Guandimiao

Guandimiao is a Chinese archaeological site 18 km south of the Yellow River in Xingyang, Henan. It is the site of a small Shang dynasty village that was inhabited from roughly 1250 to 1100 BCE during the Late Shang period. Located 200 km from the Shang capital at Yinxu, the site was first studied as a part of excavations undertaken between 2006 and 2008 in preparation for the nearby South–North Water Transfer Project. Excavation and study at Guandimiao has significantly broadened scholars' understanding of rural Shang economies and rituals, as well as the layout of rural villages, which have received comparatively little attention in the field of Shang archaeology compared to urban centers like Yinxu and Huanbei.

Calculations derived from the number of graves and pit-houses at Guandimiao suggest a maximum population of around 100 individuals at the site's peak during the early 12th century BCE. The presence of 23 kilns at the site suggests significant regional exports of ceramics from the village. Residents used bone tools, including many that were locally produced, as well as sophisticated arrowheads and hair-pins likely imported from Yinxu, where facilities had produced them en masse. Local ritual practice is evidenced by the presence of locally produced oracle bones used in pyromancy, as well as large sacrificial pits where mainly cattle had been buried, alongside a smaller number of pigs and humans. Over 200 graves were found at the site; they generally resemble the shaft tombs attested elsewhere, save the almost complete absence of grave goods beyond occasional cowries and sacrificed dogs.

Background and historiography
The Erligang culture centered in the Yellow River valley from roughly 1600 to 1400 BCE possibly corresponded to the early Shang dynasty attested in traditional Chinese historiography. Around 1250 BCE, the Late Shang period began with the emergence of the Shang capital at Yin, in what is now Anyang in northern Henan. The core of the Shang state centered around Yin encompassed much of the Central Plain. While the influence of Late Shang material culture across the North China Plain is evident, the precise extent of their political power in the region is unknown.

The initial excavations at Yinxu in 1928 confirmed the historicity of the Shang via oracle bone inscriptions. However, archaeological understanding of the Late Shang was limited to a number of elite centers, despite surveys having revealed the existence of hundreds of smaller Shang-era sites. Contemporary archaeological and historical study of the Shang within China generally focuses on elite settlements and tombs, often through the lens of Marxist historiography. Due to the exclusion of western archaeologists from operations in China until the 1990s, the western historiography of the Shang largely relied on older historical conceptualizations, which painted the Shang economy as "elite-centred and underdeveloped at the grassroots level".

Excavation
The Guandimiao site was excavated from 2006 to 2008 as part of preparations for the South–North Water Transfer Project. A large scale excavation of the site unearthed an area of 20,300 m2, revealing an "unusually clear picture" of a village layout. The site was named one of the top ten archaeological discoveries of 2007 by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, as well as one of the top six discoveries of the year by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). Approximately three quarters of the village has been excavated.

Site
Guandimiao is located around 18 km south of the Yellow River, and 200 km from Yinxu (modern Yulong in Zhengzhou, Henan). During the period, the site was around 6 km away from the nearest river. During the earlier Erligang period (c. 1600), nearby Zhengzhou and Yanshi were major urban centers. By the Anyang period, the region around Zhengzhou, including Guandimiao, was a network of smaller settlements on the periphery of the Shang's core territory. Although possibly part of the outlying demesne of the Shang kings, the village was likely part of a broader region around Zhengzhou administrated by a local lord, possibly of the She lineage evidenced by bronze inscriptions.

The site primarily dates to the Anyang period, stretching from the subperiods of Anyang I to III (c. 1250), as attested by changes in pottery over time as reflected in Yinxu itself. Human use during other periods is also attested at the site, including the presence of artifacts from the earlier Yangshao culture (c. 5000). The site was used throughout later Chinese history as well, through to the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). However, the area of active habitation is limited to the Anyang. The earliest Anyang-period occupation, corresponding to the Anyang I subperiod, was limited to the western portion of the village. A narrow trench was dug around the site during the Anyang II subperiod, enclosing the village into an area of around 2.5 ha. However, during Anyang III, the village began to spread beyond the encircling ditch.

Around seven generations (assuming a length of 20 years) occupied the village over the roughly 150 year period of occupation. The 228 Anyang-period tombs found at the site suggest a population of over 30 villagers per generation, with a maximum concurrent population estimated around 100 people, with a peak of population in the early 12th century BCE (corresponding to the Anyang II subperiod). This is similar to figures estimated from house distribution, which range from 48 to 100 inhabitants at any given time. Evidence of human activity at Guandimiao is attested from the Zhou, Han, Tang, Song, and Qing dynasties.

Structures
The layout of the Guandimiao village was described by researchers as "basic, if informal". Most houses, as well as around half of the village's kilns, are located in the northwestern portion of the excavation. Graves, kilns, and sacrificial pits are scattered across the village. A cluster of kilns sits adjacent to a large cemetery in the northeast of the site, while another cluster of tombs (alongside a number of sacrificial pits) are located in a possible sacrificial area in the southwest. Almost 1,500 small pits were dug at the site, likely used for storage, waste disposal, clay preparation, and sacrifice.

