Hongshan Regional Organization in the Upper Daling Valley

Book excerpt: A detailed report on regional-, local-, and household-scale research on Hongshan societies (4500-3000 BCE) in northeastern China. Regional demography and community patterns are analyzed for an area of 200 square kilometers surrounding the excavated ceremonial site of Dongshanzui. More intensive study of Hongshan residential remains through surface collection, magnetometer survey, and stratigraphic tests informs the interpretation of the results of regional-scale survey. Dongshanzui's public architecture, along with additional unexcavated ceremonial platforms, are shown to be at the heart of a regional-scale concentration of Hongshan residential occupation that represents an independent small chiefly polity with no more than 1,000 inhabitants. Its neighbors were other similar small polities related to each other through peaceful interaction but without larger-scale political integration. Complete text in English and Chinese.