Archaeological Research on the Societies of Late Prehistoric Xinjiang, Vol 1

212 Pages·2022·8.546 MB·English

by  Guo Wu

Guo Wu
Archaeological
Research on
the Societies of
Late Prehistoric
Xinjiang, Vol 1
Archaeological Research on the Societies of Late
Prehistoric Xinjiang, Vol 1
Guo Wu
Archaeological Research
on the Societies of Late
Prehistoric Xinjiang, Vol 1
Guo Wu
The Institute of Archaeology
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Beijing, China
Translated by
Wu Lihuan Yan Jinglan
Shanghai, China Shanghai, China
Revised by
Mark Elliot Seeley
Frank P. Saunders Jr.
This work was funded by the Chinese Fund for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
ISBN 978-981-19-2268-8 ISBN 978-981-19-2269-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2269-5
Jointly published with Shanghai Chinese Classics Publishing House Co., Ltd
The print edition is not for sale in China (Mainland). Customers from China (Mainland) please order the
print book from: Shanghai Chinese Classics Publishing House Co., Ltd.
Translation from the Chinese language edition: “新疆史前晚期社会的考古学研究” by Guo Wu et al., ©
Wu Guo 2012. Published by Shanghai Chinese Classics Publishing House Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
© Shanghai Chinese Classics Publishing House Co., Ltd 2022
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publishers, whether the whole or part of the
material is concerned, specifically the rights of reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting,
reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known
or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publishers, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishers nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publishers remain neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721,
Singapore
Contents
1 Introduction ................................................... 1
1.1 Research Background, Natural Environment and Definitions
of Related Terminology ..................................... 1
1.1.1 Origins ............................................. 1
1.1.2 The Eurasian Steppe, the Natural Geography
and Ecological Environment of Xinjiang ................ 3
1.1.3 Definition and Instruction ............................. 7
1.2 Review of Archeological Discoveries and Research History ...... 20
1.3 Research Purposes, Research Methods and Values ............... 28
1.3.1 Research Purposes ................................... 28
1.3.2 Research Methods ................................... 29
1.3.3 Research Value ...................................... 30
References ..................................................... 31
2 Site Characteristics and Chronology of the Archaeological
Remains in the Eastern Tianshan Mountain Region ............... 37
2.1 Northern and Southern Regions of Harlik Mountains
and Barkul Mountains ....................................... 37
2.1.1 Hami Basin Region .................................. 37
2.1.2 Yiwu and Balikun Regions ............................ 42
2.1.3 Summary ........................................... 52
2.2 The Turpan Region ......................................... 52
2.2.1 The Turpan Basin .................................... 53
2.2.2 Alagou Region ...................................... 65
2.3 The Pediment Region of the Northern Foothills of Bogeda
Mountains ................................................. 70
2.3.1 Archaeological Discoveries at the Pediment Region
of the Northern Foothills of Bogeda Mountains,
Including Urumqi’s Midong District, Fukang, Jimsar,
Qitai, and Mulei County .............................. 70
2.3.2 Summary ........................................... 78
v
vi Contents
2.4 The North–South Corridor Between the East and West
Tianshan Mountains ........................................ 79
2.4.1 Archaeological Findings in the North–South Corridor
Between the East and West Tianshan Mountains .......... 79
2.4.2 Summary ........................................... 87
2.5 Summary .................................................. 89
References ..................................................... 98
3 Site Characteristics and Chronology of the Archaeological
Remains in the Tarim Basin Region .............................. 103
3.1 The Southern Part of the Eastern Section of the Western Tian
Shan ...................................................... 103
3.1.1 The Yanqi Basin ..................................... 103
3.1.2 Luntai (Bügür), Korla ................................. 129
3.1.3 Kuche (Kucha) and Baicheng (Bay) .................... 143
3.1.4 Summary ........................................... 148
3.2 The Southern Area of the West Section of West Tian Shan ........ 149
3.3 Along the Northern Foot of the Kunlun Mountains .............. 156
3.3.1 Tashkurgan Region ................................... 156
3.3.2 The Southern Rim of the Tarim Basin ................... 157
3.3.3 Qiemo Region ....................................... 161
3.4 Summary .................................................. 172
3.5 Conclusion ................................................ 174
References ..................................................... 178
Conclusion ........................................................ 181
English Version Instructions ........................................ 187
Postscript ......................................................... 207
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Research Background, Natural Environment
and Definitions of Related Terminology
1.1.1 Origins
In the late second millennium BCE and first millennium BCE mark the formative
period of nomadic societies on the Eurasian steppes, when all areas of the Eurasian
steppe consecutively entered the Iron Age from the Bronze Age. According to arche-
ological discoveries, the populations of the grassland areas underwent thoroughgoing
shifts with respect to lifestyle, burial customs, forms of sacrifice and cosmology.1
These changing phenomena along with the internal and external causes have drawn
the attention of academic circles around the world. In the West, there are the following
several viewpoints: (1) the continual drying and cooling of the atmosphere seems to
have peaked at the beginning of the first millennium BCE, and this climate change led
to the nomadizing of animal husbandry economics on the grasslands2 ; (2) growth in
the number of domesticated herds led to changes in animal domestication practices3 ;
(3) the development the civilization of agrarian economic states in the southern grass-
lands brought interaction and socio-economic pressures to the steppe populations4 ;
(4) the decisive socio-economic and technological conditions needed to provide the
foundation for a mobile economic model were the cause of these changes.5
The Eurasian steppe during the Late Bronze Age, and especially during the Early
Iron Age, the profound changes that occurred with respect to the mode of economic
