The Jianghan region referred to in this article is broadly defined, including the alluvial plains formed by the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Han River, and the surrounding low mountains and hilly areas. Although this area is separated from the Central Plains by the Tongbai Mountain-Dabie Mountains, a number of north-south water systems at the southern foot of the mountain system have become natural channels connecting the two regions. Therefore, since the Neolithic period, the Jianghan region has maintained close cultural ties with the Central Plains for a long time. During the Xia and Shang dynasties, under the strong radiation of the Central Plains culture represented by the Erlitou and Erligang cultures, the cultural development process of the Jianghan region was changed, and at the same time, the obvious political and strategic intentions of the early dynastic states to the southern region were demonstrated. Therefore, the cultural outlook and settlement form of the Xia and Shang dynasties in this region have attracted much attention from researchers.
In previous studies, scholars have mostly started from the cultural appearance of archaeological relics in the Xia and Shang dynasties, and discussed the archaeological cultural genealogy of the Jianghan region and the cultural interaction mode between the region and the Central Plains. Recent field archaeological and research work has shown that the water level and geomorphology of rivers and lakes in the Jianghan region during the Xia and Shang dynasties may be significantly different from those seen today. This study suggests that the layout and construction of settlements in the Xia and Shang periods in this region may be different from the appearance of the sites seen today. Not only that, some scholars have noticed that the eastern and western parts of the Jianghan region during the Xia and Shang dynasties, although they were under the radiation of the Central Plains culture, showed different cultural development processes. This difference in cultural pattern may reflect the Xia and Shang dynasties' adoption of differentiated social management models for different geographical units.
Based on the above research progress, it is necessary to re-evaluate the geographical environment of the Jianghan region in the Xia and Shang periods, and re-discuss the macro distribution situation of settlements in the Jianghan area during the Xia and Shang periods, as well as the settlement layout form, construction mode, and hierarchical differentiation, so as to reshape the "settlement landscape" in the Xia and Shang periods in the Jianghan region. The concept of "landscape" in archaeology comes from geography, and since the 70s of the 20th century, "landscape archaeology" has gradually begun to rise in the archaeological circles of Europe and the United States. This research paradigm emphasizes the investigation of human behavior in a complex geographical space, with a particular focus on human understanding and cognition of space. This research concept is different from environmental archaeology and settlement archaeology, and can provide a new perspective for our understanding of ancient societies.
1. Distribution of settlements
The settlements in this region were basically distributed along the main stream and tributaries of the Yangtze River and other natural water systems in this region, and this distribution trend of settlements revealed the basic path of the spread of Central Plains culture in the Jianghan region during the Xia and Shang periods. Specifically, the distribution area of the settlements in the Xia and Shang dynasties in the Jianghan Plain and its surrounding areas can be divided into two geographical units, namely along the main stream of the Yangtze River and along the tributaries of the Yangtze River. These are described below.
(1) Along the main stream of the Yangtze River
The main stream of the Yangtze River flows through the hinterland of the Jianghan Plain from west to east, and has become a cultural exchange corridor connecting the region with the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, as well as the Dongting Lake Plain and the Gansu region. A series of Xia and Shang period sites can be seen along the main stream of the Yangtze River, such as Jingnan Temple, Lijiatai, Zhouliang Yuqiao, Guandi, Tonggu Mountain, Panlong City, Xianglu Mountain, Xiayaozui, Yisheng Temple, Tongling, and Tanshuzui (Figure 1).
The cultural factors of Erlitou are mainly found in the two ruins of Jingnan Temple and Panlong City along the main stream of the Yangtze River. The flat-footed tripod and lace mouth jar unearthed from the site of Panlong City reflect the obvious cultural factors of Erlitou in the Central Plains. In the ruins of Jingnan Temple, there are also unearthed pottery that embodies the cultural factors of Erlitou, such as deep-bellied jars and large mouth zun.
