A Historical Anthropological Perspective on Surprising Discoveries in the Archaeology of Ancient China

摘要

Few areas of the world can boast archaeological findings equal to that of China in recent half century. Followingthe great excavation of ancient remains of the Shang in the 1930s, more ancient civilizations have been found after1960s; among them, the Sanxingdui Culture in the upper Yangtze River valley, the Liangzhu Culture in the lowerYangtze River valley, have drew most scholars’ attentions. Unlike the Shang civilization that was in the CentralPlain of China and had been described in ancient documents, all above mentioned cultures found after 1960s werelocated on China’s peripheral regions, and they were almost unknown to Chinese literatures. Therefore, while thesearchaeological findings unveiled, the most common response of archaeologists, historians and even common peoplewho have basic knowledge to Chinese history were astonishing or surprising. After that, many archaeological andhistorical explanations have been composed to interpret their existing, fruitfulness and decline.