Liangzhu’s Story of Stone: Engineering and Tools (Liangzhu Civilization) 9811956294, 9789811956294

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Liangzhu Civilization

Xiang Ji Ningyuan Wang Chuanwan Dong Yida Luo

Liangzhu’s Story of Stone Engineering and Tools

Liangzhu Civilization Series Editor Bin Liu, Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Hangzhou, China

The Liangzhu Civilization series consists of 11 volumes, namely: Realm of King and God: Liangzhu City; Fanshan Royal Cemetery: Pyramid of the East; Liangzhu Jade Artifacts: Legal Instrument and Royalty; Liangzhu Pottery: Introversion and Resplendence; Engineering and Tools: The Stone Story of Liangzhu; Painting and Symbol: Primitive Characters of Liangzhu; The Paleoenvironment, Plants and Animals of Liangzhu; China and the World in the Liangzhu Era; Eighty Years of Archaeology at Liangzhu; What Liangzhu Was Like; and One Dig for Five Millennia: Liangzhu in the Eyes of an Archaeological Journalist. Representing the combined efforts of archaeologists from the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Zhejiang Province who have been exploring Liangzhu for over 30 years, the series boasts a wealth of significant findings made at Liangzhu, shares the archaeologists’ valuable experience, and includes abundant pictures of the excavation site. Accordingly, it will help readers develop a deeper understanding of Liangzhu Civilization and reveal the evolutionary course of Chinese civilization, characterized by ‘unity in diversity.’ Both the publication of the Liangzhu Civilization Series and the ‘Liangzhu Civilization Towards the World’ exhibition are expected to serve as a bridge to the public, thereby further disseminating Liangzhu Civilization and promoting an interest in traditional Chinese culture.

Xiang Ji · Ningyuan Wang · Chuanwan Dong · Yida Luo

Liangzhu’s Story of Stone Engineering and Tools

Xiang Ji Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology Hangzhou, China

Ningyuan Wang Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology Hangzhou, China

Chuanwan Dong Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China

Yida Luo Geological Exploration Bureau of Zhejiang Hangzhou, China

Translated by Edward Allen Fudan University Shanghai, China

ISSN 2730-6097 ISSN 2730-6100 (electronic) Liangzhu Civilization ISBN 978-981-19-5629-4 ISBN 978-981-19-5630-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5630-0 Jointly published with Zhejiang University Press The print edition is not for sale in China (Mainland). Customers from China (Mainland) please order the print book from: Zhejiang University Press. ISBN of the Co-Publisher’s edition: 978-7-308-19163-0 © Zhejiang University Press 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publishers, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishers nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publishers remain neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Series Editor’s Foreword

Liangzhu and Five Thousand Years of Chinese Civilization The combination of time and space is marvelous. When we look up at the starry sky and see the immense universe, the twinkling stars seem to be permanently embedded in the canopy of the heavens. However, we know from modern science that the lightyear is a unit of distance, and the light of stars from the depths of the universe was emitted in the distant past—the travel across time and space happens in the mere blink of an eye. Archaeology is also a discipline about the travel across time and space. Through the door of time opened by our own hands, we can go back to different moments in human history, and 5000 years ago was a special one. Globally speaking, the period 5000 years ago was a great era in which civilization was born. Coincidentally, early civilizations all grew up in the world’s major river basins, such as the ancient Egyptian civilization in the Nile River Basin, the Sumerian civilization in the Tigris–Euphrates River Basin and the Harappan civilization in the Indus River Basin. How about the Chinese civilization 5000 years ago? This issue has baffled scholars for quite a long time. They have examined ancient China’s cities, characters, bronzeware, etc., according to the international standards of civilization and found that the ancient Chinese civilization could date back to no earlier than the Shang dynasty when oracle bone script appeared. The history before the emergence of characters was called “prehistory” in archaeology. During China’s prehistoric times, different geographical units in the vast territory have given birth to cultural sequences with various characteristics since 10,000 years ago, which is figuratively called “the sky dotted with stars” in archaeology. China’s prehistory, however, has long been underestimated. We always take the Xia and Shang dynasties as the origin of the Chinese civilization and take the Yellow River civilization as its core, which unconsciously downplays the historic significance of high-level ruins and high-grade relics in surrounding areas, such as those from the Hongshan culture in western Liaoning, the Shijiahe culture around the Yangtze River and the Han River, the Liangzhu culture in the Taihu Basin, the Taosi

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Series Editor’s Foreword

culture in southern Shanxi and the Shimao site in northern Shaanxi. As we explore the origin of the Chinese culture, we come to realize that some cultures like “stars dotting the sky” sparkled the first sign of civilization, and the Liangzhu culture is a particular one among them. The Liangzhu culture, an archaeological culture of jade worship, suddenly came into existence in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River approximately 5300 years ago. Despite the fact that jade had already been widely admired, it was not until that period that jade worship reached an unprecedented climax. Different from ornamental jade ware many people love, Liangzhu people’s jade ware was made not only for aesthetic purposes. Represented by cong,1 which belonged to the ritual jade ware system besides yue,2 huang,3 bi,4 crown-shaped ornaments, three-pronged jade artifacts, awl-shaped jade artifacts, tablets and tubes, Liangzhu people’s jade ware symbolized their status, power or wealth. Various jade ware buried in earth mounds alongside the people with supreme power showed the dignity of the deceased, and the divine emblem often engraved on the jade ware demonstrated Liangzhu people’s unified belief. The owners of the jade ware were Liangzhu’s ruling class who believed they could exercise the god’s will as the embodiment of the god. The types and quantities of the jade ware buried with them imply their social status and responsibility. It seems that the Liangzhu culture was once divided into multiple centers and covered a great number of small states, because extremely high-level tomb groups were found at the sites of Fanshan and Yaoshan in Yuhang District, Hangzhou, the site of Sidun in Wujin District, Changzhou, the site of Gaochengdun in Jiangyin, and the site of Fuquanshan in Shanghai. Fortunately, history gave Yuhang an opportunity: more and more sites of the Liangzhu culture were found around the site of Fanshan, and the good protection of these centrally distributed sites allowed archaeological work to be carried out smoothly in the area. In retrospect, it provided a foundation for the rediscovery of the Liangzhu culture. Otherwise, no one would have realized that the scattered sites are different parts of the ancient capital city Liangzhu. We now can see that the Liangzhu city, composed of the imperial city, the inner city and the outer city, covers 6.3 km2 , around eight times the size of the Forbidden City. It boasts palaces, royal tombs, city walls, moats, a water transportation system inside the city, and a water conservancy system outside the city. It was a proper capital city in terms of its scale and layout, and the Liangzhu culture could reach the standards of civilization except for characters and bronzeware. Nevertheless, with our minds open, we may find that the general standards of civilization should not be applied rigidly when determining whether a culture has entered a civilized society or not. The significance of etiquette manifested by bronzeware in other civilized societies is reflected in jade ware in the Liangzhu culture. Despite the lack of the character system through which languages can be recorded and thoughts and cultures can be passed down, the symbols incised on ritual jade ware could unify people’s thoughts to a great 1

Cong (琮): a straight tube with a circular bore and square outer section with convex sides. Yue (钺): axe. 3 Huang (璜): semi-circular jade artifact. 4 Bi (璧): flat jade disc with a circular hole in the center. 2

Series Editor’s Foreword

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extent, and the impressive organizational and managerial capabilities of Liangzhu society reflected in large construction projects also suggest that there must have been a certain method for information transmission similar to the character system. For these reasons, the discovery of the Liangzhu city established the existence of the Liangzhu civilization. The archaeological studies of Liangzhu have lasted for more than eight decades. In 1936, Shi Xingeng first discovered black-surfaced pottery and stone tools, and today we have defined the Liangzhu culture as the first regional culture in ancient China that formed an early kingdom; in 1959, Xia Nai put forward the designation of “the Liangzhu culture” and scholars came to know the characteristics of this culture, and today we carry out multifield and all-dimensional archaeological research on the Liangzhu civilization and the state form of Liangzhu becomes clearer and clearer to us. This book series, written by young and middle-aged scholars who are devoted to the archaeological work of Liangzhu, focuses on recent archaeological findings and studies of the ruins of the Liangzhu city in Pingyao Town, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, and contains a huge amount of information, including different aspects of the site that people hope to know, the history of the archaeological studies of Liangzhu, the palaeoenvironment, plants and animals of Liangzhu, Fanshan royal cemetery which is the highest level of cemetery in the Liangzhu culture, high-grade jade ware of Liangzhu often discussed by people, and a wide range of pottery used in Liangzhu people’s daily life. On top of that, Liangzhu is also compared with other ancient civilizations in the world, and an intriguing series of news reports on Liangzhu is commented on by media professionals. We hope this book series can arouse readers’ interest in the Liangzhu civilization, so more people can be inspired to explore our history. Perhaps many people would ask about the relationship between the Liangzhu civilization and the Chinese civilization because Chinese people are called the descendants of Huaxia5 in modern history but few people have heard of Liangzhu. This is understandable: we believe the Chinese civilization is a unified civilization of a state with its political power in the Yellow River Basin; it has survived from the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang dynasties and is still thriving today. However, the archaeologists have launched the “In Search of the Origins of Chinese Civilization” project to gain some insights into the earliest cultural form of Chinese civilization, so we should not have too many presuppositions for the earliest civilized society. Since we have found a 5000-year-old regional civilization, the Liangzhu civilization, we may also find the Hongshan civilization in northern Liaoning and the Shijiahe civilization in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, though we are not able to confirm the existence of these civilizations at this stage due to limited archaeological findings. While the Liangzhu civilization started declining gradually 4300 years ago, the elements of the civilization have been well inherited because of Liangzhu’s jade, and its influence has spread all over the country—regional civilizations actually have a nationwide and even universal influence. 5

Huaxia refers to a confederation of tribes—living along the Yellow River—who were the ancestors of what later became the Han ethnic group in China (Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huaxia).