During the Erligang cultural period, Panlong City rose rapidly and developed into the largest regional central city in Jianghan region, and formed a strong cultural radiation to the surrounding areas of Panlong City. Erligang cultural factors can be seen in Jingnan Temple, Lijiatai, Tonggu Mountain, Xianglu Mountain, Xiayaozui, Yisheng Temple, Tongling, Tanshuzui and other sites, but the unearthed remains in each region show obvious differences. In short, the types and shapes of pottery and bronze artifacts unearthed from sites such as Panlong City, Xianglu Mountain, Xiayaozui, and Yisheng Temple along the Yangtze River are similar to those of the Erligang culture relics in the Central Plains, so scholars usually regard such relics as the local type of Erligang culture - "Panlongcheng type".
However, the relics of the Erligang culture period unearthed from Jingnan Temple and Lijiatai sites in the western part of the Jianghan region are obviously different from the types of Panlong City, and the indigenous cultural factors represented by pottery such as kettles, tripods and large mouth jars account for more than 50% of the overall cultural factors of the sites. The Tonggu Mountain, Tongling, and Tanshuzui sites on the south bank of the Yangtze River are located at the front of the main stream of the Yangtze River into the Dongting Lake Plain and the Poyang Lake Plain, respectively.
From the Huanbei Garden Zhuang period to the first phase of Yinxu, the distribution of settlements in this area showed obvious changes. At this stage, the scale of the settlement in Panlong City was greatly reduced, and it was completely abandoned around the late Huanbei Garden Village. The abandonment of Panlong City triggered a chain reaction of settlements along the Yangtze River, and settlements such as Jingnan Temple, Tonggu Mountain, Xiayaozui, and Yisheng Temple disappeared with them. At the same time, settlements such as Zhouliang Yuqiao, Guandi, Meihuai Bridge, and Yinxiangcheng began to rise in the western part of the Jianghan region, and their cultural appearance formed a huge difference from that of the Central Plains. However, the Tongling, Tanshuzui and other settlements in the Gansu region continue to exist, but their cultural appearance is increasingly close to the Wucheng culture, and far from the Central Plains.
(2) Along the tributaries of the Yangtze River
The hinterland of the Jianghan region is a plain, with low and flat terrain, and the tributaries of the Yangtze River, which originate in the surrounding mountains, flow into the Yangtze River in a north-south direction, specifically including the Hanshui, Fuhe and Lishui rivers on the north side of the Yangtze River, and the Lishui and Ganjiang rivers on the south side of the Yangtze River (see Figure 1).
In the late period of Erlitou culture, the cultural factors of Erlitou can be seen in Lijiawan, Niejiazhai, Guangshanzao and the above-mentioned Panlong City ruins along the Fuhe River and Lishui. It generally presents a cultural transmission channel from the southern Henan region, through the Dabie Mountains, and southward along the river and the river. At the same time, the relics of the typical Erlitou culture can be seen in the sites of Xiawanggang, Liying, Gongjiacun, Xiongjiazhuang and Donglongshan along the Hanshui River, as well as Wangshugang, mass grave and tomb slope along the line from Xiangyang to Zhongxiang.
During the period of Erligang culture, with the rapid rise of the settlement of Panlongcheng in the lower reaches of the Fuhe River, a series of contemporaneous ruins appeared along the Fuhe, Shushui, Xiaowangjiashan, Yuanliwan, Zhongfenweiwan, Fenghuangtai, Haoshiqiao, Dataizi, Rising Water Temple, Xujiazhou, Huayuan, Xiaba Power Station, Yongshan and other contemporaneous sites along the Fuhe, Lishui and Lishui around Panlong City, and their cultural appearance converged with the Erligang culture, and they all belonged to the local type of Erligang culture mentioned above - "Panlongcheng type". In the Liaowadianzi, Dianzihe, Fangtan, Menhu, Gongjiacun and other sites in the upper reaches of the Han River, the remaining cultural features reflect the strong influence of Erligang culture, and the main age is from the Erligang culture period to the Huanbei Huayuanzhuang period, not later than the first phase of Yinxu. The distribution of relics from the Erligang culture period in this region reflects that the Erligang culture generally spread along the path of the southward transmission of the Erlitou culture along the Han River. Traveling south along the upper reaches of the Han River leads to the lower reaches of the Fuzhang River, and the more typical Erligang cultural factors seen in the ruins of Jingnan Temple may have been transmitted south through this route (Figure 3).