1 Khazanov (1978), pp. 425–440, Khazanov (1984), p. 94, Kuzmina (1994).
2 Lamb (1966), Riabtseva (1970), Zdanovich and Shreiber (1988), Qiao (1992).
3 Moxkova(1992).
4 Lattimore (1940).
5 Khazanov (1984), 94.
© Shanghai Chinese Classics Publishing House Co., Ltd 2022 1
G. Wu, Archaeological Research on the Societies of Late Prehistoric Xinjiang, Vol 1,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2269-5_1
2 1 Introduction
activity, form of society, religious beliefs, and cultural arts were the result of devel-
oping interactions between different regions throughout the entire Eurasian conti-
nent. After agricultural areas entered the Iron Age, the face of society underwent
major changes, and the empire emerged expanding territory in all areas and multi-
plying in ethnic populations. Meanwhile, the originally loose societies of the steppe
also became much more complex and closely knit. Due to the rise of nomadic soci-
eties, opposition intensified between the two major economic regions of the Eurasian
continent in the North and South respectively, and the opposition and complemen-
tarity between the economic forms also made nomadic society and agrarian society
interact at greater depth and closeness in all spheres. Broadening contact and interac-
tion between the East and West took place precisely through the nomadic societies of
the steppe who synthetically linked them into one. These horseback channels opened
up the geological, ethnic and cultural horizon for the East and West, and paved the
way for the official opening of the “Silk Road” during the reign of Emperor Wudi of
Han.
The northern regions of China are important components of the Eurasian steppe.
Some recent archeological discoveries and research illustrate that the eastern segment
of the Eurasian steppe and the whole Eurasian steppe played vital roles in solving
many of the important problems that ancient China faced. The pre-Qin period were
the origins of Chinese civilization, the originating of agriculturally made things, the
originating of bronze and iron metallurgical technology, the originating of animal
domestication and animal husbandry, the origins of the horse and horse-drawn war
chariot, and the origins of some themes of animal style art. In past 30 years, massive
achievements have been made in the archeology of the northern regions of China,
and no small number of research conclusions are basically in the neighborhood of
those made in research on the western regions of the Eurasian steppe. For instance,
for the cause of nomadization, Chinese scholars have drawn similar conclusions to
those drawn by scholars of other countries with respect to archeological discoveries
in inner Mongolia. Thus, The Cambridge History of Ancient China published in 1999
could specifically appoint one chapter detailing the history and culture of peoples in
northern China during the pre-Qin period.6
Under such circumstances, numerous scholars East and West have cast sights on
the northern grassland areas of the Eurasian content, one crucial of such areas being
Xinjiang. Considering geographical positioning, Xinjiang is located in the center
of the entire Eurasian continent, and considering the known data on human ethnic
groups and their cultural makeup, all such data exhibit the role of Xinjiang acting as
continental bridge connecting the East and West of the Eurasian continent (Image
1). In the process of the nomadization of the entire Eurasian steppe during the Early
Iron Age, Xinjiang played an extremely important role along with its surrounding
areas. Worth noting is from the perspective of the ancient civilizations of the East
and West, Xinjiang was also located at the margins of the major civilizations. Before
Emperor Wudi’s campaign in the Western regions, this area never had a political
power as absolute ruler directly managing it, and moreover, it had the geographical
6 Cosmo (1999), pp. 885–966.
1.1 ResearchBackground,NaturalEnvironment… 3
and ecological environment required by both nomadic and agricultural economies,
so the “brilliance” of all the cultures in the nomadic cultural ring and agrarian cultural
ring could find the proper soil in which to take root and blossom. The ethnic and
cultural factors capable of accepting and integrating all areas were however not
recorded by civilized states, so the value of Xinjiang before the Silk Road opened is
extremely pronounced in historical research.
