Do Jade and Pigs Create Complex Society?
The Hongshan Culture in Northeast China in Perspective

Sarah Nelson

Abstract:

The Hongshan Culture is an anomaly among the early jades cultures (4500-3000 BC) in China. Not only is it the earliest culture of the "Jade Age" in China, but also the Goddess Temple with lifesized statues made of unbaked clay, the finely-carved pendants and other ornaments in the burials, and the ceremonial structures all set Hongshan apart. This talk explores the questions of how it came to be in northeastern China, and what kind of socio-economic structure might have supported these developments.