The relics along the Lishui during the Erligang culture period are represented by the soap market, the pagoda and the Wangjiazui and Boyu Mountain on the north side. The cultural appearance of the relics of the Shang period in the soap market and pagoda sites is relatively complex, mainly including three types of cultural factors, one is the Erligang cultural factors represented by the arc-bellied mustache, jue, shu, false belly bean, large mouth zun and jar. The second is the local cultural factors represented by pots, circle-foot pots, circle-foot bowls, folded rim circle-foot bowls, and retorts. The third is the local innovative cultural factors represented by the drum-bellied mustache, folded shoulder pot, folded pan gourd, binaural gourd, and arc pan gourd.
The remains along the Ganjiang River during the Erligang culture period can be found in the lime mountain, Chenjiadun, Longwangling, Shendun and other sites. Pottery shards from the Shang period have also been collected on the Gange Mountain, Menmen Mountain, Mopan Mountain, and Wang Hualan near Longwangling, and it is speculated that these sites also have relics from the same period as Longwangling. The pottery unearthed at the Shendun site is dominated by the combination of Central Plains pottery such as mustache, 斝 and false belly bean, which shows the strong influence of the Central Plains culture, but some obvious local characteristics can be seen in the shape of each type of artifact. On the one hand, there are common utensils in the Central Plains, such as the beard, the ring, the coffin, and the Dakou jar, and on the other hand, the wares such as the fine-shanked shallow bean and the round-bottom printed jar are also found in these sites, which are basically not found in the Central Plains, highlighting the local cultural characteristics along the Ganjiang River.
From the late period of Huanbei Huazhuang to the first phase of Yinxu, with the abandonment of Panlong City, the distribution of settlements such as Niejiazhai, Guoyuanzui, Zhongfenweiwan and Xujiazhou can still be seen along the Lishui and Lishui. A series of settlements along the Fuhe River, such as Xiaowangjiashan, Shutaitai, Xiaba Power Station, Haoshiqiao and Miaotaizi, seem to indicate that from the late Huanbei Huayuanzhuang to the first phase of Yinxu, the Fuhe River became a relatively prosperous transportation route. After the first phase of Yinxu, the settlements in the area were close to extinction, making the area a "blank" area of cultural distribution. At this stage, the settlements along the Han River were close to extinction, and the cultural influence of the Central Plains culture on the Jianghan region through the Han River came to an end temporarily. On the south side of the Yangtze River, along the Lishui and Ganjiang rivers, there are still relatively dense settlements, but their cultural appearance shows a strong indigenous cultural style. For example, the types of pottery such as ding, kettle, retort, pot, bean, and bowl excavated from sites such as Banzhu, Baoning Bridge, Wenjiashan, and Huangnigang along the Lishui River are not found in the Central Plains. The relics seen along the Ganjiang River have been significantly influenced by the Wucheng culture.
2. The geomorphology and construction methods of the settlement
The investigation of the spatial and geomorphological forms of settlements is an important basis for exploring the landscape of settlements. The change of landform also makes the settlement landscape in a constant change. As far as the Jianghan region is concerned, the discovery of pre-Qin period ruins in modern rivers, lakes and depressions suggests the differences between ancient and modern geomorphology in this region. Therefore, the assessment of the macroscopic geomorphology of the region, especially the water level of rivers and lakes, has become the basic premise for us to explore the settlement landscape of the corresponding period. On the other hand, the micro-geomorphology of the settlement reflects the choice of the natural environment and the way the settlement was constructed, which provides rich information for us to analyze the grade, function and nature of the settlement.
