Introduction: Gender and Chinese Archaeology ‘Tue SETTING Gite pl rai hn te a pert whee the archaenogiea and at sical study of ancient Chinas sored many functions: ene, nationale, tour and ‘conomi o name» fet, Since the introduction a sei archaeology therein the 1920s, archacoogical sett hao followed wo pat in ‘Chan histrographiclly emted Neolthlc and Bronze Age archcol- ‘gy en Plot asctology amet atthe tadyof uma evolution ‘io pont was the rcavery of human behave the sole oF even central tou of archaeology a hae boon in Nowth American archoeslogy since {Be 1960, Ase tpi, the study of gender in ration to aeceaogial ‘materials and stings surfaced when Marit ory demanded itn pab- Tilions ofthe Ite 197By and 1960s. Tas weatnents fave be fo ulate and perceive gender as pert of an ideal paradigm (Sbelach, ‘haper | n this vous). With the opening up of China apa lesen (of Miri ertcoasin scholar tention o gender quickly receded fn te following decade For the ators of hs book, ts study today ath encourage by he ack of tein In previo fai leaving ara Yel of gender ah open field of sidy and dncouraged by te lack of [Probletroviented eldwork tha would aystomatcaly attempt to ever {viene oft expresson in moteal ure in household organization, ‘ht morse ital al 50 forth Bose ofthe nati of the eden, the tu of gndrin the contd ‘ofarchacologial setngs must ake specal ear. Both material caltare ‘nd tert dated fot the pros of inne Cina under sty hare tmust be ued with entree ction. And tl ie, the authors mst be {ova ofthe hin sid se of archaeological recovery that the viene forall dis ere, a well as that of a sore nella trait e ey fave bon api othe stad of materia clare ‘oki ue Archeological rear in China has focused on ern al hs‘over waten by an for the court In that cont the most prosigios land protected esearch that onthe Yellow River Basin te lotion ‘lhe ofc” ere of Chinese elvan, Even i Plott sues, the eotion a human Peitocene preinony Ras Boe sought on "Ca ts” sl and comparative tdi are a relaelyrecntendawvr. In Tater tm, because the focus of archaoologcl fieldwork bas boon om "icvalon of tombs ofthe et the Chinese dats cuendly ava are ‘tenn walls to comparative studs. Chinese achacologis have ‘ey rely gone abroad to work nd have only io Knowledge feat ‘eal studs conden elons ofthe wold outa of Chins ihews, interpretive theory, ncading gender theory, i virtually unknown i {Ghinn, Mansover, Beenie ofthe nate of Chine scselogeal Foot fy those who stay Chins but who are not Chinese atonal, st ‘ier confine that work to analysis of mortar contest or generate ‘Shei own data though feldwork that wnt hele deede was non impos o do. Opportnitis for fregners are stl very Limite. NOt ‘lyf most story told fom a male perspective, but alse fee women paripate in either archaclogy oe isty. Rar have wornen i Chine {akon front role in investigation or in analy ‘Wa and who contributed to Chines cutie are questions tha strike dcp ino nationalistic, a ella thai sentiments in contemporary ‘China, Whatever the rare of ones intenpetaton of cltre and or ‘nates a change, the pont or poins where sich queso could be {Gna have not antl wey recent Bow enti atchaologcaly. The expansion of achaeoogia Inguty inthe past to decades as ha «| ‘Sltttoy eect. After decentralization by the nana gover and ‘he opening of China moe broadly to foegnratore open stmosphers ‘tnd cari abt alternate Interpretations ofthe histories han Bees “scoureged This tmesphee wil opel open the door interest [onder cho tnongarchacolgit in China, PREVIOUS STUDIES OF GENDER IN (CHINESE ARCHAEOLOGY “The study of gender has not been considered an independent research topic in Caine aecharalgy. Athongh a lange mount of Chinese ers tue wes devoted to gender-related tracy in the People’s Republcof| ‘Chine espacial fut the ate 1980s fo the 198g mos were excaney ‘conducted aa part of ude of soil structure of prehisrie socy It ‘howe publcntons, the eager and dogmatic appliation of Marit sical ‘hen to archaeological material marginalized and even ignored the ‘dy of gander Mortuary dts were tnully the only evidence sed {tidied ne nd female double bis and the distbabon To rte 3 of tool In sngle msl an female tomb, for instnce were fequonty| ‘lamin o sesousus the arog system soc vison of abe age an kiwi rte, a he socal stats of ten and women. Far thermore, auch studies were ured to Subatantite the existence of "wine! a pte or aarchal soceis, Once hereof he ‘eid was