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Series Editor’s Foreword

Human migration and communication have never ceased since the Paleolithic era. Population movement of different scales, degrees and forms have facilitated collisions, exchanges and integration between cultures, and the development of regional civilization is also a dynamic process. The one thousand years following the Liangzhu civilization—the earliest Chinese civilization we can confirm as of today—witnessed the successive prosperity of Taosi, Shimao and Erlitou, and the center of regional civilization changed from time to time. In this process, the elements of civilization, such as etiquette, hierarchical society and city structures, were inherited and integrated till the beginning of the Xia and Shang dynasties. In fact, the Xia and Shang cultures evolved in their respective regions, and the change of the dynasties reflects the dominance of Xia was replaced by the dominance of the other regional civilization—the regions were much larger this time and the civilizations fought against each other during that period for the control over the territory. It was not until the Qin dynasty that a state unified by centralized political power appeared in China. In this regard, the period from Liangzhu to the Shang and Zhou dynasties saw the Chinese civilization’s continued evolution from a regional civilization to a unified one, so this period can by no means be separated apart. Liangzhu, China May 2019

Bin Liu

Contents

1 Why Liangzhu “City”? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 The Discovery of Liangzhu Ancient City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 Layout and Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.1 The Outer City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.2 City Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.3 The Palace Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.4 Burial Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.5 Storage Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.6 The Ancient River Passage at Zhongjiagang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.7 Workshop Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.8 Other Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 1 4 9 10 11 14 17 18 20 23 23

2 The Stone-Paving Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Stone-Paving Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Rock Types and Combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 The Stone-Layering Production Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

25 25 29 33

3 Researching Work Volume—And a Model Experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 3.1 How the Ancients Shipped Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 3.2 How Long to Build the Wall? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 4 Patterns of Stone Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 A Society Forged by Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.1 Farming Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.2 Hunting and Fishing Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.3 Processing Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.4 Mingqi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.5 Stone Tools of Unknown Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Working with the Available Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.1 Farming Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.2 Fishing and Hunting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

45 46 47 49 51 53 54 55 57 57

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Contents

4.2.3 Processing Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 4.2.4 Mingqi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 4.3 The Wisdom of Liangzhu Peoples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 5 Where to Look for Our Stone Tools and Quarries? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 A Geological Overview of the C-Shaped Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 Resources, Quarries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 The Liangzhu Habitation Sphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

67 67 74 78

6 To Be Continued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 An Expanded Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 The Stone from Another Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 Searching for the Jade Spirit of Liangzhu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

81 81 86 90

Postscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Chapter 1

Why Liangzhu “City”?

1.1 Geography Liangzhu culture (5300–4300 BP) is primarily distributed around the Taihu Lake watershed. Liangzhu was among the most developed civilizations in China during its time. The culture is named after the earliest discoveries at Liangzhu Township in Yuhang County, Hangzhou. The heart of Liangzhu culture can be found at Liangzhu Ancient City at Pingyao Township in Yuhang District, Hangzhou. It remains the only urban remains belonging to Liangzhu culture discovered to date. It has therefore become known as Liangzhu Ancient City. Liangzhu Ancient City is surrounded by hills on three sides and leans back on subbranch of the Tianmu Mountain on the fourth. The city lies in what is overall piedmont topography, scattered sporadically with small massifs. Liangzhu peoples made full use of these massifs when building up the ancient city and the perimeter irrigation system. The mountain bedrock around Liangzhu is formed of primarily Cretaceous (135–65 Mya) granite, Early Cretaceous (135–100 Mya) hypabyssal intrusive rock, Early Cretaceous volcanic rock, Middle Jurassic (175–155 Mya) continental sedimentary rock and Early Paleozoic (570–400 Mya) marine sedimentary rock. Cretaceous granite and Early Paleozoic sedimentary rock is distributed mostly around Changle, Huanghu and Jingshan on the upper reaches of the Tiao Brook. During the Cretaceous period, enormous volcanic eruptions forged the volcanic basins of the Tianmu Mountains and Fuyang area, where a considerable amount of volcanic ash and pyroclastic debris underwent sedimentation, accumulation and transformation into tuff.

© Zhejiang University Press 2022 X. Ji et al., Liangzhu’s Story of Stone, Liangzhu Civilization, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5630-0_1

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1 Why Liangzhu “City”?

The North, Middle and South Tiao Brooks merge into East Tiao Brook at Pingyao Township. The stream flows west of Liangzhu Ancient City toward Taihu Lake. The East Tiao brook has a drainage area of over 2000 km2 and a total length of around 150 km. It remains uncertain in which specific era the stream formed. Previous research suggests that the East Tiao Brook may very well have looked different from today during Liangzhu times. The vast Hangzhou–Jiaxing–Huzhou plains occupy the east of the crescent-shaped region containing Liangzhu Ancient City. A sufficient material foundation was required for civilizational development and evolution, and developing widespread agriculture in these hilly regions was a difficult proposition—it was even less likely that rice cultivation, the hallmark of the south, could be initiated in any considerable acreage up in the hills. The material poverty of the hills made staying well fed and warm problematic—civilizations struggled to take flight. This explains why prehistoric activities, at the present view, seem more plentiful in flatter areas of the Zhejiang area, distributed around the Hangzhou–Jiaxing–Huzhou plains, the Ningshao (Ningbo–Shaoxing) Plains and Jinqu (Jinhua–Quzhou) Basin, which spread over Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Ningbo, Shaoxing, Jinhua and Quzhou. Liangzhu daily utensils were principally pottery wares, wooden tools and stone tools. Clay and timber were required for manufacturing the first two and were easily sought out on the plains. Quarrying for stone tools, however, were a less simple matter. We have deduced that Liangzhu stone was quarried from the Tianmu Mountains.

The Tianmu Mountains

1.1 Geography

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The Jiaxing–Hangzhou–Huzhou plains sit in the south of the Yangtze Delta and encompass northeast Hangzhou, all of Jiaxing and most of Huzhou. The area is bordered by Taihu Lake in the north and the Bay of Hangzhou and Qiantang River to the south. It abuts a sub-chain of the Tianmu Mountains on the west, the same region in which Liangzhu Ancient City was ensconced. The Jiaxing–Hangzhou–Huzhou plains have undergone multiple oceanic incursions and retreats and the region was gradually reclaimed and its terrain desalinized after the final such event, when the area became hospitable for plant growth and human survival. Following this oceanic retreat the region became primarily marsh sediment, existing within a humid and moist climate. Taihu Lake was mosaic of rivers at this time—a sophisticated system yet to develop into the modern form. Several hundred Liangzhu culture sites have been found across the Jiaxing–Hangzhou–Huzhou plains. We can imagine the area was a hive of activity. The area belongs to a subtropical monsoon climate zone. The humid and moist summers feature strong southeast winds. A powerful northwest wind blows in winters of cold and dry weather. The average annual temperature is around 15 °C. Rainfall is heaviest in three separate periods: from March–May, June–July and August–October, known correspondingly as the Spring Rains, Plum Rains and Typhoon Rains. Most prolonged are the Spring Rains, when 30% of annual rainfall falls on the area. Another relatively extended period of precipitation is the Plum Rains, which cover the widest expanse, but vary considerably year by year in number of days of rainfall and total precipitation. The Typhoon Rains, as the name suggests, are, essentially, the stormy rains brought in under the influence the typhoons. These are rather powerful, if short-lived storms. Precipitation can vary widely on an annual basis. Summer rainfall is considerable, occupying 40% of annual precipitation. This is followed by spring, with fall and winter the driest.

Herons at Liangzhu Ancient City

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1 Why Liangzhu “City”?

The regional climate underwent three phases during Liangzhu times. In the early phase, the climate was rather humid: vegetation flourished while a greater area lay underwater, providing optimal conditions for rice cultivation. During the middle phase, the temperature dipped slightly downwards, though overall climate remained warm. In the late phase, the entire climate became chillier and drier. With the global 4.2-kiloyear aridification event, declines of different degrees began among the four great civilizations (Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, China). Liangzhu’s decline and fall may well also be linked to this climatic event.

1.2 The Discovery of Liangzhu Ancient City The large artificial platform at Mojiaoshan and Royal Cemetery at Fanshan, both within Liangzhu Ancient City, were already known as our archaeological work began. Our confirmation of the presence or absence of an urban site was long delayed, however, by the failure to discover a city wall. What was therefore critical to the actual discovery of Liangzhu Ancient City was finding this wall. When a portion of the rural homes within the Key Protected Area of Liangzhu Site were forcibly removed from 2006 to 2007, the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology performed the relevant excavations at the site for the relocation, discovering a Liangzhu river trench of 40 m width and one meter deep during excavations at the edge of the elevated land at Putaofan Village in Pingyao. The trench contained relatively thick Liangzhu culture daily life deposits. Partial dissection of the east trench shore revealed that the elevated area was entirely an artificial construction, embanked to nearly four meters height. The base was paved with a complete layer of stones. This was no natural hillock; the stones must have been shipped in and paved out. As archaeologists pondered the discovery, locals laid claim to having discovered identical stones previously while digging elsewhere. Since the elevated land, running from north to south, was separated from the Tiao Brook by a mere few hundred meters, we preliminarily inferred that the feature might be the remains of the large artificial Liangzhu weir.

1.2 The Discovery of Liangzhu Ancient City

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Top The large weir at Tiao Brook; Bottom On-site prospecting

In March, 2007, with Putaofan as our base point, we extended drilling, surveying and trial excavation to the south and north. Thanks to knowledge of soil quality and archaeological traces from the preceding excavation, the excavation team established three standards for the subsequent probing and search for relevant remains: (1) remains were built from a relatively pure yellow clay; (2) stones were laid at the base; (3) the area beyond the yellow soil and stone remains constituted the trench, whose upper layer was a light yellow silty sediment and whose base was a dark gray sediment, with Liangzhu culture deposits near the site periphery. Based on these

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standards, the team was able to exploit drilling methods to confirm a site extending from Qifengshan (Qifeng Hill) in the south to Tiao Brook on the north, roughly 60 m wide and one kilometer in length. In order to verify these drilling results, the team then selected a passage around Baiyuanfan, north of the former No. 104 State Highway, for analysis and excavation. Because this elevated stretch sat near Tiao Brook, the embanked earth had already been replaced over multiple dike repairs: the stone foundations, when located, lay only 40 cm from the surface. A Liangzhu culture site sat immediately below the rice paddies. The excavation was rapidly effective while also minimizing damage to the wall itself. Evaluating the differences between deposits as indicated in the drilling process, the team dug four exploratory trenches for analysis. The analysis further confirmed continuity in the distribution and method of embankment as well as the presence of a river bed on either side. The river was superimposed by Liangzhu culture inhabitation deposits at the edges. Pottery sherds shared identical traits to discoveries at Putaofan. Over sixth months of drilling and excavation, we learned that the southern extreme of the remains extended to Fengshan (Feng Hill) and was superimposed by the large dike at East Tiao Brook at its northern extreme. Were we dealing with a city wall or Liangzhu period dike? The question needed to be resolved in subsequent work. If this was a city wall around Mojiaoshan, then what about the north wall and south wall? The excavation team divided into two routes, one heading east along Fengshan, the other east along the south of Hechitou. Several days passed fruitlessly. The team switched strategies, joining forces at a focal point, where we searched for the north wall. When the team found nothing south of Hechitou, the team headed north. Hard work always pays off, and on June 9, 2007, the team found the first stones beneath elevated land at Hechitou Village. There was also a glimmer of hope regarding the broken west wall. Following this new target, the group expanded along both poles, searching hole by hole for the underlying soil and stones or flooded layer and silting beyond the wall border. By the end of September, this drilling had confirmed the presence of a wall of 800 m length extending from the large dike of Zhao Brook through to Zhishan (Zhi Hill). That was the north wall. But was that it? The excavation faced the very same question again. The north wall vanished after its connection at Zhishan had been found. The team were still unable to rule out the possibility of a large dike of the ancient Tiao Brook, as the stretch still ran parallel with the Tiao Brook dike to the north.

