The Shangluo Corridor and the emerging Bronze Age exchange network of early China

Abstract

The Longshan-Erlitou periods (ca. 2300–1520 BCE) witnessed a reconfiguration of China's political-economic landscape. With the collapse of Neolithic societies in the many regions of China, the emergence of Erlitou (ca. 1800–1520 BCE) marked the advent of the Chinese Bronze Age. During the process of repeated political collapse and regeneration, the Luoyang Basin became the center of the political-economic landscape during the Erlitou period and inherited the knowledge systems transmitted in the Longshan interaction network. The Shangluo Corridor provides a good lens to look at this process. Based on the landscape, historical geography and GIS simulation, the Shangluo corridor served as one of the most important gateways connecting the communities located in the highland regions and the Middle Yangzi River valley. Based on archaeological information from communities along the Shangluo Corridor, I discuss the structure of cultural interactions along the Shangluo Corridor during the Longshan and Erlitou periods. By integrating these analyses, I suggest that the formation of exchange networks along the Shangluo Corridor resulted from the participation of multiple cultural groups during the Longshan period. With the regeneration of Erlitou in the Luoyang Basin and its participation in the interaction network, diverse types of knowledge converged into the Luoyang Basin, laying the foundation for the formation of a Central Plains-centered political-economic landscape.