Houses
22 pit-houses have been found at the site. All are small rectangular or circular pits, ranging from 5-7 m2 in area, each with a central hearth in the form of a sunken fire pit. Their extremely small size restricted them to around five inhabitants, likely restricted to only "cooking meals, eating and sleeping" within the cramped houses. The southern side of each dwelling faced south, with a stairway or ramp structure leading up to ground level. No information on the composition of the roof or superstructural elements are evidenced, although some houses contained rows of postholes. Most of the pit-house's floors were so damaged as to render it impossible to verify whether they originally contained postholes.

Kilns
23 updraft kilns have been discovered at Guandimiao. Due to the presence of about as many kilns as there are houses, it is possible that each family unit managed their own kiln. Each kiln used a chamber separated from a subterranean firebox by a grate, each featuring between four and eight rectangular vents arranged around a central circular vent. One well-preserved specimen features a chamber with a diameter of 1.56 m above an oblong firebox. Large pits that were likely used for clay preparation were dug near each kiln. The distribution of ceramic shards around kiln sites suggests that different clusters of kilns were used to fire sand-tempered and untempered ceramics.

The village likely specialized in manufacturing ceramics for export across the surrounding region, a practice that possibly began as early as the Longshan period (c. 3000). The nature of rural economy during the Shang is uncertain: the pottery may have been traded locally, integrated into a centralized trade network, or transported long distances by traveling merchants. It is unlikely that pottery was exported to Yinxu itself, due to the significant distance between the two sites.

Wells
As the site was relatively far from any known rivers, it is likely that the residents, livestock, and pottery industry of Guandimiao relied on well water. 32 wells have been excavated at the site, and have been classified into one of two types. One type of well features deep, narrow shafts, and is associated with residential usage due to similarities with other wells in North China. The other type of well is much larger, and features a wide opening connected to an even wider cistern-like structure below. One well of the latter type was measured to be 5 m deep, with its opening having dimensions of 3.27 x 2.63 m.

Artifacts
Various crafts and tools have been found at Guandimiao. Stone implements typical to the Anyang period have been found at the site, including sickles, adzes, chisels, and grinding stones, alongside sickles and spades fashioned from seashells. Various bone artifacts, including hairpins, arrowheads, awls, spatulas, knives, and spades have also been recovered from the site. Some of the awls are especially crude, showing very little modification, and were likely made hastily by unskilled labor. Many of the other tools at least some specialized tools and modifications, such as drilling, and may have been made by a part-time craftsperson. Large numbers of uninscribed oracle bones were found at the site, requiring large amounts of labor and specialized skill to create; these were likely created by a local pyromancer. Some bone arrowheads and hairpins show a great deal of professional craftsmanship and specialized tooling, and were likely mass produced. These were likely imported from workshops at Yinxu, possibly from the excavated bone workshop of Tiesanlu, which had produced practically identical pins and arrowheads.

A remarkable scarcity of weaponry has been recovered from the site, The only items likely weapons consisting of four arrowheads (two bone, two bronze) and a single knife. This is an extremely scarce quantity when compared to the frequently recovered weapons from excavations at Anyang, or to the massive weapon caches buried alongside many contemporary nobles. Cutting implements like sickles were fashioned from large bivalve shells and likely imported from afield.

Burials, sacrifices, and remains
228 Anyang period graves have been found at the site, generally resembling the customs of other Shang shaft tombs. Many are clustered in a cemetery at the northeastern edge of the village, outside the encircling ditch, with the rest scattered across the site, including a cluster around the possible south-western sacrificial area. Most are rectangular pits filled with rammed earth, although a small number of graves with coffins have been found. Some graves are accompanied by dog sacrifices. In comparison to shaft tombs at Anyang, an extreme paucity of grave goods have been found. Most tombs contained no grave goods whatsoever, with some having only a single cowry shell placed in the mouth or hands of the deceased. The largest tomb at the site, M3, contained inner and outer coffins, three sacrificial dogs, a bronze arrowhead and bell, and a piece of shell. The general lack of ceramics in the burials (attested in only three of the 228) has been considered unusual by archaeologists due to the community's widespread ceramic manufacture.

Seventeen large circular sacrificial pits have been found at Guandimiao, primarily containing the remains of cattle, with smaller numbers of pigs and humans. They were mainly filled with soil and covered with ash, although some pits containing oracle bones were covered entirely with ash.

Relatively small numbers of animal remains were recovered at the site, around 10% of those found at the similarly-sized contemporary Xiaomintun site at Anyang. Although the Guandimiao villagers likely ate small quantities of meat, the relatively large portions of cattle remains (associated in the period with sacrifice and elite consumption) suggests local cattle farming, possibly exporting them for consumption by Shang elites. Pig remains were predominant in domestic disposal contexts.

The remains of sheep, as well as a small number of goats, have been found at the site. Hunting rarely took place at Guandimiao; about 2% of recovered bones belonged to wild animals. Among this group are several species of wild deer, including muntjac and Sitka. Large numbers of dogs resided at Guandimiao, evidenced by both the quantity of dog remains and gnawing marks on many recovered bones.