1.2 The Discovery of Liangzhu Ancient City

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On-site at the excavation of the Liangzhu Ancient City west wall

Starting on October 1, 2007, the excavation crew set up several drilling targets along the east side of Zhishan. One headed northeast along Zhishan, where any findings would belong to the dike. The second headed southwards and considered Zhishan a turning point in the wall. The third involved drilling south from the elevated land at Qianshan (Qian Hill) toward a point east of Zhishan, taking Qianshan as the turning point. The first route lay between Zhishan and the modern large dike of Tiao Brook. We repeatedly scouted this area until we drilled through to Ducheng Village in Anxi without finding a single suggestive indicator. The second route began underneath elevated land south of Qianshan: it also failed to turn up the stone foundations we were seeking. Drilling south of Zhishan, meanwhile, turned up no stones either. Maybe we were dealing with the ancient Tiao brook after all? By the end of October, we had surveyed an area of over a thousand square kilometers, from Zhishan and Qianshan through to No. 104 State Highway. At last, in the north of Jinjianong Village, the team drilled down to underlying rocks. Now that they had a target, the team quickly branched out from north and south. The north was connected to the east of Zhishan and the south led to Xiaodoumen Village. Finding the east wall allowed the initial north wall and west wall to be initially confirmed as city walls rather than large weirs of the Tiao. The crew was then obligated to search for the south wall, since the city wall could only be confirmed through finding a four-sided structure.

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1 Why Liangzhu “City”?

Zhishan

Following the discovery of the north, west and east wall, we were able to draw a preliminary outline of the city wall. The south wall was then confirmed without further problems: it ran from west Xiaodoumen Village in the east, through to Yangjia Village in the west, there linking with the east slope of Fengshan, running a total course of 1600 m. By now the Liangzhu Ancient City, three-hundred hectares in area, encircled by a wall of 1700 m from east to west, 1900 m from north to south, was laid out before the excavators’ eyes. None had dared imagine such enormous scale. It was far beyond what they had imagined for Liangzhu culture. To verify their drilling results as quickly as possible, the team proceeded to dig and conduct anatomical excavation at two north trenches and a single trench on the east and south sides, respectively. Both prospecting and excavation results confirmed that the site was unbroken at each side and about 40–60 m wide, with stone-covered foundations, primarily yellow soil used in the construction above and the same embankment technique at each side. This site—sealed and surrounded on four sides—must have been the city wall. Exploratory trenches on all four sides showed Liangzhu culture deposits superimposed at the wall base, containing pottery sherds that were entirely within the late Liangzhu period. This also proved that the city wall was erected simultaneously on all four sides.

1.3 Layout and Structure

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The foundational stones and trench positions at the city wall

On November 29, 2007, the Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau and Hangzhou Municipal People’s Government held a press conference, announcing the “earth-shattering” discovery that the Liangzhu Ancient City was “China’s First City.” (This section was adapted from Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. 2019. Comprehensive Research Report—Liangzhu Ancient City [ 良渚古城综合研究报告]. Cultural Relics Press, Beijing.)

1.3 Layout and Structure After the discovery of Liangzhu Ancient City, there followed a decade of unbroken archaeological excavation and research that gradually clarified its structure and layout. This was a triple-structure consisting of outer city, inner city and central core zone in successive order. In the inner city and central core were spread the palace zone, royal and noble cemetery, granary zone, ancient river and handcrafts workshops.

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1 Why Liangzhu “City”?

1.3.1 The Outer City In order to clarify site distribution at the perimeter of Liangzhu Ancient City postdiscovery, the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology carried out archaeological prospecting and partial excavations. Prospecting revealed a number of Liangzhu Site. These were mostly stages on artificial embankments or constructed along the lie of natural hillocks and combined with artificial embanking. Site-less areas were mostly underwater or marshy during the Liangzhu. The subsequent Digital Elevation Model (DEM) revealed how certain elongated ridge mounds (Biandanshan, Bianjiashan etc.), working with natural hills, formed the discontinuous outer city wall. Most Liangzhu architecture would have been wooden and has not been seen in the archaeological discoveries to the present. The city wall, aside from its stone foundation, was primarily embanked through stacked earth or through grass-mixed mud (cob) techniques. After five millennia of being buffeted by wind and rain, sometimes losing its soil to locals for their own construction, most questions on the structure of the wall can no longer be answered. It may have been that the outer wall was an unbroken and imposing presence during the Liangzhu.

1.3 Layout and Structure

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DEM Model of the Outer City Structure at Liangzhu Ancient City

Meirendi, Biandanshan, Lishan and Bianjiashan belong to the outer city wall and have been excavated. Each site was originally directly embanked on marshlands, with no foundational stones. These features are primarily elongated ridges linking with the surrounding ancient city. Liangzhu burials were found in some (Wenjiashan, Bianjiashan), and rich Liangzhu refuse deposits in others, upon which we infer possibility that these were inhabited sites during the Liangzhu. The inner circle of the outer city is the city wall of Liangzhu Ancient City. At its northeast and southwest corners respectively were the natural hill forms of Zhishan and Fengshan. Both were used by Liangzhu peoples when erecting the wall. Inside the city we find additional naturally occurring small hills at Huangfenshan, Jiangjiashan and Huangnishan, features exploited by the Liangzhu during later times—some for their soil, others artificially embanked to form living spaces.

Area division inside Liangzhu Ancient City

1.3.2 City Wall The Liangzhu City Wall ran a total length of six kilometers along the natural topography of Fengshan and Zhishan. Width varied between 20 and 150 m, with multiple irregular concave and convex points along the inner and outer edges, similar to the lookout towers (mamian) of later city walls. With continuous increase in population, by the Late Liangzhu, livelihoods were unsustainable within the city: a large population occupied the walls themselves. These Liangzhu inhabitants consistently tipped their daily garbage either side of the wall and would later embank and expand the

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area of inhabitation upon these remains. Subsequently, some passages of the wall widened over the long run.

A suspected dock on the west slope of Mojiaoshan

Archaeological work revealed eight river gates and one land gate. There was a pair of river gates for each side of the wall, and a single land gate added to the south wall. With the exception of artificially embanked stages for inhabitation and burial, remaining relatively depressed areas inside Liangzhu Ancient City, as stated above, were all underwater, or marshlands. We can therefore call the Liangzhu Ancient City of its day a “water city.” Rivers linked the inner and outer city through water gates, forming a river network and transportation system working within and beyond the site. The pair of water gates on the west city wall are among the narrower of such examples, possibly because they face the East Tiao Brook, hence benefiting flood prevention. With only one land gate discovered in the center of the southern wall, we may state that contemporary means of Liangzhu entry and egress would most likely have been primarily through river communications.

1.3 Layout and Structure

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Top Aerial photograph (north–south) of the southern city wall; Bottom On-site excavation of the north city wall

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The palace zone at Mojiaoshan

1.3.3 The Palace Zone Inside Liangzhu Ancient City, there was a large artificial earthen platform— Mojiaoshan. 630 m long from east to west, 450 m wide from north to south, it was a double-layered embankment, gray silt in the lower section, and a surface level consisting of 2–4 m of pure yellow soil. A natural hillock with a mere two-meter artificial embankment lay to the west, while the east section was stacked 10–12 m deep, with the surface layer yellow soil at a depth of 3–4 m. The gray silt embanking the platform base was drawn from the marshes and would serve as the subsequent foundation for the yellow soil extracted from the hillsides that further elevated the platforms. There are three further artificially raised platforms on Mojiaoshan itself, respectively, known as Major Mojiaoshan, Minor Mojiaoshan and Wuguishan. Together, these constituted the Palace Zone of Liangzhu Ancient City.

1.3 Layout and Structure

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Rammed earth remains at a square built from sandy soil

Major Mojiaoshan sits in the northeast of Mojiaoshan and is the largest of these three platforms, with an area of around 1.5 ha, embanked to a depth of around 16.5 m. The remains of seven elevated-platform buildings with areas of 300–900 m2 were found on Major Mojiaoshan. They may have been the contemporary palace. Minor Mojiaoshan lies 80 m to the west of Major Mojiaoshan and covers around 3500 m2 (0.35 ha), embanked to around six meters. Here, four buildings were discovered— verified as Liangzhu period, though they belonged to different stages of the culture. Situated 80 m to the south of Minor Mojiaoshan, Wuguishan covers an area of around 8500 m2 and was embanked to a height of around seven meters. The uppermost platform at Moguishan was seriously depleted and no buildings or other architectural remains could be found. The feature had suffered a definite degree of overall damage.

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Left stone remains on east slope of Mojiaoshan; Right stone remains on southwest slope of Mojiaoshan

A square built from sandy soil spreads out over nearly seven hectares in the area between the three Mojiaoshan mounds. The square is primarily layers of sand and mud combined and built up through rammed-earth techniques. The sand is mostly river sand, mixed with mud and tiny pebbles. The square was built directly atop the original embanked gray soil. Remains of nine orderly laid-out buildings covering areas of between 200 and 500 m2 and contemporary to the square were uncovered in the south and east. Additionally, five north–south earth platforms were discovered on the eastern perimeter of Mojiaoshan, with eight earth platforms spread from east to west found on its northern edge. Crisscrossing stone remains were found in the north and south portions of Mojiaoshan as well—these formed a rather complex structure and their width varied from 30 to 75 cm. The nature of these remains is still unverifiable. Trace phenomena of trench ditches have survived within the ambit of the stone remains in some of the area, showing a trench was excavated prior to laying stone, in what was a clearly preplanned fashion.

