CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

of the eponymous female spirit — a clay head — has been excavated. If it in fact served as a
temple, the building's modest size indicates that it was not intended to hold many worshippers.
Guo Dashun suggests this temple was built for and used by a few, elite individuals and argues
that the graduated female sculptures may indicate a hierarchical form of ancestor worship. 19
The difficulties in distinguishing the unbaked clay from the surrounding earth have prompted
archaeologists wisely to halt further excavation and cover the site with earth until the development
of more refined equipment and skills.
The complex of pyramid-shaped structures, temples, mounds, and altars at Niuheliang was
built on a series of hilltops or high hillsides over an area measuring approximately fifty square
kilometers, within a band measuring one kilometer from north to south; the female spirit
temple was located at center of the complex, which ingeniously incorporates the geographic
features of the area. Su Bingqi has suggested that Niuheliang represents a precursor to late
imperial complexes incorporating a mausoleum, temple, and altar. 20 Some archaeologists have
detected the emergence of a ritual system in the Hongshan culture on the basis of stratified
burials and the systematic use of jade and pottery in the tombs. 21
The extensive use of sophisticated ritual jades in China during its late prehistory — exemplified
by the Hongshan culture in northeastern China and the Liangzhu culture in the lower
Yangzi River delta — has prompted some scholars to identify the period as the Jade Age. 22 The
jade's primary use in ritual and decoration rather than for tools, however, renders that terminology
somewhat suspect. 23 XY
1 Calibrated carbon-14 data date the Hongshan culture to
between 4710 and 2920 BCE. See Yang Hu 1989, 222; and
Yang Hu 1994, 46 and 49.
2 Wenwu 1990, 27. Guo Dashun has outlined a regional
context for the Hongshan culture in an essay published
in English: see Nelson 19953, 21-64.
3 Torii visited Chifeng, Inner Mongolia in 1908; Licent
examined the site in 1924. See Torii 1914, 31; Licent 1932,
27.
4 Andersson 1934,188 -199. Guo Dashun suggests that it is a
Hongshan and post-Hongshan site and functioned primarily
as a cemetery, but that it was used for sacrifice as well.
See Liaoning I997d, 4.
5 Hamada and Mizuno 1938.
6 See, for example, Pei 1948.
7 Yin Da 1955; and Lu 1958.
8 Fang and Liu 1984; Li 19863; Wengniute 1984.
9 Guo and Zhang, 1984; and Liaoning 1986.
10 Guo 1989, 203; and Liaoning i997d, 14.
11 Liaoning I997d, 16 - 25.
12 Liaoning 1994, pis. 77-88.
13 Liaoning 1994, pis. 55 - 73; and Liaoning i997d, 6 -10.
14 Yang Hu 1994, 47.
15 Liaoning 19973, b, and c.
16 The central tomb at Niuheliang Mound i, Locality 5, for
example, contained only seven jades. See Liaoning 19973.
17 This temple is composed of two separate structures; the
main structure is 18.4 meters long, and the minor one is
2.65 meters long. Stone was not used in the temple's
construction. See Liaoning 1986, 2-3; and Liaoning
i997d, 30.
18 Liaoning 1986,1-6.
19 Liaoning i997d, 35.
20 Sui994, 91-92.
21 Lisoning I997d, 39 - 42.
22 For a geo-archaeological investigation of early jades, see
Wen 3nd Jing 1997.
23 Xiei994.
8l HONGSHAN CULTURE