Abstract:

Settlement archaeology research has shown that the earliest ancient Chinese state was formed during the Erlitou culture period (1735-1530 BC) in the Central Plain. The exploitation, management, and distribution of primary and secondary products from domestic animals during this key period are important issues in zooarchaeological research. Although some research has been conducted on materials from the central capital, middle settlements, and small settlements, there remains a gap in our understanding of animal exploitations in large settlements. In this paper, our research on the animal bone assemblage at the Wangjinglou site explores the consumption and exploitation of animal resources by commoners living in the city during the Erlitou period. Our analysis includes the taxonomic identification and statistical comparison of species frequency; calculations and comparisons of metric data for sheep, estimations of age at death of pigs and sheep; and evaluations of possible animal exploitation strategies for meat and secondary products such as wool. Domestic animals, such as pigs and cattle, were dominant species in the faunal assemblage, while wild animals, mainly deer, were small in number. Moreover, estimation of age at death indicates that pigs were raised for specialized meat consumption. However, most sheep survived beyond 3-4 years, illustrating that wool production was the main objective of sheep husbandry. Within the multi-tiered settlement hierarchy for the Erlitou state, we compare the species of domestic animals, percentages of sheep among domestic animals by NISP and MNI, distribution values (d) of sheep body sizes calculated using the Logarithmic Size Index (LSI) method, and specializations of sheep husbandry. From this, we infer that the capital, large settlements, and middle settlements had a greater variety of species than small settlements. In addition, at high level settlements, the relative percentage of sheep was greater and the body size was larger than at low level settlements. Moreover, procuring wool was more likely to be the main purpose of sheep husbandry in the capital and large settlements. This research on Wangjinglou reveals the characteristics of the animal economy in large settlements and describes the differentiation of domestic animal exploitation within the multi-tiered settlement hierarchy of the earliest Bronze Age state in ancient China.

Key words: Erlitou culture, domestic animals, settlement hierarchy, Wangjinglou, earliest state