1.3 Layout and Structure

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1.3.4 Burial Zones An elevated north–south ridge can be found on the west side of the Mojiaoshan platform. On the north of this ridge is the Fanshan Royal Cemetery and in the south the Jiangjiashan Site. Fanshan runs roughly 120 m from east to west and approximately 80 m from north to south. It is a rectangular earth mound built through artificial embanking, where a total of 11 large burials from Liangzhu culture have been found and an abundance of pottery, stone tools, jade and a smaller number of lacquers and ivory wares were unearthed.

A full view of the Fanshan burials

The Fanshan “King of cong”

Top left Stone yue-battle-ax, M12: 106 (Fanshan); Top middle Stone yue-battle-ax, M12: 108 (Fanshan); Top right Stone yue-battle-ax, M12: 107 (Fanshan); Bottom left Jade-encrusted lacquer cup (reproduction) (Fanshan); Bottom right Jade yue-battle-ax, M12:87 (Fanshan)

Jiangjiashan lies in the south of the royal cemetery at Fanshan. The large earth platform here was embanked artificially against a natural hill feature and embanked to a depth of 2–5 m. Building foundations and ash pits were discovered in a relatively elevated patch east of the feature and represented a residential area. Liangzhu culture noble burials were discovered in the west section. Their rank was somewhat lower than Fanshan, though jades, likewise, were unearthed.

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1.3.5 Storage Area The Chizhongsi Site is a small platform in the area to the southwest of Mojiaoshan. The site is surrounded by water on the east, south and west fronts, linking with Mojiaoshan to the north. A large volume of carbonized rice was discovered during excavation and converted into a total of over 150 tons. The excavations indicate the east portion of this site was a stretch of ponds during the Liangzhu which gradually silted up following their abandonment, being used as rice paddies in recent history. The soil was pure and lacking any parasites associated with anthropogenic activities, with Liangzhu lifestyle refuse also rare. We infer that during the Liangzhu, the prime purpose of these pools was to store potable water.

Carbonized rice from Chizhongsi

1.3 Layout and Structure

On-site at the excavation of Zhongjiagang (south stretch)

Remains of wooden revetment and earth platform (looking from east to west)

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1.3.6 The Ancient River Passage at Zhongjiagang We found a Liangzhu period ancient river passage in the east, north and south of Mojiaoshan: Zhongjiagang (Zhongjia River). The 工-shaped ancient river passage at Zhongjiagang runs for a total length of 1000 m with a width of 18–80 m and a depth of around 3 m. The stretch of the ancient river on the west side of Mojiaoshan was backfilled during the Late Liangzhu, forming a large platform stretching from Major Mojiaoshan through the east city wall. The contemporary wooden revetment was discovered when excavating the southern stretch of Zhongjiagang. The revetment ran parallel to the eastern stretch of the platform. It was a woven-bamboo and wooden structure with a central horizontal wooden beam across wooden stakes. Stake diameter ranged from 7 to 16 cm, with stakes spaced at distances of 30–40 cm, and pottery, stone tools and small pieces of unprocessed jade discovered in the riverbed. Also found were a considerable volume of zooarchaeological and archaeobotanic remains, as well as processed bone tools and raw bone material.

Top Gravel unearthed from Zhongjiagang; Bottom unworked stone yue-battle ax unearthed from Zhongjiagang

1.3 Layout and Structure

Top Flint from Zhongjiagang; Bottom A Zhongjiagang fishhook

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Top Flint from Zhongjiagang; Bottom A Zhongjiagang fishhook

Imagined reconstruction of Liangzhu Ancient City

1.3 Layout and Structure

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1.3.7 Workshop Areas When excavating Zhongjiagang, a relatively large volume of stone tools, bone tools, flint sherds, unprocessed jades, jade cores, fragments of stone tools and unprocessed jades were discovered on the east shore of the platform. We also uncovered a large patch of charred earth deposits. These artifacts and remains revealed the high likelihood of workshops for processing stone tools and jade around these earth platforms during Liangzhu times. The pottery—and the zooarchaeological and archaeobotanic remains—in the riverbed, may have been domestic waste from artisans occupying the workshops on the contemporary shore. These sherds of unprocessed jade and fragments of stone tools were possibly offcuts produced during processing that had been dumped into the river.

1.3.8 Other Platforms On the north and east flanks of the Mojiaoshan Palace Zone, we also found a large stretch of artificially embanked platforms. On the west side of Mojiaoshan is the Huangfenshan platform stretch, as yet excavated. Prospecting has revealed embankment to a depth of between 8 and 10 m and a maximum thickness of 16.5 m. Huangfenshan covers roughly 5 ha and joins with Mojiaoshan through a north– south thoroughfare. It is highly probable that Huangfenshan was, like Mojiaoshan, part of the contemporary palace zone. Reviewing this perimeter—the stone foundations of the city wall, the profusion of elevated palace platforms within the city walls, the ancient river path of Zhongjiagang navigating the entire city, the vast stretch of jade and stone tool processing areas—the factors, combined, tell us: this we can call Liangzhu Ancient City.

Chapter 2

The Stone-Paving Story

2.1 Stone-Paving Style As mentioned above, the discovery of the Liangzhu city wall began with the stonepaved foundations. These rocks have also been the subject of archaeological research. With the paving at the city walls buried under embanked earth, archaeologists excavated five trenches along the walls in an effort to clarify the wall structure and embankment process. The east wall trenches were split into three sections, covering a total area of roughly 33 m2 , shared, respectively: a 1.5 m wide and 10.5 m long trench, a trench 4 m long and 2 m wide, and a trench of 4.5 m width and 2 m length. Two parts of the southern wall were excavated with respective trenches of 2 m width and 13.5 m width, and 5.5 m width and 17 m length, a total of 120 m2 . On the north wall, a grand total of 40 m2 was unearthed; two trenches were investigated in the west wall, with respective areas of 495 and 40 m2 . Total trench area reached over 700 m2 —a mere sample survey relative to the overall wall area. Yet in this stretch, over 10,000 wall paving stones were uncovered. Archaeologists performed systematic measurement and lithological identification on these materials, which essentially were able to reflect the nature of the stone paving at the wall in terms of block measurements and degree of grounded roundness.

© Zhejiang University Press 2022 X. Ji et al., Liangzhu’s Story of Stone, Liangzhu Civilization, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5630-0_2

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Total values for rock diameter (a) and length/ width ratio at five passages of the city wall

2.1 Stone-Paving Style

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Frequency (y-axis) of overall rock diameters for city wall stone paving (x-axis) at four city wall passages

The degree of rock measurement refers to the “three sides” of the stone, or in other words its dimensions, which could be measured directly, using a centimeter ruler. For convenience of measurement and so as to prevent us from impacting rock shape, researchers mainly measured the exposed long and short sides and their ratio, with a quotient of 1 suggesting a near isometric rock. Measurements discovered stone tool length lay mostly between 10 and 35 cm, with a minority of rocks above 40 cm or below 10 cm long. The ratio of the long to short sides lay between 1 and 1.8, with the majority in the 1–1.2 range, indicating a block shape for the majority of these stones and a strip shape for a minority of stones. Additional discrepancies in overall stone mass might reflecting the use of different quarries. Stones were, for example, relatively small at the east city wall—mostly between 10 and 15 cm, only a small minority above 50 cm. Roundedness was another trait used to describe the morphology of these paved rocks. Roundedness refers to degree of systematic erosion resulting in sphericity as the exterior angles of the rock are subject to fracturing, rolling and erosion through river passage. Generally speaking, stones that are artificially quarried or split and left in situ without abrasion through rolling or river erosion will exhibit clear angularity. On the other hand, stones that have constantly and gradually rolled downstream into streams will have that same angularity gradually eroded by years of river erosion and constant rolling on the riverbed, ultimately leading to a high degree of roundedness. Cobblestones, so commonly seen, are formed through this very same process of transformation, following the fracture of a large rock. Obviously no great change takes place in the material constitution or chemical composition of the rock through this process, though wind and rain will also slowly erode angularity and result in increasing roundedness on exposed edges. Despite this, the paving stones at the city wall would likely not have been present for sufficient time for such angularity to have been cleanly eroded out by climatic erosion. Roundness lets us infer, firstly, whether the stone was artificially quarried (and therefore strikingly angular), and on the other hand, while also allowing us to deduce the approximate sourced environment (i.e., since we do not see much bedrock inside Liangzhu Ancient City itself, the paving stones must have been sourced extramurally).

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Degrees of roundedness on paving stones: Upper left Angular; Upper right Sub-angular; Bottom left Sub-rounded; Bottom right Rounded

Roundedness is generally ranked according in four grades: angular, sub-angular, sub-rounded and rounded. Usually angular rocks have not undergone erosion, or been directly transferred from the quarry: they have jagged and sharp angles mostly from the splitting of natural rock or otherwise struck out during quarrying. Sub-angular rocks have worn and defanged edges but remain angular, reflecting natural movement over a relatively short distance. The sub-rounded stone blocks have undergone natural transfer over a rather longer course and have markedly frayed corners—a rounded outline has appeared but is not clearly visible. In rounded rocks, angularity has been thoroughly eroded and the jagged outline all but disappeared. This is the shape of cobblestones we see frequently nowadays.

2.2 Rock Types and Combinations

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Overall statistics on paving stone roundedness at Liangzhu Ancient City

After evaluating and furnishing overall figures for over 10,000 rocks from the five trenches described above, our researchers discovered that the majority of rocks were sub-angular, a category that took up roughly 60% of the total. Sub-rounded rocks ranked second, at 10–35%. There were very few rounded or angular examples, demonstrating that most stones had been removed over only short distances, fewer over longer routes. This was a separate indication that the likely lithological sources lay in the nearby hills. Through an analysis of the morphological straits of the stone paving, researchers were able that the rocks had for all intents and purposes been collected, as against artificially quarried. Rock size and mass suggests one individual could have transported one rock easily.

