The Culture Problem in Neolithic Archaeology: Examples and Possible Solutions in the Middle Yangzi River Region

Download or read book The Culture Problem in Neolithic Archaeology: Examples and Possible Solutions in the Middle Yangzi River Region written by Richard Ehrich and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Archaeological cultures have been an essential part of the study of prehistory, especially the Neolithic Age, since the beginning of the discipline. However, for a long time now doubts have been raised about their ability to reflect the reality of life in antiquity. These Neolithic "cultures", as they are defined by archaeologists, appear to have little semblance to how anthropology or the general public understand the concept of "culture". This thesis aims to re-conceptualize archaeological cultures and demonstrate ways in which these constructs of our modern typology can be made to relate to ancient human behavior. I apply these ideas in the archaeology of ancient China where the use of archaeological cultures has gone largely unquestioned and certain prehistoric cultures are ascribed a special significance in the formation of Chinese civilization. After tracing the history of the culture concept in anthropology and the archaeologies of America, Europe, and China, I present a new framing of the term based on current ideas about style, practice, and social boundaries. The identification of cultures relies on detecting behaviors that are so ingrained that they are subject to little conscious manipulation and hence dependable signifiers of the cultural environment they were acquired in. In terms of Neolithic archaeology, the best way of achieving this is by discerning certain behavioral steps in the production of pottery, in this case the forming of the vessel rim. I give a detailed introduction to a group of Neolithic cultures in the Middle Yangzi River Region in Central China and demonstrate how the traditional culture concept by which they were defined has created problems in interpreting the underlying processes resulting in a long and unresolved debate about their relationship to each other. Then I apply my own typology of vessel rims to published material on the one hand and plot my measurements of the rims of vessels in Chinese museum collections on the other hand. The emerging patterns hint towards the invention and adoption of the potter's wheel in this time and region as a decisive force of cultural change.