In 2001, a full-coverage field survey was carried out to explore sites of the Xinglongwa, Zhaobaogou, Hongshan and Xiaoheyan cultures in the lower Banghe River and the upper Laohushan River valleys in Aohan Banner, In...In 2001, a full-coverage field survey was carried out to explore sites of the Xinglongwa, Zhaobaogou, Hongshan and Xiaoheyan cultures in the lower Banghe River and the upper Laohushan River valleys in Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia. The aim of the project was, in the perspective of settlernent archaeology, to inquire into the development of social complexity in the two valleys. The data from the lower Banghe River valley show a sharp increase of settlements both in size and in number in the middle Hongshan period. Twenty-three Hongshan sites with a total area of 75.4 ha were found. Moreover, their variety in grade suggests considerable social complexity. In the upper Laohushan River valley, almost no residential sites were recorded except for seven sacrificial sites. This, following the discovery of the Niuheliang ritual complex, again demonstrates the existence of exclusive sacred places separated from everyday secular life.展开更多
文摘In 2001, a full-coverage field survey was carried out to explore sites of the Xinglongwa, Zhaobaogou, Hongshan and Xiaoheyan cultures in the lower Banghe River and the upper Laohushan River valleys in Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia. The aim of the project was, in the perspective of settlernent archaeology, to inquire into the development of social complexity in the two valleys. The data from the lower Banghe River valley show a sharp increase of settlements both in size and in number in the middle Hongshan period. Twenty-three Hongshan sites with a total area of 75.4 ha were found. Moreover, their variety in grade suggests considerable social complexity. In the upper Laohushan River valley, almost no residential sites were recorded except for seven sacrificial sites. This, following the discovery of the Niuheliang ritual complex, again demonstrates the existence of exclusive sacred places separated from everyday secular life.