(1) The water level of rivers and lakes
Underwater archaeological exploration and test excavation work show that the water level of the river and lake in the area where the Panlong City site is located during the Shang culture period is at least 5 meters lower than the contemporary water level. In addition to the ruins of Panlong City, cultural relics of the pre-Qin period have also been found in many modern rivers and lakes in the Jianghan area. Located in the hinterland of the Jianghan Plain, the Qianjiang Longwan site, on the east side of the foundation site of Fangyingtai No. 1 palace, there are 2~3 meters thick river and lake sediments from the Song Dynasty to the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the cultural accumulations of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty are distributed under it. In the Longwan site Changzhangtai, Zhengjiahu, Shuizhangtai and other sites, it is also found that there are 1.1~1.5 meters thick from the Song to the Ming and Qing dynasties of fluvial and lacustrine sediments, under which there are cultural accumulations of the Neolithic and Zhou dynasties.
This means that the pre-Qin cultural accumulation in the area was submerged by rivers and lakes from the Song Dynasty to the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the ruins of Futian and Liuguan in Jianli County, it was found that the accumulations of the Daxi culture period were distributed in the modern river channels, and the cultural accumulations were covered by river silt with a thickness of 4.5~4.8 meters. In addition, the remains of the Neolithic and Eastern Zhou dynasties have been found in the modern river channels in Xiantao Yuezhou Lake, Jingzhou Taihu Port, Zhouliang Yuqiao and other sites, and the cultural accumulation of the pre-Qin period is 1~3.5 meters away from the modern surface.
Here, we can use the flood peak water level of the Yangtze River in 1954 as a reference value for the modern flood level in the region, and compare it with the elevation of several pre-Qin sites in the Jianghan area. It is not difficult to find that the flood level of the modern Yangtze River mainstream is 5~10 meters higher than that of the pre-Qin culture accumulation in this region (Fig. 4). Considering that ancient human settlements and cemeteries were often located on flat land or hill mounds that were difficult to reach by floods in the corresponding period. Therefore, according to the elevation of the site in the pre-Qin period, we can reversely assess the flood water level of the main stream of the Yangtze River at that time, which should be 5~10 meters lower than the water level of the same period in modern times.
During the Xia and Shang periods, the main streams and tributaries of the Yangtze River distributed in the Jianghan region were generally deep, and the "low water level" environment of rivers and lakes made open land space along the Yangtze River, which provided important geographical conditions for the rise of settlements along the Yangtze River, such as Jingnan Temple, Lijiatai, Zhouliang Yuqiao, Tonggu Mountain, Panlong City, and Xianglu Mountain.
(2) Settlement micro-geomorphology and construction methods
Through field archaeological surveys to determine the exact geographical coordinates of the sites, and with the help of high-resolution satellite remote sensing images, we can look down on the ancient ruins in the wilderness from a high-altitude perspective, so as to obtain information such as their geomorphology and even construction methods, which can provide a new perspective for us to evaluate the hierarchy and function of settlements and even explore the social structure of the corresponding period. Satellite remote sensing images covering all regions of the world have been released in Google Earth software, with a resolution of 0.6~2.5 meters, and the image shooting time is updated in real time, from which the landform of the Xia and Shang period sites in the Jianghan area can be clearly observed. However, the geomorphology of some sites has been significantly damaged by modern human activities such as land leveling and infrastructure construction projects in the past half century. Fortunately, during 1962~1970, the Corona satellite (CORONA) of the United States took remote sensing images covering most of the world, with a resolution of about 2 meters. This collection of information allows us to observe the landscape of the site that has disappeared over the past 50 years.