propose and without for invtigaton, onder ladon trereuntalytakea fr geante as following a Marxist move. Tha, ‘mile dosinance was considered to bes necessary outaome of wale itlon. ‘Compact th substantial amber of publations on prehistory In| Cina tdi of gender n te ely dyratc pore’ ere gute inte efor te 1s Nevertheless, ome inersng tudes by Chinese isto ane have examine! gender snes apart from the tay of so {ure For example ase on the examination ofan alot text alld he “Zh banc on sonaparaive study of etnegrapie date, Cho-yu Has proposed forthe int ime that worsen ere the inventor of agra {Gina (Hea ToS). His contosion shallnges th traditonal ew of fender lvsion of labor: "Men tia the Mel wile wamon wee 3 Fires" Haus inteciscpinary approsch to the study of gender stl Inept ws today: Moreover, tudes uf race bane incptions done Tu Housuan Oa 971-36) proven! ole View of taming, ‘ngs and an stroctare and thereby of gender latons dng the Shang, ‘Sptty. These pioneering works made contutins tothe study of gen ‘Se hat go beyond the Marat parodg “The agpliention of Maps thany in Chinese archaeslogy has bon cit ito sine the 1s both nade a ute China. Alternative theres fant mathods hve grata Bon cals in publcatlons, especially in the how ect decade Reseach topics sch a heer of sate, the of {ino agicltre, and seterneat patterns hove opened sp Chinese rhacolgy today ge Yon 200. von no, analysis of gece onl po ‘acl seeped in chaclogcl publications For instance, Seng thal cousons bare on statis analy ofthe gex of he skeletons ‘Chong ie (Chom 1) ad Wang Renin (1996: 68-82) suggest tal ex rtos in Neolithic China ae abnormal. Based on this observation, {hey pul farwazd several hypothere, inating te propooton Sal female infnicise ws ely paciod in Neolte Chinw. ‘interesting sod on gender ents i Chita Is Vrtions of Yan _gengend Yona or The Cheon the Ride Che Calter Qin 1088. HiaF oft clea eae in this bok discus gender relations tn pei ‘fo he Neola the Qin and Han. Du fnpen study of gender {elation during the Xa and Shag petods may indicate an emerging [nine in gender states among Chinese archaeslogits (Du 19959 TH). Ana field apesaelogat, Ue author dove ot eonfine his data to ‘material semaine but tries € dt inferences fom various Kinds ofucoogia dat trial texts, oracle bone nsriptons and myrts ‘gy to recat say mariage systems and gendered male and female ‘incon ferent tcl lewksof the Shang ‘Sarah M, Netson and Kalwsyn M. Lindl ce to feng dente co gender studs in Chinese eiaelogy tn the United Sats. Neon’ dy onthe meaning ofthe ade in Nettie Hongshan burials demon ‘rated interdependency between gender ology snd power ncn? {Chim Gielen 200: 72-40), By examining feral bail and the orc ‘ne scriptions at Anyang the st capa ftw Shar, Lindi lemon ‘trated hat women’s power anda were celebrated usa tat ‘Nich lanes ere ded by cultural Heit and the pein of thee ‘les (Lind 202 257-69) Rocene stdin on the tory Of women | {nthe coy imperil China abo shed lig onthe soca oes of ome ‘oncrved ted ten in stor texts ee Hapa 198 Hinsch 202) ‘Theo groundbreaking works not only fave sep 3 foumdation fr fa {ier iwetigation but sao encourage fe Tae calecion of esa this ‘bok i an temp Yo open the dor more widely to gender stdin in China archaeology ‘ras TEXT “This hooke includes twelve chapters that make tof published archaeo- Toh information. Hach ator os ond workable mets tvlology for his or her chapter. All authors are quite aware of the problems in having to se pray mortuary daa re cuts in hel tepals and have sed methods sachs tata analysis where pecrble fo approach the data Ina mone adentiefeon- The chapters Ereaanged cvonologcaly, providing examinations of tes or sues ating to the le Nelthic through the Han period, or rom about 3000 ‘hea fo the second century ex The studlas addres the sue of gender Jn voces in many rglone of Ching, fom the northiestacous the [Northern Front, the Cantal Pan fo the southwest in saan Prov "Many ofthe chapters incuded were begun ina seminar on Ged nd ‘china Archeology in he winter tran of 200 the University of Pit ‘burgh Self thse chapters were presente na pana st the Assole- Wom for Asian Studios in sping 201, Others have been added this troup to make fuller colle, When we began ths proket we soon ‘Erato that we were a the edge ofa. change he sadly oF Chine ‘Sn hat twas 8 good Um to ste up an contribute to the Itetare on gender We desided do dat ealcivaly. “The chap racy In methodology