Lingjiatan early complex societies and social organization in the Yuxi Valley, China

Abstract

The social differentiation of the Lingjiatan site in middle Neolithic China has long been recognized by archaeologists based on discoveries of a plethora of exquisite jades and ceremonial works. The symbolic and ritual meanings of the elaborate jades have been the main focus of archaeological research, while the social organization and the natures of communities of Lingjiatan societies have received little attention. These aspects, however, provide an excellent context for understanding the various pathways taken by early complex societies. Analysis of a large sample of remains from a systematic complete-coverage survey in the Yuxi River valley of Anhui, China complements the current knowledge of the Lingjiatan site through reconstructing the trajectory of social changes and documenting patterns of social organization as well as the nature and population of communities at local and supra-local scales in this region from the middle Neolithic to historical Zhou (c. 5700–2500 BP). Results suggest that while ritual and ceremonial power seem to be the principal centripetal forces in creating a strong centralized Lingjiatan chiefly polity, the Yuxi survey region is characterized by numerous, relatively autonomous supra-local communities and lacked sociopolitical integration at the larger regional scale.