With the help of the above two types of satellite remote sensing images, we observed the geomorphology and construction methods of the Xia and Shang Dynasty sites in the Jianghan area one by one. The geomorphology of the settlements in the Xia and Shang dynasties in this area can be divided into two categories, one is distributed on the hills, and the elevation difference between the site and the surrounding surface is 2~10 meters. The other type is distributed on the plain, and there is no obvious elevation difference between the site and the surrounding ground surface (Figure 5).
As far as the construction methods of settlements are concerned, the settlements distributed on the hill land present two construction methods. The first is to directly use the natural hill land to build the settlement, and the second is to reorganize the natural hill land, so that the settlement as a whole presents an approximately elliptical or square pier, and even builds a city wall and a ring moat on the pier. For the settlements distributed on the plains, most of them are built on flat ground, and there are basically no large facilities such as city walls, ring moats, and rammed earth foundations. From this, we can divide the construction methods of settlements in the Xia and Shang periods in this region into three categories.
The construction method of Class A settlements is to directly use natural hills, and no obvious artificial rectification of the hills is carried out, such as Xianglu Mountain, Jingnan Temple, Guoyuanzui, Tonggu Mountain, Zhongfenweiwan, Shendun, Tongling and other settlements have adopted this construction method. It is worth noting that the existing area of this kind of pier is generally 1~50,000 square meters, but according to the satellite images of Corona, the area of the pier where Jingnan Temple is located is about 300,000 square meters. In the 80s of the 20th century, when the archaeological department excavated Jingnan Temple, the site had actually been seriously damaged by the local brick and tile factory's earth-taking activities, so the archaeological excavation report of Jingzhou Jingnan Temple introduced its residual area as about 100 meters long and about 50 meters wide. In fact, the area of the Jingnan Temple settlement during the Erligang culture period may have been much larger than this.
Class B settlements are represented by the ruins of Panlong City and Xiaowangjiashan City, which are the two city sites built in the Erligang culture period confirmed in the Jianghan area so far. Archaeological exploration and dissection of the city wall show that the approximately square city wall in the Panlong City ruins was built by using two natural hills running parallel to the north and south.
It is worth noting that the ruins of Yisheng Temple, located on the east side of the Jianghan area, can be seen from the satellite images of Corona, and there is a suspected "city wall" on the surface of the pier with a high platform built on the edge of the pier, which seems to constitute a complete defense system with the "ring moat" distributed around the pier. Since the remains of the suspected "castle wall" of Yisheng Temple have not yet been dissected, the nature and time of its construction cannot be determined (Figure 6). However, the existing archaeological excavation work shows that the unearthed remains of the Yisheng Temple site are concentrated in two periods: Shijiahe culture and Erligang culture. The remains of the Shijiahe culture period were unearthed under the fifth layer of Tanfang, so the remains of the "city wall" highlighted on the surface are likely to be built during the Erligang culture period. The area of the "city wall" of Yisheng Temple is 61,200 square meters, second only to the area of Panlong City Miyagi with 75,400 square meters. Therefore, we speculate that Yishengji Temple was most likely a large settlement with a high social hierarchy during the Errigang culture period.
In addition, the site of Miaotaizi located in the upper reaches of the Fuhe River is composed of two connected piers in the south and north, and archaeological exploration shows that there are "ring moats" around the piers, and the construction time of the ring moat may be as early as the Shang culture period, which indicates that the temple platform may be a ring moat settlement in the Shang period.
Type C settlements are the simplest to build, which is built on flat land. For example, the sites of Lijiatai and Zhouliang Yuqiao in Shashi along the Yangtze River, Wangshugang, mass grave and tomb slope in Xiangyang along the Hanshui, and soap market and pagoda along the Lishui River all show the extremely flat landform characteristics of the area where the ruins are located in the Corona satellite imagery, and it is speculated that the construction method of such settlements is to start from flat land.