and appsason Of ordered socal thoory and turk dala av well In Ue Prod conser, bat they ‘are the naion that one ret mat discover what excavated evidence srt 5 vaiable an then try to analyze it while being in mind potential prob- {Es withthe tn adhe aoe coresponding ancient Cine We tenclosuments ven the ex of uae mo sway taghtorvara The "thors have al stroggled to vey the Identication ofthe sexs in burae Some authors have cartuly eased that arc certain se {ng ca fe used dente of sex and somauies of gendered os (Gucks Lk Hong: Wang: Chi Pong: Yong, while others hve worked fle whee the sexo Ue hasan bone remains as been teed sd {eported , Way Son and Yang: X Ws) ther chapter, istbuten ard the se of tombs could be td to deny the female and mate tos ‘Gang Wang: Yon) “Another avenue 0 a discussion to gece role is ound in images pice on artfacts, wal painting or seuipture (Rode allo; Chbu> Heng) Another caper shows how female uence at court was Per ‘ive aa Ere! that could be damponed with tho ation of a ale ‘ounlepart toa popler gddese This new consor forthe goadas Was ‘Rpt aco the emp Ul). oroful detective work onthe nsciplons on situa materi ed to convincing entiation ofthe sex ofthe deseaced and of destin {eatty eealonahips beeen the sexs, often in reaon to politcal poner lang X. Wr Yong) In other cass, bul display showed that emnice were more lviahy efelished on by compaiaon tthe males fr jst ferent em each other (X Wa, Yong Rese Sun and Yang) ‘Xda two chap, way achieving status were determined as df= ‘ent forthe ween Ws Wa). Slatstalaalyes wor condi with Interesting rules ith sient robct dos ange Wat X ‘Wu;Sun and Yar) Tal ree, the authors benefited by knowing the historical crcum= tances thane dapay,regulingLaovwledgs of store! ts. ten the authors were able to compare their evidence o that in ole pats of| the ancient word and they benefited fom applcation of oc Chor 3+ tppropsnte Bat th St tsk inal caper wast smoke oa he eo ‘pce so ano ty to give an explanation tat made vege win the ontext of clan politcal set in hepa rom telat Nelthie tothe early empire (or from about 300 Re. fo about 200 Cx). We: [eared tit archasologial ty tat takes gender int acount provides ‘tore complex and nounced picare of ancent sod. In Cia as ele ‘where thie actor i sally not recorded in wetter Mstory, making ehaeolgieal evidence etl "he chapters bei th Gideon Shelac’s evi of tho stato of shal mip and an examinaton of he paradigs tat hav gue os think fg on Chinese history and as toms out on gender aster that ses ‘uptins, or change in histor tetris (Mack approach) eal ore6 Intec that looks for continues carmen Chinese atid) He points out that thse two wn of looking st sexy have alle ntrst in questions Felted othe dvtsion of bor and role according to gender. “fan Sun and Hongye Yang bo fr anccpion of als ad females ss evidenced in mrtuary practic duting the Neolhic pried in the ‘epion wet of Xan. They eam thre ines of evideree: visa imag ‘ey, burial patterns an oral goss context. They Sind that although, Sov ks lly reogeized aban portant featare mark In burial and nage there are mlple ways of dapaying sexta differences, probe Dy elating to different eas. Tn chipter’3 Juan Wir makes 3 thorough dscsion of slngle cm ey, ehich visually the ene cometry va excavated ad data Pub fished in deta. She concer that women’s sas wae anges in ‘elton toe woman's marrage parte ut father ety ad eat ‘ight be nsorited ih he atl lation, spec abe belonged to the elite Shei able to show thal women had access fo satus and ‘wealth om both sources and that he family Bock was nt Tost ‘Upon mariage. This esl was unexpected "Ying Wan’ analysis ofthe uppe-das women busied at Anyang In| ‘chapter shows that women who arid yall gale inportance by {Belial ites, ncn cases, they were abe tose nlae ses Plshoents in life and have those schievernents recoded at death. In ‘ther wos there was some social maby aznong women, even in he polygynous society of he ate Shang, “i len’ chapter considers the role and sates of male and female errs af the rling cla ina state jean othe royal apa the ‘ona telaiey spall stat, or Kg, be ds evidence of pol ‘yay scribe sual bre nd express even st death. Wes {ner ofcaly rank in boek fe and death The chal wile wae more ‘Prostigiun perhaps hace of he it aml’ plea or soa pot Ton he ole and potion of concubines as probably mire dependent ‘on the King’s whirs bt none prestigious "The role tat pe played inthe state of in