This investigation of late Shang royal tombs of the Xibeigang cemetery takes a socialinterpretative archaeological perspective. Here, social-interpretative archaeology centres
upon the reconstructive investigation of the intention and strategy adopted by those who
conducted certain social practices (cf. Tilley 1994). Such intentions and strategies are
‘chosen’ from a repository of memories or customs that are preserved mostly in the form
of ‘practical consciousness’ (i.e. internalised or embodied memories from which we decide
how to handle certain social settings; see Giddens 1984: 41–45).
To identify the archaeological evidence for such practical consciousness, we must situate
the available evidence in the flow of time. The material traces of those past funerary occasions
would have helped to preserve internalised memories, would have been referred to and
would have been symbolically used in various manners and for various purposes in the
practice (e.g. Mizoguchi 1993; Parker Pearson 1999: 193–97).
At the Xibeigang cemetery, a ‘royal tomb’ is comprised of a rectangular main burial
chamber with a sloping ramp attached to each of the four sides (Figures 1 & 2). Some tombs
were built immediately in front of the designated ‘front’ of a pre-existing tomb (the ‘front’
being marked by the southern ramp in each case (strategy X). Those who participated in the
funeral would have faced towards a specific pre-existing tomb, thereby effectively paying
respect to both the person buried in that tomb and the person being buried (Figure 2).
Interestingly, other tombs were constructed immediately behind the ‘rear’ of a pre-existing
tomb. In those cases, the mourners turned their backs on the deceased, literally showing
disrespect to the occupant (strategy Y), or putting themselves in the position of being respected
by the deceased of the pre-existing tomb (strategy Y’ ) (Figure 2). Y and Y’ strategies have vastly
different intentions behind them and we must, where possible, differentiate them from one
another. In most cases, however, it may be difficult to specify which is which. There were also tombs located as if they were pairing with one another, although there
must have been a gap between their construction. Here, it can be inferred that those
who conducted the funeral at the later tomb intended to portray the person that they were
burying as ‘equal’ to the person buried in the earlier grave (strategy Z) (Figure 2). Such strategic
placement of the later tombs was made possible by the probable presence of an ancestral
shrine. An ancestral shrine structure (F1) was excavated on the tomb of Fu-Hao , and
is assumed to be the ‘shrine of Mother Xin’—the posthumous name of Fu-Hao, recorded
in oracle bone scripts (IA CASS 1980). Markers, such as low earthen platforms, probably
also indicated the location of the main burial pit and the four ramps of the pre-existing
tombs. Furthermore, as the edges of at least one of the ramps of a newly built tomb often
overlap slightly with those of a pre-existing tomb (Figures 1 & 2), it is probable that the
strategies were very carefully designed and pre-planned. It is, however, virtually impossible
to prove whether it was the kings themselves who designed or planned such strategies prior
to their death, or if it was those who conducted the funerary rituals. Through examination
of the available evidence, we will attempt to verify this inferential hypothesis regarding the
importance of ancestors and the cultic reproduction of kingly authority (Keightley 1999).