3. The phased characteristics of the settlement landscape
From the above analysis, it can be seen that there are significant differences in the geomorphology and construction methods of the settlements in the Xia and Shang dynasties in the Jianghan region, and with the "expansion" and "retreat" of the cultural power of the Central Plains in the Jianghan region, the above-mentioned settlement landscapes show relatively distinct stage characteristics. Specifically, the phased differences in the settlement landscape can be divided into two periods, one is from the late Erlitou culture to the Erligang culture period, and the other is from the Huanbei Huayuanzhuang period to the first phase of Yinxu (Fig. 7).
(1) The late period of Erlitou culture to the period of Erligang culture
In the late period of Erlitou culture, the cultural factors of the Central Plains generally spread southward along the Hanshui, Fuhe and Pengshui rivers to the main stream of the Yangtze River. During the Erligang culture period, with the significant increase in the number of settlements in the region, the above-mentioned cultural transmission routes became clearer. However, in terms of the overall distribution trend and micro-geomorphological morphology of settlements, the main stream and tributaries of the Yangtze River show different settlement landscapes.
First, a multi-level settlement system with the main stream of the Yangtze River as the core was formed during this period, which broke the settlement distribution pattern in the prehistoric period of the Jianghan region. At this stage, a series of settlements represented by Panlong City, Xianglu Mountain, Xiayaozui, Yisheng Temple, Tonggu Mountain and Jingnan Temple are directly distributed along the main stream of the Yangtze River. The appearance of the city and the discovery of bronze ritual vessels indicate that the above-mentioned settlements had a high social level, and the main stream of the Yangtze River undoubtedly became the core area of the distribution of settlements in the Jianghan region during this period.
It is worth noting that the core area of settlement distribution in the Neolithic Jianghan area was once in the "crescent-shaped zone" composed of the Liyang Plain, the southern foot of Jingshan Mountain, and the southern foot of Dahong Mountain for a long time, and 15 of the 17 prehistoric city sites found in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River are located in this area. The distribution of settlements in the Jianghan region at this stage shows that the early royal state had a new strategy and control intention for its "southern soil", thus breaking the geographical pattern of the Jianghan region that has lasted for thousands of years.
Second, the settlement landscapes of each tributary of the Yangtze River show different characteristics, reflecting the influence and constraints of natural landforms on settlement forms. At this stage, the landform of settlements in Jianghan area can be roughly divided into two categories: hill land and plain. In the Hanshui and Lishui basins, most of the settlements live on the plains, while the settlements along the Fuhe, Pengshui and Ganjiang rivers are mostly located on the hills. This differentiated geomorphological selection is closely related to the geomorphological characteristics along the tributaries of the Yangtze River.
Due to the constraints of large mountainous areas such as the remnants of the Qinling Mountains, Daba Mountain, Jingshan Mountain, and Dahong Mountain, the land suitable for human habitation is actually very narrow, and the flat river terraces along the Hanshui River naturally become an ideal place for settlement distribution. The towering Wuling Mountains along the Lishui River are also uninhabitable, while the river terraces on either side of the Lishui are flat and fertile. For this reason, the settlements along the Han and Li rivers are located on flat river terraces, creating the "plain" landscape described above.
The Fuhe River and the Lishui River are located in the transition zone between the southern foot of the Dabie Mountains and the Jianghan Plain, while the Ganjiang River is between the Mufu Mountains, the Jiuling Mountains and the Poyang Lake Plain. In the transition zone between the mountains and the plains, there are large undulating low hills. Because of this, most of the settlements along the Fuhe, Lishui and Ganjiang rivers are located on natural hills, forming the "gangland" landscape mentioned above.
Third, most of the settlements along the main stream of the Yangtze River live on the hillland, which reflects the tendency of settlement builders to "tend to be higher".