Right Latite crystal-lithic ignimbrite; Left Monzoporphyry

2.2 Rock Types and Combinations While measuring Liangzhu stone paving through the method above, geologists also analyzed each rock type. This research revealed an extremely rich typology, with over ten types, branching out over pyroclastic rock (latite crystal-lithic ignimbrite, rhyolitic crystal welded tuff, rhyolithic vitric tuff), irruptive rock (andesite, monzoporphyry), sedimentary rock (quartz sandstone, quartzose wacke, arkose) and metamorphic rock (spotted porphyry, hornfels, silicified rock).

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Left rhyolitic vitric tuff; Right hornfels

It has become evident that a quite complex array of rock types was used to pave the city wall. There were also differences in the combination of rocks underlying different stretches of the wall. The stone paving on the east wall was primarily pyroclastic rock, which consisted, in the main, of latite/ rhyolitic crystal-lithic ignimbrite and rhyolitic vitric ignimbrite—constituting over 95% of the total. We have, in addition, a modicum of monzoporphyry, andesite, sandstone and silicified rock. Pyroclastic rock occupies around 70% of the south wall, with the remaining 15% coming from silicified rock, 10% from sandstone and a small volume of monzoporphyry. The west wall, which covers the largest area, has the greatest number of richest variety of paving stones. Pyroclastic rock, similarly, predominates, at 96% of the total. There were, additionally scattered finds of monzoporphyry, silicified rock, slate, quartz sandstone, cordierite hornfels, and fluorite. But in another exposed trench on the west wall, the layering consisted entirely of andesite. There were further differences between the north wall and remaining three walls. Its lithological makeup was 92% monzoporphyry, while the pyroclastic rock that dominated the remaining three faces occupied a lowly 3%, the remaining 5% taken up by sandstone. This was, however, also a different sandstone—quartz sandstone for the south and west walls, but arkose (feldspathic sandstone) in the north wall.

2.2 Rock Types and Combinations

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Pie chart showing lithological composition of stone layering at city wall foundations

North wall stone-layering lithological distribution chart

South wall stone-layering split-ridge phenomenon

From the layout of stone layering in the city wall structure at Liangzhu exposed in this recent work, it appears that there were striking differences in rock type and

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assemblage each side of the wall, although pyroclastic rock remained the mainstay overall. Latite crystal-lithic ignimbrite is the primary underlying pyroclastic rock which covers most of the east and west wall stone layering, with generous distributions along the north wall as well. Andesite and rhyolitic vitric tuff are densely concentrated at the south wall and were discovered in reasonable quantity along the east and west walls. In order to understand this lithological distribution, researchers charted each rock in these statistical calculations, coloring each category. They found a split-ridge phenomenon among rock types, extremely apparent in the south wall. The area exposed on the south wall split into a north and south stretch, the south stretch splitting into seven ridges, the north into three. The split-ridge phenomenon reflects a situation where these stones would have been sourced from different quarries. Each ridge, moreover, had to be split into individual small mounds, based on stone morphology. We infer that these mounds reflect the shipment capacity behind whatever tool of transportation as used by the Liangzhu people to move the foundation rocks. The phenomenon provides important clues for later research on the source of Liangzhu stone materials and for estimating the project workload.

On-site at a field survey: Top left At a stream by Xitou Village, Anxi Township; Top right Randomly dispersed natural rocks at a small gully at Xitou Village, Anxi Township; Bottom left Piled rocks at Zhuyuanpo (Bamboo Garden Slope), by Xitou Village in Anxi; Bottom right Natural slope sediment at Zhuyuanpo

2.3 The Stone-Layering Production Site

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2.3 The Stone-Layering Production Site Researchers have counted, measured and appraised over 10,000 rocks from the stone layering at Liangzhu Ancient City—an enormous expense of time and effort whether in sheer volume or detail. What has been the point of such time-consuming research?

Comparison of west wall stone layering and field rock samples: Top left latite crystal-lithic ignimbrite (W-3119), single polarization light; Top right W-3119, photographed on left side with crossed polarizer; Bottom left north kiln passage (067–1) latite crystal-lithic ignimbrite, single polarization light; Bottom right 067–1, photographed on left side with crossed polarizer

The research objective behind this enormous foundation work lay in resolving the following archaeological questions: from where, how, and with what expense of manpower and resources, had Liangzhu people transported the stones used to build the Liangzhu city wall? Research was performed through geological surveys on the lithological composition of the surrounding hillsides, in order to understand the sources of Liangzhu quarried stones. Some new understandings of the Liangzhu wall were reached once the results of this field geological survey were compared with the situation at the wall. None of the hills in the North Tiao, Middle Tiao and South Tiao watersheds 15 km beyond Liangzhu Ancient City were used to quarry rock for Liangzhu despite the identical lithological nature of some portions of the sample: similar stones could be found at locales nearer Liangzhu Ancient City, leaving no reason for the Liangzhu

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peoples to reject this nearby choice in favor of a more distant quarry. At the back swamp and riverbed of the Shuang Brook, we found a large volume of scattered, exposed rocks that could have been collected and transported along the waterways with ease. These, primarily, were sourced from the hills in the upper stretches of the river. They exhibited a high degree of roundedness and had a complex overall composition. Though these were tough and rather suitable wall foundation materials, this type of rounded stone was not found over any large stretch of the Liangzhu wall. Separated from Liangzhu Ancient City by under ten kilometers, the low-lying hills at Dazheshan [Dazhe Hill], Daxiongshan [Daxiong Hill] and Yaoshan [Yao Hill], located in a sub-chain of the Tianmu Mountains, were the primary focus of our work. It was at a stretch on the south slope of Dazheshan and along the north slope of Daxiongshan, less than five kilometers from Liangzhu Ancient City, that we would indeed discover rocks typologically similar to the stone layering at the city wall. The foundational stones for the city wall at Liangzhu Ancient City therefore were undoubtedly sourced locally. Our survey revealed that all rock types in the hilly regions near Liangzhu Ancient City were present in the stone layering—a stretch beyond the watershed north of Dazheshan was the only site where rocks different from this base were discovered. We therefore deduce a relatively limited radius for Liangzhu quarrying activities. The primary quarry was the south slope of Dazheshan and the north slope of Daxiongshan. Rocks were more numerous at Dazheshan and easily harvested. Rock volume was lower at Daxiongshan, though aside from the rocks at the south wall, north wall, east wall and west wall, mostly sourced from Dazheshan, the lion’s share of the south wall rocks derived from there. This may be due to the proximity of the south wall to Daxiongshan, making it the first point quarried by Liangzhu peoples—when later it began to ran dry, they raced to quarry at Dazheshan. Some of the low-lying hills situated between these two features were also quarried by the Liangzhu peoples, for example, Zhishan [Zhi Hill] on the northeast corner of the city wall, and Qianshan [Qian Hill], 500 m to its east. We also discovered a large number of layering stones from Fengshan [Feng Hill], by the southwest corner of the wall, and its neighbor Yangshan [Yang Hill]. Monzoporphyry in the stone layering at the north wall was also found close to Zhaoshan Village at the foothills of the southern slope of Dazheshan, with a large volume of latite crystal-lithic ignimbrite distributed in the periphery, one of the major quarries for paving stones at the city wall. Aside from comparing rock types between the stone layering and the surrounding hills, researchers contrasted the chemical composition, more or less establishing that the stone layering at the Liangzhu wall was sourced from these surrounding hills, primarily from the southern slope of Dazheshan and the north slope of Daxiongshan, a portion from the small hills in between.

2.3 The Stone-Layering Production Site

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An exposed section of weathered monzoporphyry bedrock

Essentially, we may state that Liangzhu peoples adhered to the principle of drawing from nearby resources for the city wall rocks. These were mostly drawn from Zhishan, Zhaoshan and Dazheshan for the north wall, from Fengshan and Daxiongshan for the south wall, and from both Dazheshan and Daxiongshan for the west and east walls. Furthermore, with Fengshan abutting the west wall and Zhishan close to the west wall, a portion of the layering stones from the west wall were sourced from the former, and a portion of the east wall stones from the latter. First to be used for the Liangzhu wall were nearby and exploitable stone quarries, with other points chosen to make up the difference in case of shortfalls—this also cut down on transportation times. The quarries for paving stones at the Liangzhu Ancient City wall had been found. In what followed, it would be possible to measure the work volume for the entire wall construction.

Chapter 3

Researching Work Volume—And a Model Experiment

3.1 How the Ancients Shipped Rock The rocks with which Liangzhu people laid their wall foundations were essentially collected (or picked up) from the foothills, without leaving any trace of artificial quarrying. Roughly two kilometers, as the crow flies, separate the south city wall from Daxiongshan, north wall and Dazheshan. This may have been a short distance to travel for some rocks, but their transportation would have still been exhausting without shipping equipment and through reliance on porterage alone. Then there was the lack of wheeled transportation in Liangzhu. This presents us with a question: what transportation method did the people of Liangzhu use to ship rock to the wall foundations? Before answering, we must first consider what transportation tools had emerged at the time. Were these tools capable of shipping rock with high efficiency and over a wide range? Archaeological research demonstrates the presence of a sophisticated river network around Liangzhu Ancient City as well as the sheer density of river channels. At the Liangzhu city wall a method of river-side construction was chosen, with channels on both the inner and outer side of the wall, each channel with a width of around 20–30 m. The Liangzhu city gates were, moreover, overwhelmingly water gates. A dense web of intramural and extramural channels passed through the water gates and recombined to form a complex network of river transportation. This area, densely veined with rivers, naturally provided great expediency to river transport Boats, moreover, were traditional Taihu Lake plains transport. Researchers have confirmed, on these above accounts, that the boat was the primary mean of rock transport.

