Page 152 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

FIG. i. Plan of Tomb 612 at
Dadianzi, Aohanqi, Inner
Mongolia. After Zhongguo
1996, 55, fig. 29.

niche aligned with the foot of the coffin were placed the gui andjiao (cats. 44, 45), along with
a number of pig's feet. On the ledge to the right was a li, emptied of its contents and placed
upside down. The majority of the pottery vessels and other items were deposited in the niche
to the left, including a large li (cat. 41), a second, smaller li, a hu (cat. 43), and a small covered
jar. In the same section of the niche were found the remnants of lacquerware objects, a jade
pendant, and more pig's feet. One of the li vessels contained several cowrie shells, which must
have been acquired through long-distance trade, as well as pieces of turquoise.
Evidence that the burial rites continued as the tomb was being repacked with earth is
indicated by the discovery at the depth of about three meters of two separate sacrificial burials,
which had consisted of dogs, and also of pigs which had their feet removed. 2
The excavation of the Dadianzi site is important not only because it revealed a hitherto
relatively unknown culture in the northeast, but because it provides evidence of long-distance
connections with the early Bronze Age urban centers far to the south in the Henan area of
the Yellow River valley. Among the most significant objects recovered from the Dadianzi burials
are the gui andjiao ceramic vessels, used for pouring ritual libations (cats. 44, 45). These vessels
are seen only in the large, high-status burials and are considered to represent prestige goods.
As vessel types, they have no prehistory in the northeast, but at the Erlitou sites in Henan they
are very common.
While the presence of these two vessel types at Dadianzi can be considered as proof of
the influence from the distant Erlitou urban centers, it raises many unanswered questions
about the actual nature of the interaction between the two cultures. That these two vessels were

151 | TOMB S OF THE LOWER X I A J I A D I A N C U L T U R E