What is intriguing is that the settlements along the main stream of the Yangtze River also live on the hills. However, this site selection tendency may not be conditioned by natural features, but rather by human choice. On the one hand, along the main stream of the Yangtze River, there are large areas of flat and open land space, not undulating hills. On the other hand, from the above analysis, it can be seen that the water level of the main stream of the Yangtze River in the Xia and Shang periods may be 5~10 meters lower than the contemporary water level. The Yangtze River channel is deeply incised, so there is no significant flood threat in the flat area of the main stream. In other words, the plains along the main stream of the Yangtze River during the Xia and Shang dynasties were also suitable for human habitation. Therefore, most of the settlements along the main stream of the Yangtze River are distributed on the hillland, which reflects the deliberate pursuit and conscious choice of the "gangland" landscape of the settlement builders.
In terms of agricultural production behavior, especially rice farming, which is the most common in southern China, it is obvious that the settlement is more suitable for rice farming than the hilly land. However, compared with the "plain", the hill has a wider field of vision, which makes the post have more superior military defense conditions. Not only that, but some handicraft production activities seem to require the help of undulating terrain in order to be carried out smoothly. It can be seen that the tendency of settlements along the main stream of the Yangtze River to choose high places to choose high places reflects the complexity and diversity of the functions of these settlements to a certain extent. The rise of these settlements may not have been based on the satisfaction of the most basic subsistence activities, but rather on more complex social functions such as military defense, transportation, and handicraft production.
Fourth, the construction methods and areas of settlements show obvious hierarchical differentiation. As mentioned above, the construction methods of settlements in the Xia and Shang dynasties in the Jianghan area can be divided into three categories: A, B, and C. Class A and Class C construction methods are both direct use of natural landforms, while Class B construction methods are based on natural landforms, artificially built large public facilities such as city walls and ring moats. Obviously, compared with the other two types of construction, type B construction requires the mobilization of more abundant social resources, which may indicate that the settlements that adopt this type of construction have a higher social hierarchy. On the other hand, the size of the settlement itself has become an important reference factor for us to consider its grade. According to the data published in the archaeological excavation briefing and report, the area of the settlements in the Jianghan area during the Erligang culture period can be roughly divided into three categories, namely 1~50,000 square meters, 5~300,000 square meters and more than 300,000 square meters.
Based on the complexity of settlement construction and the size of its area, we can roughly divide the settlements in the Jianghan region from the late Erlitou culture to the Erligang culture period. The hierarchical differentiation of settlements in this region in the late Erlitou culture is not obvious. During the period of Erligang culture, there was a regional center settlement represented by Panlong City in the Jianghan area, which covered an area of nearly 4 square kilometers and built large-scale facilities such as city walls and ring moats, which was the highest level of first-class settlements in the region. In addition to Panlong City, there are also smaller cities such as Xiaowangjia Mountain and Yisheng Temple. At the same time, Jingnan Temple, which is located in the west of Jianghan area, is more like a natural hill in its form, and there are no large-scale artificial facilities such as city walls and ring moats. However, according to the satellite imagery of Corona shown in this paper, the original area may be close to 300,000 square meters, which is much larger than that of other ordinary settlements. At the same time, the ruins of Jingnan Temple have also found a number of bronze ritual tombs with burials.
These clues show that the settlements represented by Xiaowangjia Mountain, Yisheng Temple, and Jingnan Temple belong to the second level. In addition, there are a large number of third-class settlements along the tributaries of the Yangtze River in the Jianghan area, with an area of 1~50,000 square meters, and the construction method is basically to build on flat land or directly use natural hills, and there are no large-scale public facilities. During the period of Erligang culture, with the southward expansion of the Central Plains culture to the Jianghan region, there was a significant differentiation of settlement levels in this region. The Central Plains Dynasty's strategy and control over the Jianghan region may have been realized and developed through these settlements at different levels. A number of cities were concentrated in the Fuhe River, the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the eastern part of the main stream of the Yangtze River, reflecting the Shang Dynasty's control over the region even more than in other areas.