© Zhejiang University Press 2022 X. Ji et al., Liangzhu’s Story of Stone, Liangzhu Civilization, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5630-0_3

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Left Canoe unearthed from Maoshan; Right Bamboo raft from Nanhu

Imagined depiction of shipment of stones for the Liangzhu wall

Researchers believe that wooden-slat boats appeared in China during the Shang Dynasty (~1600–1046 BC). The canoe or floating raft (including bamboo, wood, animal skin types) was the main tool for earlier river transport. No rafts have been found within Liangzhu Ancient City, though canoes have been found at Liangzhu sites, as bamboo rafts have been uncovered at (later) Maqiao culture sites. Considering the smorgasbord of Liangzhu capabilities behind the construction of a moated

3.1 How the Ancients Shipped Rock

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city, dams and manufacture of exquisite stone tools and jades, building a bamboo raft would hardly have been a bridge too far. Stone was in prodigious demand throughout the construction of the city wall. The relevant transportation device would have faced relevant demands on its carrying capacity and simple upkeep. As seen above, a split-ridge phenomenon was discovered when measuring and evaluating the south wall stones. Each pile of rocks might represent volume delivered in one shipment. We calculated an overall stone volume of 1–1.2 tons for the large ridge and between 500 and 600 kg for the small ridges. A canoe could only have carried a portion of the stones for a small ridge, and only a bamboo raft accommodate such tonnage. As a matter of manufacture and maintenance, a canoe required sawing and boring a large trunk—while repair and subsequent reuse was difficult in the event of any damage. The problem did not affect the bamboo raft. Given the wear and tear of shifting large volumes of earth and stone on the transportation vessel, a consideration of capital cost and efficacy leaves the bamboo raft the standout choice. Researchers have therefore thought that rafts were the main device used for transporting the Liangzhu rocks. It has been calculated that an individual ten-strip bamboo raft would have had a transportation capacity of around 600 kg, aligning perfectly with the total volume of stone for the small south wall piles. Two connected rafts, moreover, could carry around 1.2 tons, matching the weight of the large piles. Given this carrying capacity and the actual state of stone ridges, we deduce that the double-raft was the main tool of stone shipment behind the Liangzhu wall. The double-raft was roughly two meters wide and eight meters long. A raft of this measurement could shuttle to its heart’s content through the rivers in and out of Liangzhu Ancient City.

On the river on a contemporary double-raft

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We therefore infer that during construction of their city wall the Liangzhu inhabitants initially scouted out and gathered any scattered rocks on nearby hills before transferring them to and packing them on bamboo rafts prior to final shipment to the area of the wall under construction, where the rocks were unpacked and laid on the foundation. The wall was embanked once the foundation had been fully set. Near Liangzhu Ancient City, on the upper reaches of Tiao Brook, is the modernday “Shuangxi Scenic Spot,” where as one of the highlights visitors can take a ride on a bamboo raft, 5–6 in the single rafts, 8–12 in the doubles. Liangzhu people may have used identical rafts.

3.2 How Long to Build the Wall? The wall project was divided into two major components: laying the stones and embanking the earth. The stone paving included mainly the collecting, loading, shipping, unloading and paving in five steps. Embanking was a more or less identical process. As mentioned above, Liangzhu paving stones were primarily sourced from Dazheshan in the north, Daxiongshan in the south and a select number of small hills in between. Many of the rocks had dimensions of between 10–35 cm and could be moved individually. Appraisal work shows a portion of stones exhibit marks from hammering, proof that Liangzhu people broke the stones apart through some hammering process while collecting them and splitting them into moveable sizes. Initially, the researchers were required to calculate the time spent collecting, loading and paving rock. It was clear through the degree of roundedness on wall rocks that many had been sourced from the hillside gullies and nearby foothills. These were relatively narrow gullies that were unnavigable for the boats and would require human porterage to a place on the foothills that was accessible by boat. In order to estimate the work demanded for this project, archaeologists performed their own experiment to deduce individual shipment times.

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Archaeological simulation of rock gathering, loading and layering: Top left collecting; (top right) loading; Bottom left layering; Bottom right finished product

The first stage involved collecting, selecting paving rocks of appropriate size and filling a load of 80–90 kg, which required around two minutes. More time was required if quarrying from larger rocks. The bamboo raft could ship at most 1200 kg in a single run, which necessitated shouldering 14–15 separate loads, needing around thirty minutes. Next, shipping from the collection point to a navigable waterway at a distance of around 300 m, or, estimating the distance for other collection points, an average of around 450 m. Portering one load required an average of twenty minutes, so fifteen or more deliveries would take more than five hours. Fifty meters separated the unloading point from the paving area, so unloading a raft or rocks would require 45 minutes, laying the stones another quarter hour. Next, we calculated the time required to transport the rocks. Since most paving stones were sourced from different points north and south, researchers simulated several shipment routes according to the nature of the paving rocks and the distribution of ancient rivers. To estimate this project workload, we had to first estimate the distance shipped for each side of the wall, then the average distance for the rocks employed overall. For some parts of the wall, moreover, paving rocks might have been sourced from both north and south, so calculation of shipping distance was done by following the distance in either direction together with the respective ratio of paving stones, figuring out an average. We ultimately learned that the average distance shipped across the four walls was around 4 km. The water level showed a definite drop between city and source, with a speed of 2.5 km/h traveling with the current, requiring an average of 1.6 hours with a packed raft. Once unloaded, traveling upstream required less time. A return trip would therefore take an average of 3.2 hours.

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Following through with these calculations, each raft trip used up around ten hours of time. Our calculations show a total paved area of 29 hectares on the Liangzhu city wall. A single trip on the raft could pave around 4.5 m2 , so in total 64,400 journeys would have been required. With each one taking up over ten hours of time, the grand total came to 600,000 man hours. An army of 8000 would be required, therefore, if each man worked eight-hour days. Around 4–5 m of yellow soil still remain above these paved stones, or 1.1 million cubic meters of earth, an even greater volume than the stones. But there were differences with stone paving—though this was also primarily collecting, shipping and layering, there were also processes involves excavation, extraction and embanking. One relatively clear extraction point known at present lay around 1.5 km from the city wall. We supposed that a wet weight of 1.8 tons was required to tamp the earth for each cubic meter and that one individual could excavate 2 m3 (4.6 tons), to pack a raft 100 m away, to which he had to porter the earth 47 separate times for five minutes on each occasion, demanding a total of 4.5 hours, then shipping the load for 1.5 km with three return legs required, each requiring 1 hour —making for 3 hours on the water. Unloading and further carriage similarly required 4 more hours. If we imagine that the rammed earth process took up the same amount of labor as excavating and drawing earth, then a total of 27 hours were required to complete the collecting, shipping and tamping of 2 m3 , that is, 13.5 hours for a single cubic meter. This translates to 1,485,000 man hours for embanking, or a work force of 1,856,000 men working 8 hours in one day.

Grass-mixed mud (cob)

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When this is added up, laying the stones for embanking the city wall required 1,940,000 man hours. Supposing 10,000 men were involved in its construction, the total work would require 194 days. Going by contemporary levels of production, however, if Liangzhu’s able-bodied labor had been continuously engaged with wall construction, food insecurity would result from any breaks in agricultural work. Irrigation projects in ancient China were mostly carried out in the winter and spring, idle farming seasons. Such work was, meanwhile, difficult to implement in the rainy season. If we allow that such work could be carried out for hundred days out of the year, then building the Liangzhu city wall would have taken around two years of hundred-day stretches. And that was only the time spent on the city wall. This work volume was exceeded to a considerable degree by the volume of labor required for large platform foundations and buildings and palaces at Mojiaoshan inside Liangzhu Ancient City. These foundations employed an additional “grass-mixed mud” (“cob”) technique during construction. One calculation places the total amount of time spent putting together Liangzhu Ancient City together with the extramural irrigation works at around two decades. Such a grand construction project required the concentrated movement of a large volume of labor and their planned division of responsibilities. Evidently Liangzhu society had a powerful ruling class.

Chapter 4

Patterns of Stone Tools

Paleolithic chipped stone tools

© Zhejiang University Press 2022 X. Ji et al., Liangzhu’s Story of Stone, Liangzhu Civilization, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5630-0_4

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4.1 A Society Forged by Stone It is widely known that man and the animals are distinguished by our production and usage of tools. The earliest man-made tools were made of stone or wood. The rise of civilizations or cultures is also inevitably built on a material foundation, which means resources, including foods and materials. Our survival depends on food and our development inevitably demands the deployment of earth, wood, stone and minerals. Human society continues to be built on such foundations—even in the present day. Paleolithic humans lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, mostly employing chipped stone tools. By the Neolithic, we had begun to use finely ground stone tools and began the manufacture of pottery, cultivation and domestication of animals and plants. Foreign scholars have divided the evolution of human civilization into a Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age. Liangzhu culture is one of the most glorious periods of the Chinese Neolithic and very likely the earliest Chinese state. At present, no archaeological traces indicate the presence of metallic implements in Liangzhu. Aside from pottery wares, stone tools have been discovered in greatest number. Stone can be called a vital productive resource and production tool for Liangzhu. As Liangzhu peoples went about production activities such as hunting, gathering, farming and architectural construction, it is most likely they employed stone tools in all such aspects. We can say Liangzhu society was a society forged in stone. The Liangzhu period sees a great variety of stone tools, each with its own corresponding function. Research on these stone tools allows us understand the social organizational structure behind productive means in contemporary Liangzhu society.

Liangzhu culture stone lian-sickles

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The stone tools used by Liangzhu peoples can be divided into three main categories—practical use tools, mingqi (burial goods, for use in the afterlife) and stone tools of unknown function. The first can be subdivided by use into agricultural tools, hunting and fishing tools and processing tools. These are discussed individually below.

Liangzhu culture stone knives

4.1.1 Farming Tools These include stone lian-sickle, stone knife and stone li-plow, whose primary use lay in agricultural activities involving tilling and reaping crops. The lian-sickle was a unifacial blade tool, slightly concave on the inner body and concave on the blade as well, very much like the modern sickle knife. It is generally held that its primary function was an agricultural tool for harvesting rice. The stone knife is sometimes known as a “field tilling vessel” (yuntianqi). Some agricultural connection has been established for this vessel, which exists in several styles. We have a slanted-handle knife without holes and with a broad basal blade shaped like an irregular curved trapezoid, the handle on the upper section of the blade and forming a definite slanting angle with the knife. The shoe-shaped blade bears a powerful likeness to the former, though the blade is elongated. It is named for the shoe-shape of the vessel. In some instances, the blade and body are on a straight line, in what is also called a straight-handle blade. The single-perforation stone blade has a thick back and curved blade and a flat square shape, with a relatively large perforation near the back of the blade. The small blade on the slanting back connects the back blade to the handle, while the blade is either curved or straight. We have also a semi-lunate blade in a shape like a crescent moon, with a protruding blade and concave back, and two perforations at a spot near the back of the blade, asymmetrically distributed on one side. This is also known as the double-perforation knife. There are also some styles of stone knife similar to this latter model, though with three perforations, known also as a triple-perforation knife. The “V” stone knife has a shape like the Roman letter V, slightly wider intersecting angles, and

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some approaching 180 degrees. It has a protruding blade and occasionally small extrusions on the inner edges of the “V”, with a perforation sometimes found on the protruding section.

