BRM1A: 73 shank shaper
It is 19.3 cm long and 10.5 cm long, 1.8 cm wide and 0.3 cm thick
This set of handles is placed on the right shoulder of the BROM1 concubine
"Investigation of Prehistoric City Sites in China"
Ren Shinan, Archaeology, No. 1, 1998, pp. 1-16
This paper makes an in-depth study of the archaeological discoveries of prehistoric city sites in China, and discusses its common characteristics and social essence, and then believes that among many cities, especially the state capital, it has become a comprehensive carrier that concentrates on the early civilized society.
The emergence of prehistoric city sites on the mainland is a qualitative leap in the history of the development of settlement forms, and it is also a significant reflection of the drastic changes in society at a certain historical stage. The city walls protruding from the earth, or encircling them with moats and trenches, are unprecedented large-scale fortification system projects. At present, most of these city sites are concentrated in a period of 2000 or 300 BC, belonging to more than eight archaeological cultures, and their distribution areas can be divided into four major areas, namely the North China Plain in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the Two Lakes Plain in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the Sichuan Basin in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Hetao area of the Inner Mongolian Plateau, with a total of about 50. There is also the Taihu Lake area in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Looking at a series of early cities in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River between the two or three thousand years BC, combined with the relevant materials of other locations, they contain some of the same or similar relics, reflecting the common characteristics and social nature of the three aspects.
First, the early cities, in their materialized form, reflected that public power dominated by rulers and above members of society had been established and gradually strengthened, and large central cities had become the ruling centers of political entities within a certain geographical scope. Second, large central cities have higher physical conditions than ordinary settlements and have strong economic strength. The division of labor is developing, and some cities have focused on the establishment of handicraft production sectors, which to a considerable extent have the nature of serving the ruling clique. The city became the center of the accumulation of material wealth in society. Measured by the social location and the actual degree of development in the material and spiritual fields, the central city site has begun to embark on the road of initial urban and rural differentiation compared with ordinary small settlements. Third, spiritual culture has flourished accordingly, especially with the emergence of groups of scripts and novel religious relics, whose meanings are far more complex and rich than before. Large early cities became socio-cultural centers. The system of etiquette, which reflects the core of the social hierarchy, increasingly plays an important role in social life.
In short, at the latest in the middle of the third millennium BC, in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, such as the Longshan culture, the Longshan culture in the Central Plains, the Shijiahe culture, and the Liangzhu culture, several small-scale advanced regions were the forerunners, and the large and medium-sized cities that brought together the achievements of socio-economic and cultural development and had the status of regional power center were used as the bases. Among the many cities, especially the capitals of the states, it became a comprehensive carrier that concentrated on the early civilized society. This was the era of the "multitude of nations" that preceded the establishment of the Xia Dynasty state for hundreds of years.
The source of the text is "Research Outline of the Origin of Chinese Civilization", published by Cultural Relics Publishing House in December 2003
Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Research Center for Ancient Civilizations, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed
The pictures and illustrations are from the book "National Jade", edited by the Aurora Civilization Research Center of Peking University, and published in 2010