curing the early Zhou i ‘he abject of two captors In chap 6 Team Hang odeses the Important question of deiitions OF cass and gender i cael mas China, and she examines display of class and Status for both sees. In ‘hupis 7, Ving Yoog looks Donaly at he changing postion of women ‘crus the ole ofthe Western Zo. Rarely has ine ben atria “scrsons on eal Ch, i part because mast burials excavated and ‘plied are only those af the upper ase. This eprsants an impor tin breakthrough in ural stdin "Ying Yona chapter offers a dtalled analysis of how the Jin sate, wiih was powetil bul peripheral to the capa ofthe Zhou, vai in tui 7 seving tothe ral preeiptions af the central goverment. Eepzcllly ‘ten pli expedient the rus como have been bet fo cea ‘Sate the oe tanton. sintering eo rote tat bending te rls Ww ‘tos necomate bess of pols fllation with the power family ‘foncof the ender’ wives, "Nonynoste pooples ling far outside the dynastic centers are the foots of bot ict Wun chapter 8 an ae Lin chapter ©. The ‘Sezer hay have inectgaad ere probably toa of pastoral poo ples, Beorate hoe peoples were Bure ina facion that empanaeda ‘unl dependence on domesticated animal rather Huan on agriclra produc In Wu's study, men ane women were treated feel but {ore lnportily, probably achive tatu in uy dfternt ways: men through shlevmenty, women though desta Family "The tole f kau in the burl ata cemetery ff from he word ‘fhe dynasticChiness was stud by Jan jing! ad deserted cap lee 9: Tiong, nthe far northaast each geet zone bt was ‘out of Se maintain the late st llenniam sce Varios ems 9 Tus are sean by har to identify individuals and their eae backs rounds, Although hi srt of snalgy felt to prove, Luis histor Kea texts to uggs tat peopee ofa pastorl ety occupied tis repo "The Qucen Mother ofthe West a wellknown pass the subject of ‘Sher Lalo chapor Previous stad on us goddes have glen radi onal ogra explanations tht are dependent on wife sxe ‘contemporary with the images. Nope of thes exp the change in ber “ing oer me. Benefiting fom enowing the soiopolitealcreur- stance of the ery Han a well ass torte, all’ omnis spi on this Goue has akan the problem et ofthe retin ofthe idealized ter ‘exclaimed In offal dacuments and paced the fs squarely tn the ‘Sominion of Han cous nga Both Toshuey Chiou fang and Renny Rode srtinize the insguing material for Yunnan dating from the late et millenium asc and Inter. In chapter 11, Cios-Peng looks a the moverent of al cular {nto the region of ceil Yanna and thelr preoccupation withthe hore. “The most labora tombs, probably contin the fenders of the king- dom, tfc the importaneeof hore. The bars emphasae te cent Sty ofthe mounted images of horsinen and of otee gear inthe cat ‘onze ines om cowey sell contr The cretion and use of such ttngery are not unig his region and are kaon tn ler pats of the ancient world whee hore ae song Mented with the power and Sethe of polteal leadership. In chapter 12, Rade considers the production of texts amang the Dian and he roles that women lt ceaely Pajed in hat industry Boone{he Chinese intrusion ito the aren, Alter reconstructing the roe oft "Hla at ade commodity, sho ook at tects asthe focus of itu ‘enerng on spel pwesal women. Thus he comers well | ‘ual arctan of womens wor ave combine ‘Gt there more work be dane. The concep fener sid | relationship to baloglel sex has been debeted, and we endeavored 10 {rol beng aught in ur own presonesptions of gondr Te cl om thse chapters tha ome ofthe mat sonar evidence fo the ay a om ‘rptons of mas an female comes om fanerary aetngs. Thase chap fer are arerspei ara ll lat to ancient clr that wore preset within dhe borders of present day Chins, We must ask now how these “ides might ste to those tat focus on soit oti China ad how morecomplx rendered soda ory might be achieved. Wewander ow tobe more prablem ovate i our work. Can we facial basic Seldwerk that could provide more extensive ae dedicated information ‘on gener? And, vt can we ferther our understanding ofthe dere ‘rap of reasoning sutarehacologleal esearch onl our collegues Jn China? Inthe fate, wo ope not any to publish those chapter in ‘Chinese but alot sae his work wad for éomparative analyses. We hope te come together with others inerested in gendered analss to fees ‘nore around thotetcsl models ed eee. Ths i an exportory "ep one that ha Ted sto mare and more important questions. THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD