The Archaic Mode of Production:
The SanDai Region of Northern China

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Shang era

[ Bronze Ting vessel, Shang ]

1. Bronze Ting vessel, Shang dynasty.

[ Bronze sacrificial vessel, Shang ]

2. Shang bronze vessel, originally used by the king for sacrificial food.

[ Shang spear head ]

3. Shang spearhead. White jade blade on a bronze haft inlaid with turquoise.

[ Shang shell writing ]

4. Shell writing. The earliest writing dates from the early Shang and consisted of prayers written as pictographs and ideographs scratched on bone or shell.

Zhou Dynasty

[ Western Zhou pit dwelling ]

5. Pit dwelling at Chang-chia-p'o. Western Zhou housing continued the neolithic tradition of sub-terranean pits covered with thatched roofs. Typically the pit was shoulder deep, and had fire-hardened walls and floor, a sleeping area, storage niches, depressed fireplace, deep storage pits, and an entrance ramp.

[ Western Zhou inscription ]

6. An inscription from the Shih-yu kuei. From such inscriptions we can reconstruct the officials in the royal household and military officers. This inscription concerns the commander of a special military unit consisting of “city people”.

[ Western Zhou kuei ]

7. Western Zhou Meng kuei bronze from Ch'ang-chia-p''o. Decorative bird theme.

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