Liangzhu stone li-plows

Liangzhu stone arrowheads

We generally believe the stone li-plow, sometimes referred to as an earth-breaker (potuqi), was used for tilling. These plows are mostly a composite of large pieces, commonly triangular, with a hole. Some scholars have created imitation items for simulation experiments after which they inspected for small wear marks. They discovered these marks were different from those on excavated stone li-plows, thus believing the Liangzhu li-plow was not used for plowing. This has resulted in ongoing disagreement on whether the Liangzhu period stone li-plow was indeed used for plowing. Additional experiments and excavated evidence are required.

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Liangzhu stone fu-axes

4.1.2 Hunting and Fishing Tools The prevailing belief is that stone arrowheads, fu-axes and fishing weights constituted the main hunting and fishing stone tools in Liangzhu culture. The near-foliate stone arrowhead somewhat resembles the later Chinese arrowheads. The tip was rather sharp, the edges either curved or barbed. Viewed vertically and downwards, the item appears diamond-shaped. The arrowheads have a protruding rounded hilt for fastening onto a wooden stick or bamboo pole. On some excavated arrowheads binding marks or adhesive residue can be observed, likely reflecting some method of installing arrowhead to shaft. It is possible these were used as arrowheads for hunting. To a certain degree arrowheads were expendable, unearthed in great number at Liangzhu culture sites, either intact or rather worn. This is an extremely common Liangzhu stone tool.

Liangzhu stone fishing weights

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Stone fu-axes are sometimes called stone zao-chisels. These are generally hard and extremely compact rocks. The obverse is mostly rectangular, with lingulate sides, a narrow blade, thick hilt and no hole. Viewed from the side, the blades lie mostly along the center. Fu-axes are generally believed to have been used in in hacking and smashing, perhaps for cutting down timber aside from processing fauna. Stone fishing weights are relatively few. It is generally believed these were used to weigh down fishing nets. They are usually modestly-sized items with lengths of around 5 cm, generally oblate with narrowing notches either end. More modern weights are metallic, without any essential change in style.

Liangzhu stone ben-adzes

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4.1.3 Processing Tools There was quite a variety of processing tools in Liangzhu culture. We have stone ben-adze, spinning wheel, flint and whetstone. A rather considerable volume of stone ben-adzes have been unearthed at Liangzhu sites—at least as many as the stone arrowheads above. The adze was one of the most important tools in Liangzhu society. In Liangzhu times, it was manufactured with precision and beauty and in multiple styles—a thick-bodied stone ben-adze, a regular adze, sectioned adze and protruding ridge adze. The first was thick and hefty, thickest in the center, with a sharpened blade, a style almost identical to the stone fu-ax mentioned above. The difference may be that the adze was somewhat smaller and the point sharper, its manufacture also finer. The regular stone ben-adzes were generally square or trapezoidal with even obverse planes and a slightly rotund reverse. The sectioned ben-adze was also in most cases square or trapezoidal with a flat obverse plane, becoming drastically thinner in the central section or slightly further down, echeloned, though the main plane of the reverse side continues uninterrupted along the stone. The presence of a sectioned ben-adze style must be related to some means of attaching to a hilt, possibly via insertion into a wooden handle mortise and tenon, before being fixed in place with bound rope or adhesive. The protruding ridge benadze has a rising midsection on the reverse, though it does not appear echeloned, unlike the sectioned adze.

Liangzhu stone spinning wheels

Spinning wheels are mostly cake-shaped with central holes and represent a form of textile tool. The Liangzhu spinning wheel appears in cultural layers and burials and is also found in pottery and wooden forms. The spinning wheel has been used for weaving even in recent history, before the wool is spun into clothing. Physically these are composite tools , though usually only the cake-shaped spinning wheel is

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seen in archaeological context, given the lengthy dating and preservation conditions. The near-contemporary spinning wheel generally includes three components—the spinning wheel, rod and bamboo distaff. It seems highly probable that Liangzhu peoples utilized hair, hemp, ramie, bark, bamboo vine, straw and silk shreds to weave clothing.

Liangzhu flint

Flint was an everyday sight in the Paleolithic. People became aware of this material from a very early date, owing to its particular nature. Flint is generally manufactured from obsidian and also referred to in Chinese as “volcanic glass” (huoshan boli). It is a tough material with a hardness of 7 Mohs. The flint as frequently seen around Zhejiang may not have reached the level of toughness associated with obsidian and might only have been siliceous rock. Even so, the toughness of the rock remained at around 7 Mohs, the material merely lacking in the vitreous luster of obsidian. The present understanding is that flint in Liangzhu sites was primarily employed as a tool for carving and that the decoration on Liangzhu jades may very well be flint-incised, as jades in middle- and high-rank Liangzhu tombs are mostly tremolite, which has a toughness of 6–6.5 Mohs. Flint remains the only excavated material in this context able to carve tremolite.

Liangzhu whetstones

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Liangzhu whetstones are mostly large chunks, frequently with two or three smoothed sides. Deep troughs were carved into some faces. It is possible to find smaller whetstones, sometimes referred to as millstones. These are generally of a finer stone quality as compared to large blocks. Whetstones were primarily used for burnishing, and resemble modern grindstone. For certain stone tools, it was necessary to use the whetstone to mill or edge the blade. The most critical distinction between Paleolithic and Neolithic burnishing tools lies in the addition of this burnishing and edging procedure.

Liangzhu stone yue-battle-axes

4.1.4 Mingqi Mingqi are grave goods for the use of the deceased in the afterlife. Mingqi are frequently observed in Liangzhu culture cemeteries, with the appearance of many exquisite jades at the high-rank Fanshan and Yaoshan cemeteries. Such individuals are mostly accompanied by stone yue-battle-ax. Aside from the stone yue, stone arrowheads, ben-adze and spinning wheels have also been uncovered at Liangzhu burials; these items may represent utensils of the deceased from his or her lifetime. Most high-rank burial yue-battle-ax are flattened, near-quadrilateral, with curved blades that have frequently not been edged, with what is often a relatively large perforation in the center of the shoulder. Dimensions differ between items, with some elongated rectangular yue, and some shorter and broader yue. Jade yue have been uncovered at the Royal Cemetery at Fanshan. It is generally held that burials with stone yue belonged to male occupants.

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4.1.5 Stone Tools of Unknown Functions There remain a considerable volume of stone tools unearthed at the Liangzhu site, such as stone chu-pestle, pulley wheel, drill-borer and drill-core. We have been unable to gauge any particular usage for other stone tools, and have only been able to provide a simple nomenclature based on the morphology. These include slice-shaped stone tools, strip-shaped stone tools and so on. In truth, the specific use of this variety remains in the conjecture of moderns; it remains difficult to draw conclusions on the use of many Liangzhu stone tools. More archaeological excavation and relevant archaeological work is required.

Top left Stone ball; Top right fluorite tube; Lower left stone drill-borer; lower right grinding tool

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Top left silicate rock; Top right mudstone; Bottom left diorite granite; Bottom right laminated finely grained siltstone

4.2 Working with the Available Materials The above is a description of the variety of forms and uses of Liangzhu stone tools. Were there specific quarries for each stone tool? Archaeologists and geologists have cooperated on this question, initiating evaluations of stone tools at the Liangzhu Site Cluster. Here, we introduce the lithological composition of the above stone tools in accordance with their various types. Researchers initially evaluated a total of more than 1000 items, which revealed certain patterns.

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Liangzhu stones (from left to right, top to bottom): black siliceous rock, argillaceous sandstone, argillaceous siliceous rock, laminated siliceous rock, gray–white laminated silicate, gray and white laminated silicate, pumice, pelletoid rhyolite

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4.2.1 Farming Tools The stone lian-sickle came in both sedimentary and metamorphic rock forms. Sandstone and mudstone were the primary sedimentary rocks; metamorphic forms were primarily slated mottled hornfels. The majority of this hornfels was sandstone, the mudstone baked through geothermal lithification processes to form the hornfels. Stone knives were, like the stone lian-sickles, mostly sedimentary and metamorphic, with specific rock types covering the range of mottled hornfels, sandstone, mudstone and siliceous rock. The stone li-plow bore some lithological similarity to the knife and sickle, being mostly mottled hornfels, with other examples made of sandstone.

4.2.2 Fishing and Hunting Tools The stone arrowheads are primarily formed of sedimentary rock, with a small volume produced from metamorphic rock. One occasionally finds pyroclastic examples. Mudstone is the main sedimentary rock employed. It contains a modicum of siliceous rock and siltstone. For metamorphic rocks, the material resembles that seen in stone lian-sickle, knife and li-plow, i.e., mostly mottled hornfels. Among the small number (20–30 items) of stone fu-axes, we can see all three main categories in roughly identical proportion. The sedimentary rock is primarily sandstone, the metamorphic mostly mottled hornfels and the igneous rock mostly magmatic rock with little deviation in structure. At around 30 items, we have counted few stone fishing weights. They are mostly formed of an argillaceous mudstone, with occasional siliceous and magmatic rocks.

4.2.3 Processing Tools Stone ben-adzes are mainly formed of sedimentary rocks, most of these siliceous, with a small volume of mudstone and sandstone. There is also a very low ratio (around 5%) of metamorphic rock (primarily mottled hornfels), igneous rock (in complex varieties) and pyroclastic rock (tuff). The total number of spinning wheels counted is relatively low, at less than 20, mostly mudstone and siliceous rock, with a small number made of sandstone, and a single example in pyroclastic rock (sedimentary tuff). Flint is relatively uniform in composition, being essentially siliceous rock of

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very high silicate content, always above 90%, and primarily black. The whetstones are all sandstone, with some examples in fine sandstone and some in siltstone (chalky sandstone), judging by particle size. Differences in the mineral composition show that quartz was the primary mineral in some cases—what we call quart sandstone—while others, aside from quartz, contain a definite quantity of feldspar and are known as arkose rocks. It is intriguing that the overwhelming majority of Liangzhu ben-adzes have patterned surfaces often running perpendicular to the blade.

