure 6). This would have significantly increased the investment of labour.…”