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A petrographic analysis of clay recipes in Late Neolithic north-western China: continuity and change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2019

Andrew Womack Open the ORCID record for Andrew Womack [Opens in a new window] ,
Hui Wang ,
Jing Zhou  and
Rowan Flad
Andrew Womack*
Affiliation:
Department of East Asian Studies & Department of Anthropology, McGill University, 688 Sherbrooke Street West, Room 272, Montreal, QC, H3A 3R1, Canada
Hui Wang
Affiliation:
The Gansu Institute of Archaeology, 167 Heping Road, Lanzhou, Gansu, P.R. China
Jing Zhou
Affiliation:
The Gansu Institute of Archaeology, 167 Heping Road, Lanzhou, Gansu, P.R. China
Rowan Flad
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: andrew.c.womack@gmail.com)
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Abstract

Shifts in ceramic technology are often assumed to reflect wider social changes. Closer attention, however, needs to be directed to the fundamental issue of production. Shifts in the ceramic record of the Tao River Valley in north-western China (c. 2100 BC) are no exception and the relationships between ceramic form, clay recipes and communities of practice have not been previously investigated for this region. Here, petrographic analysis demonstrates that, despite major shifts in ceramic form and surface treatment, production techniques, raw materials and exchange relationships show surprising continuity through time.

Keywords

ChinaGansuceramicsproductioncommunities of practicepetrography
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 93 , Issue 371 , October 2019 , pp. 1161 - 1177
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2019 

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