Changes and continuity in pottery production and use at Wujiafentou in the core zone of Youziling and Shijiahe cultures in central China

Abstract

The Wujiafentou site is located at the heart of the Youziling (5900–5500 cal BP) and Shijiahe (4500–4200 cal BP) cultures in the Handong region, a core area to understand the relationship among economic networks, sociopolitical integration, and regional identity in the middle Yangtze River valley (MYRV) of central China during the Late Neolithic times. Its pottery assemblages are important clues to understanding the pottery production and use before and after the extensive walled town construction activities in the Neolithic MYRV. Wujiafentou is less than 5 km from the Shijiahe walled town, the largest city of its time in the MYRV. This paper applies microscopic examination and chemical and mineralogical analyses to a sample of 152 sherds of the Youziling-period and Shijiahe-period utilitarian vessels unearthed from the Wujiafentou site, revealing the changes and continuity in pottery production and use over time. We also probe into the socio-economic ties between Wujiafentou and the Shijiahe walled town mainly through hong tao bei (red clay cups), which were widely distributed and presumably highly symbolic items of the Shijiahe culture related to drinking, feasts, and rituals. We propose that the Wujiafentou inhabitants produced their red clay cups by mimicking those made within the Shijiahe walled town. Our study highlights an alternative interpretation of the formation of a regional identity during the Shijiahe period.