Social Differentiation among Non-Elites in China's Central Plains 1735-1530 BCE

<p>Since its discovery in 1959 research on the Erlitou site has revealed China's first territorial state dating from 1753 to 1530 BCE according to the latest C-14 dating. The capital's large rammed-earth structures and enclosed inner city suggest strong royal economic and labor-organizing capacities. The southern workshop enclosure housed elite-sponsored crafts like bronze casting and turquoise working. The city's settlement system relied on resource acquisition and tribute. However existing studies lack focus on internal social complexity especially bottom-up social differentiation. This book challenges the notion of a homogeneous non-elite class being the first to study Erlitou society via household archaeology focusing on non-elite households in the capital. Using multi-dimensional scaling it uncovers the majority overshadowed by elites and splendid artifacts expanding household archaeology's application in China's Bronze Age.</p>