After decades of work, no small amount of archeological data on this period
has amassed, but the fundamental problems of the ages, series of cultures, types of
cultures, distinct areas and distinct periods of cultures still require deeper investi-
gations. If these problems go unsolved, there will be no way to answer many key
questions correctly. For instance an important problem of great debate today is the
origins of Chinese bronze and iron metallurgical technologies, which makes arche-
ological work on Xinjiang vastly significant for academia, but this problem greatly
demands the fundamental research of solid archeology. This book sets Xinjiang
during the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age as the object of research precisely for the
sake of summarizing the research results already in existence. On the foundation of
an in-depth comb through of currently existing data, this book penetrates as far as
possible into knowledge of the societies and growths of Xinjiang during this period
through detailing, broadly analyzing and comparing archeological data in the attempt
to gain a stage of results, and provide the academic world with a better foundation
for further unfolding related archeological work and deeper research.
1.1.2 The Eurasian Steppe, the Natural Geography
and Ecological Environment of Xinjiang
The greater Khingan of the East Eurasian steppe westward to the Carpathian moun-
tains spans roughly an area from 40° to 50° N. Forested steppe is distributed roughly
along 52° N, and the typical grassland area is distributed between 52° and 50° N.
Semi-arid steppe is distributed between 50° and 52° N, and desert steppe is roughly
distributed south of 45° N.7 The Eurasian steppe is basically characterized by massive
areas of grassland, but between them Gobi desert is distributed in unequal sizes, and
river flow basically presents north to south direction. The northern Eurasian steppe is
mainly forested area composed of conifers, and in some areas grasslands and forests
criss-cross one another, forming complex boundary terrain; the southern Eurasian
steppe is a network knitted together of plains, hills, oases, rivers, and lakes under
good climatic conditions, it was the beloved soil of agrarian settlers. The most basic
feature of the Eurasian steppe is: grasses gaining advantage on black soil and dark-
chestnut soil. Continental arid and semi-arid climate, little rainfall, watersheds have
no or have a deficiency of forest, typical wild animals include the Mongolian gazelle,
wild hares, the Daurian ground squirrel, wild camels, wild donkeys, and wild horses.
7 Utesheva and Kazakhstana (1959).
4 1 Introduction
Fig. 1.1 Sketch map of Eurasian grassland Division8 . a Sayan-Altai-Tainshan region. b Mongolian
Plateau Region. c Agricultural and Nomadic Criss-Cross Region of Northern China
Due to the geographical position and mountain divides, a relatively independent
geographical unit is formed. Based on natural conditions and historical background,
we may divide the Eurasian steppe from West to East into three main regions: (1)
The western region of the Eurasian steppe, rising in the West with the Carpathian
mountains eastward to the western Urals, characterized by one big stretch of grassland
with the Dnepr, the Don and the Volga as the main water sources; (2) the central
region of the Eurasian steppe, rising in the West with the Urals eastward to the Altai
mountains and the west Tianshan mountain region, characterized by large stretches
of grassland intermixed with the Gobi and desert formed due to arid climate, the
upper reaches of the Irtysh river and its branches, the Tobol and Ob, along with
the Syr Darya and the Ili are its main water sources; (3) the eastern region of the
Eurasian steppe, rising in the west with the Altai mountains and Tianshan mountains
eastward to the Greater Khingan, is characterized by large stretches of grassland
intermixed with mountain ranges and Gobi desert, branches of the upper reaches of
the Yenisei, branches of the upper reaches of the Amur, the Selenga, the Kherlen
and the Argun are its main water sources. Each of these main three regions could be
further subdivided into smaller regions. This book more finely divides the Eastern
region of the Eurasian steppe into three major zones, one is the Sayan-Altai-Tianshan
region, one is the Mongolian plateau region, and one is the agricultural and nomadic
criss-cross region of Northern China (Fig. 1.1).
8 Hanks (2010).