Settlement relocation, urban construction and political transformation in the Central Plain, 2300-1500 BCE, China

Settlement relocation occurred commonly and repeatedly throughout global human history. This talk examines resettlement and urban construction that led to political transformation during 2300-1500 BCE in the Central Plain of China. The development of the Taosi (2300-1900 BCE) and Erlitou (1750-1520 BCE) urban sites provide two seemingly contrasting examples of resettlement and community formation. The appearance of the late Neolithic Taosi urban site was a top-down movement of an already stratified entity from another area into Taosi. In contrast, relocating to the Erlitou site during the early Bronze Age resulted from spontaneously move-ins for arable land after severe natural disasters. In both Taosi and Erlitou, population concentration and the establishment of social divisions through urban construction consolidated or established a regime. Urban construction may have been applied as a conscious social reengineering strategy by the Erlitou rulers and further developed by the subsequent Shang kings for political reform.

Dr. Liye Xie received her pre-doctoral education in China and earned her PhD from The University of Arizona (2014). Between 2005 and 2007, she was an Assistant Research Fellow in the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. She joined the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto in 2014.

Xie’s research focuses on the co-construction of technology and society. Her research addresses questions regarding technological choices, landscape modification, and social transformation during the Neolithic period and Early Bronze Age in various regions in China. In the past five years, Xie’s research contributes to methodological development in three interrelated research streams: (1) architecture energetics, a methodology that quantifies the labor costs of ancient architecture, (2) interpretations of manufacturing techniques and functions of prehistoric bone and stone tools, and (3) prehistoric technological choices within and across raw materials.

Xie is currently leading two parallel projects. One is on urban construction and social transformation during the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age in the Middle Yellow River Valley https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/anthropology/liye-xie-studies-ancient-urban…. The other is on quantitative microwear analysis employing image-analyzing software and 3D metrological microscope https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/anthropology/news-events/news/liye-xie-and-….

To learn more about Dr. Xie’s academic path and research plans, please check http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/vp-research/research-campus/researcher-profi…