CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

40
perforation, the same four segments to the putative
cutting edge, and teeth above and below. If the disk
variant was used actually as an axe blade, it must
have been hafted, but no obvious method of attachment
is apparent from the Erlitou examples. Like
the zhang blade, this well-crafted stone may have
been carried as regalia or insignia.
The main affinities between the large Erlitou
hardstone blade types and outlying cultures are
found in the Northwest macroregion (present-day
Shaanxi) and the Upper Yangzi macroregion (the
Sichuan basin). The Sanxingdui site (cats. 65-75)
has yielded copious quantities of similar blades.
Just as the use of imported turquoise as inlay in
Erlitou bronzes implies contacts with other areas
(see cat. 38), it may be argued that the Erlitou type
site was in communication with distant regions —
in this instance at the receiving end of a tradition
of fashioning hardstones. As yet, it appears unlikely
that Erlitou was itself a center for such craft. RT
1 First suggested by Jessica Rawson; see Bagley 1980, 76.
2 Excavated in 1980 (¥^13:4); reported: Zhongguo Erlitou
1983,199-205, 219 and pi. i.
3 Shao 1993.
4 Excavated in 1981 (8mvM 6:1); reported: Zhongguo Erlitou
1984, 37-40 and pi. 3.
149 ERLITOU CULTURE AT YANSHI