1. Burials, Pigs, and Political Prestige in Neolithic China.
- Author
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Seung-Og Kim
- Subjects
- *
ETHNOHISTORY , *HEGEMONY , *POLITICAL science , *SWINE , *SOCIAL action , *SOCIAL movements , *RITES & ceremonies , *NEOLITHIC Period - Abstract
Archaeological constructs guided by ethnographic and ethnohistorical information are tested against archaeological data from Neolithic Shandong. The study of Neolithic burials shows that intensive pug production was important not only for human diet and ritual hut also for the display of individual wealth and in equality in the rise of political elites. In addition, pigs served as funds of power for controlling exotic sumptuary items in order to achieve chiefly political hegemony. The data suggest that, in the long term, the fluctuation of pig skulls in mortuary symbolism coincides with that of prestige goods from long-distance exchange. in short, pigs most likely functioned in ancient China as both means of subsistence and objects of social production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 1994
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