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Sanyangzhuang: early farming and a Han settlement preserved beneath Yellow River flood deposits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2012

Tristram R. Kidder ,
Haiwang Liu  and
Minglin Li
Tristram R. Kidder
Affiliation:
1Anthropology, Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, MO 63130, USA (Email: trkidder@wustl.edu)
Haiwang Liu
Affiliation:
2Archaeology, Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, 9 Longhaibeisanjie, Zhengzhou, Henan 450000, PR China
Minglin Li
Affiliation:
3College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China
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Extract

The authors present the discovery of a Han period farming site sealed beneath 5m of flood deposits, where courtyard houses have been excavated belonging to the Western Han Dynasty and Wang Mang period (c. 140 BC–AD 23). Preservation is exceptional, both at the village of Sanyangzhuang itself and, by dint of satellite reconnaissance, over a vast landscape contemporarily covered by the flood. Deep profiles show that here land surfaces of the Neolithic and Warring States periods also lie buried. The potential for the study of the early agricultural sequence and a deeper knowledge of Han society is truly outstanding. The discoveries also offer a vivid account of the way a settlement was overwhelmed by flooding.

Keywords

ChinaHuangheNeolithicWarring StatesHanWestern HanWang MangfarmingHan building compoundsriver systemsflooding
Type
Research article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 86 , Issue 331 , March 2012 , pp. 30 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2012

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