Shijiahe and its Implications for Understanding the Development of Urbanism in Late Neolithic China

Abstract

The late Neolithic site of Shijiahe in the middle Yangtze River Valley of China is important for understanding variation in the development of urbanism in China. Here, a core sector developed that was centred on the walled Shijiahe locus, c. 180 ha in size, and surrounded by a moat. Our paper is the first English publication synthesizing decades of scholarship about Shijiahe and explaining its significance for the development of urbanism. The available data reveal characteristics of urbanism not known elsewhere in China. We discuss possible ritual and economic strategies for increasing socio-political integration among the dispersed clusters of settlement. We also discuss evidence for methods of transportation and communication between different settlement loci.