The rise of Shimao 2800–1300 BC in the North Loess Plateau, China: an exploration of the climate, demographic, economic, material culture influences

Keywords: North Loess Plateau
Stone fortification
Ceramics
Herd animals
Bayesian modelling
Urbanism
Spatiotemporal changes
Chronology
Radiocarbon dating
Secondary products
Climate change
Urbanisation process
The Shimao region
Late Neolithic
Human occupation
Settlements

The recognition in 2011 of the extraordinary Shimao site (ca. 2300–1800 cal. BC) in the North Loess Plateau as late Neolithic China’s largest stone fortification, has overturned our understanding of the development of complex societies in northern China. The 400-hectare stone fortification of Shimao lies at the heart of the climate-sensitive region (hereafter the Shimao region), which located at the junction of modern-day south-central Inner Mongolia, northern Shaanxi and northern Shanxi, featuring numerous stone fortifications during the period ca. 2800–1300 cal. BC. The settlements in this region have the unusual combinations of herd animals, millet, ceramic tripods, and high-valued jade and bronze artefacts, suggesting a development in wealth and social economy. The central question addressed in this thesis is how and why Shimao, along with the surrounding settlements, flourished in the south sector of the region.
Currently, we cannot determine what drove the growth and complexity of Shimao and other similar sites because the development process in demography and social economy in the Shimao region is poorly understood—the problem has not been interrogated from a wholistic regional perspective. A more precise chronology is also required to provide context to identify changes over time and space. The first problem addressed is a review of all the radiocarbon dates from the published literature; these dates are scrutinised for quality and then subjected to Bayesian modelling for a firmer chronology. The other sources of information—settlement size and distribution, economic basis as judged from faunal abundances and mortality profiles, and ceramic tripods associated with food preparation—are considered within this chronological framework in order to identify new development during the Shimao period.
The findings suggest that population shifted and became concentrated in the south sector of the region, with the development of a new socio-economic network, which contained Shimao and the surrounding sites. Within this network, Shimao acted as a ritual centre with a highly concentrated population and attracted people from the surrounding area; meanwhile, people in this network adopted and used herd animals and new forms of ceramic tripods in their own ways. The findings also suggest that the form of urbanism developed at and around Shimao is unique: a central role can be seen at Shimao in social and ritual contexts, but centralisation and clear urban-rural relations among sites cannot be identified in animal and ceramic economies. Both the pulling factor from Shimao and the climate factor, which may have introduced indirect and gradual influences on human decision and activities, were significant for the success of Shimao and the wider region.