(2) Around the period of Huanbei Garden Village to the first phase of Yinxu
First, the high-ranking settlements along the main stream of the Yangtze River were the first to be abandoned, and the settlements along the tributaries of the Yangtze River continued to exist. During this period, the influence of Central Plains culture on the Jianghan region gradually declined. In the late period of Huanbei Huayuanzhuang, with the complete abandonment of the Panlong City settlement, the settlements along the Yangtze River, such as Jingnan Temple, Tonggu Mountain, Xiayaozui, and Yisheng Temple, were also abandoned one after another.
After the above-mentioned high-ranking settlements along the main stream of the Yangtze River were first abandoned, a series of smaller, lower-grade settlements continued to exist in the region. In the distribution zone of the previous Jingnan Temple settlements, emerging settlements such as Zhouliang Yuqiao, Guandi, Meihuai Bridge, and Yinxiangcheng appeared. In the lower reaches of Fuhe and Pengshui, where Panlong City is located, settlements such as Xianglu Mountain, Xiaowangjiashan, Niejiazhai, Zhongfenweiwan, Xujiazhou, Zhongjiagang, and Shushutai continue to exist. In the Suizhou area of the upper reaches of the Fu River, the Miaotaizi settlement arose, and the site has a settlement layout with a ring moat and well-made pottery with delicate ornamentation, indicating that the settlement has a high social level. Miaotaizi seems to have become a new regional center settlement in the Fuhe, Lishui, and Lishui basins after the fall of Panlong City.
The settlement landscape at this stage seems to reflect the adjustment of the economic and strategic pattern of the Jianghan region by the Central Plains Dynasty, which no longer relied on large-scale high-level settlements to achieve direct control of the region, but continued to maintain political ties and cultural interaction with the Jianghan region through a number of smaller, lower-level settlements.
Second, the settlements along the Fuhe River and the Lishui River continue to maintain close cultural interaction with the Central Plains, while the other tributaries of the Yangtze River are gradually occupied by indigenous cultural factors. As far as the cultural appearance of the unearthed remains can be said, at this stage, the Fuhe River and the Lishui River still maintained close cultural ties with the Central Plains. However, along the Lishui and Ganjiang rivers on the south side of the Yangtze River, the cultural factors of the Central Plains are almost gone, and the factors with strong indigenous cultural styles are gradually emerging. This cultural pattern laid the foundation for the rise of the bronze culture in the Yangtze River basin in the late stage of the Yinxu culture. The geographical proximity between the Fuhe River and the Central Plains provides important geographical conditions for them to maintain long-term synchronization in terms of cultural appearance. The low mountains and hilly areas on the south side of the Yangtze River have a relatively closed and independent geographical space, and these small plots of land between the mountains provide fertile soil for the rise of bronze culture with local styles such as "Feijiahe Culture", "Dalupu Culture" and "Wucheng Culture" during the Yinxu Culture Period.
IV. Conclusion
The Jianghan region is dominated by alluvial plains of rivers and lakes, with the geomorphological characteristics of low hills and remnant hills, which has created some common characteristics of the settlement landscape in the Xia and Shang dynasties in this region.
On the other hand, the settlements in the Xia and Shang dynasties in this region showed many different characteristics in terms of construction methods and site selection characteristics. The settlements represented by Panlong City, Yisheng Temple, Xiaowangjiashan and Jingnan Temple show a huge settlement area, complex construction methods and a tendency to "tend to be higher". These landscape features of settlements are undoubtedly the result of human planning and deliberate selection, reflecting the significant differences in the hierarchy, function and even nature of the settlements themselves. Moreover, from the late Erlitou culture to the Erligang culture period, the concentration of high-level settlements along the main stream of the Yangtze River reflects that the Central Plains Dynasty's strategy for the Jianghan region was based on the main stream of the Yangtze River, thus breaking the settlement distribution situation formed in the prehistoric era of the region, and highlighting the control and management mode adopted by the early royal state over the southern region. This settlement landscape even had a profound impact on the urban distribution pattern of the Jianghan region during the historical period.
Source: Archaeology, Issue 1, 2022