4.2.4 Mingqi Here, we introduce the stone yue-battle ax, which, as previously mentioned, is principally unearthed from burials and has emerged in a rather large number, ranking only below the arrowheads and ben-adzes. The lithological composition of the stone yue-battle ax is also the most complex of the Liangzhu stone tools. 300 examples have been calculated at present, roughly half of which are sedimentary, one-third pyroclastic (tuff) and the remainder mottled hornfels in igneous and metamorphic forms. Among the sedimentary rocks, we find considerable sandstone, followed by mudstone, with siliceous rock in least quantity. A number of different rock types are included among the igneous rocks—andesite, granite, felsite, dolerite, diorite and porphyrite. Despite the claim that pyroclastic rock yue-battle-axes were all made from welded tuff, there remain major differences between cases: some items are black and gray, some a bright purple, some contain crystal fragments, though this cannot be seen in other cases, and some have small bands, others wide bands. Further, in some higher rank burials, the yue-battle-ax is mostly tuff or igneous rock, a portion referred to as “flecked” yue due to colored mottling, and the blades always blunted. Meanwhile in relatively lower ranked burials, the stone yue-battle-ax is mostly formed or sedimentary rock and the blade partly opened, with signs of use.

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“Flecked” stone yue-battle-ax

To summarize our discussion of the stone tools above, the most frequent rock type is sedimentary, followed by pyroclastic and metamorphic (mostly mottled hornfels), with the smallest number of types sourced from non-pyroclastic igneous rock (such as plutonic (intrusive) rocks and lamprophyres). Such an outcome remains essentially within our expectations. Although we can say Liangzhu culture was relatively advanced, it remained constrained by the contemporary spread of natural minerals (for example in the lack of large-scale metallic mining areas in the vicinity) and did not possess any advanced productive technology (despite this obviously ranking high for the time)—the Liangzhu peoples had no smelting technologies, even less any metallic implements. They therefore relied on the hills for resources. Such dependence was no simple matter—metamorphic and igneous rocks were mostly dense, tough and an exhaustive effort to mine. Meanwhile stone tools were in great demand as the main production and living tool of contemporary society, while a separate portion (such as the arrowheads) might have been expendables, hence causing a rather high demand for processing tools. Stone tool production and processing was required to satisfy functional demands first of all, i.e., to be “usable and good to use,” and secondarily obliged to satisfy contemporary social demand for high productive rate through large scale production. Finally, having satisfied this pair of conditions, aesthetic demands may have been placed on some tools. Sedimentary rock, or morphologically transformed metamorphic rock, could essentially cope with such demands. Most sedimentary rock is laminated, with layers forming perpendicular to the transformations in the rock itself. A major indicator of sedimentary and some pyroclastic rock is the sudden change or sudden appearance of gradual change in mineralogical composition, structure and color. Striking differences exist between layers. This results in erosion having different wearing effects on the layers, presenting a “time to strike” when mining, and allowing the individual to quickly scrape across layers when working the stone.

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Such research on the lithological composition of the Liangzhu stone tools brings to us an awareness of the bias in Liangzhu selection. We can be confident this represents experience of early man as accumulated through continuous trial and error. In theoretical terms Liangzhu’s own lithological research certainly pales to that of modern geologists, though Liangzhu understanding of rocks in the wild might not be shamed by comparison with many of the same geologists.

Lava

4.3 The Wisdom of Liangzhu Peoples Through research on the rock types used in Liangzhu culture, we can essentially confirm the corresponding standards these peoples used for different rocks during the manufacture of stone tools. What traits were preferred for the various Liangzhu tools? First we introduce petrological understanding and differentiation within geology.

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Top volcanic ash; Bottom rock fissures

Rocks are a solid conglomerate of naturally produced mineral or quasi-mineral (organic, vitreous, amorphous crystalline) materials. The overwhelming majority are formed of multiple minerals and only an extremely low number formed of a single mineral. Geologists usually divide rocks into three main types—igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic—a division based on the causes and mechanism behind their formation. Igneous rock is also known as lava rock and is the product of the solidification of lava from rocks after melting on the earth’s mantle or deep in the earth’s crust. Sedimentary rocks are rocks formed through the lithification of loose sediment on or near the earth’s surface. These sediments may be the mechanical offshoots of rocks or pieces formed through erosion, or chemical sediment formed through biochemical solutions or agglutination of sediment, or a combination of both. As an example, the

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skeletons of some biota combine with mud and sand, fused, pressurized and recrystalized in a lithification process resulting in the fossil. Metamorphic rock is a variety of rock formed through transformation in the mineral and chemical composition or physical structure in an essentially solid state under metamorphic conditions (heating, pressure or fluid transformation). The conditions for these thermal- or pressure-based changes lie between the effects of sedimentation and molten fusion. These three rock types are closely related, despite such enormous differences in process. Each can transform into one-another. Once any of these rocks emerges on the earth’s surface it may proceed to form sedimentary rock through weathering and erosion, mechanical crushing, transfer (by water or wind) and sedimentation. Additionally, through changes in temperature and pressure or fluid mechanics, rock may become metamorphic. Further changes in pressure or temperatures may fuse the original sedimentary, metamorphic or igneous rock into lava—the rock will either appear in volcanic form or else rise to the surface before it cools and reconstitutes as igneous rock. There are also occasions in which some naturally found rock cannot be verified as belonging to any of these three types. As an example, the relative abundance of tuff that we find in Liangzhu stone yue-battle ax is a pyroclastic rock. This rock is formed from the sedimentation and combination of various volcanic pyroclastic rocks formed during volcanic eruption and collapse—they possess both characteristics of igneous rocks as well as some attributes of sedimentary rocks (for example, they have undergone transfer and sedimentation during the lithification process). Pyroclastic rock is therefore an intermediary type between lava and regular sedimentary rock.

Sedimentary rock formation

Igneous rock, formed through solidification of lava, is generally block-shaped. Differences among each type of igneous rock in the rate of crystallization, particle size and integrity and the relationship between the mineral and particles arise from discrepancies in temperature, transformative pressure and chemical composition

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during the lithification process. This results in various types of igneous rock. As an example, we would struggle to provide a clear petrological and mineralogical explanations if similarities could be found among the variety of pyroclastic rocks in Liangzhu stone tools. But these each possess some alterative traits, with colors not limited to black or white, but red, yellow and green all making an appearance. These are generally tough rocks that are difficult to process: the texture is dense and mining these rocks would have been extremely problematic. Most have mottled surfaces but poor uniformity between stones. Many of the igneous rock or pyroclastic rock stone yue-battle-ax unearthed from high-rank burials at Liangzhu are “colorful” yue-battle ax flecked with yellow and red. We infer that the stone yue-battle-ax was a relatively valuable contemporary item—firstly because of its alluring and beautiful hue and secondly due to the likely extreme challenges entailed in its mining and processing, with finished products mostly a noble monopoly. Sedimentary rock appears in a relatively high ratio among Liangzhu stone tools. Types include mudstone, sandstone and siliceous rock. Mudstone is used primarily for stone arrowheads. It is a relatively soft material at usually 2–3 Mohs and so is easily worked. The rock generally has an even bedding as well, facilitating extracting of samples from bedrocks in a natural context. Sandstone was the material of choice for Liangzhu whetstone and can be found in some other stone tools, though generally as an argillaceous sandstone or finely grained siltstone with the corresponding smallish particles. Usually quartz sandstone or arkose is used for whetstones, which contain a relatively large volume of quartz sandstone. Quartz is relatively hard, at a Mohs level of around 7, sufficient to carve other stone tools. Nowadays, it is generally believed that some jade-incising sandstone (jieyusha) was used for carving jade, a stone that was primarily quartz, the difference being the ubiquity of quartz flecks in the former and combination of quartz, earth and sandstone that fuses to form the less hard sandstone. When certain stone tools such as ben-adze and arrowheads were struck into their proto-forms they would usually be grounded with sandstone, which gradually smoothed the surface. Generally, a thick-grain sandstone was used in the first sages, followed by a chalkier sandstone. The modern grinding process is more or less the same as that at Liangzhu, the sole difference being the shift to abrasive (sandstone) paper or a sandstone grinding wheel. The principles remain the same.

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Rock bedding

The lithological composition of the stone ben-adze is essentially sedimentary, with primacy of highly laminated siliceous rocks. Siliceous rocks are generally tough and make for extremely usable processing tools. Observation reveals that the patterning in stone ben-adzes runs essentially perpendicular or near-perpendicular to the blade. In a natural setting, the differences in lithological composition between layers of bedding of either mudstone or siliceous rock can easily result in ruptures along the bedding when pressure is applied. In geological terms, this is a form of cleavage fissuring. Exploiting these patterns granted Liangzhu people some new tricks when it came to extracting similar rocks, mostly used exploiting fissures on the rock for the extraction. As we learned during investigation of the rock sources for the city wall, this extractive method had been used on some angular monzoporphyry from Zhaoshan. Meanwhile the fissure was deliberately placed perpendicular to the blade during ben-adze manufacture, which preventing the item from breaking apart during use. The stone lian-sickle, li-plow and knife were mostly mottled hornfels, a metamorphic rock. The original rocks, as seen in present times, may exist in slated form. Much of this hornfels may have been an argillaceous siltstone prior to its metamorphosis. We infer that the rock itself would have been fissured. Following the transformation into hornfels, the rock became extremely tough, with increased ductility and wear-resistance. Agriculture played a vital role in Liangzhu society, and good work in the fields first required capable implements. This made the selection and application of tilling and working tools a matter of critical importance. Aside from hornfels, Liangzhu agricultural tools were made from siliceous siltstone, siliceous mudstone, argillaceous siliceous stone and argillaceous siltstone. These items were more often than not tougher than the average stone tool, and mostly appear in a

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slate form with fissuring parallel to the main body of the stone tool. In this variety of thin-slate stone tools, the parallel fissuring was primarily used for convenience for extraction and processing. Stone li-plow and knives were thinner and less fissile along the vein, yet could easily split along their larger surfaces. The parallel fissuring and main plane of the stone tool did, relatively speaking, go some way to preventing ruptures. Processing and extraction along the rock fissure allowed for large pieces to be extracted and raised working efficiency while also reducing the risk of fracturing in the working process, thus cutting down on the proportion of wasted products.

A hornfels stone knife

Through years of hard-earned experience, specific categories in the function of Liangzhu stone tools emerged, with most of the material behind stone tools distinguished by differences in function, use and wear and tear. Liangzhu peoples discriminated in their selection of materials in accordance with the means of use for each tool and the different target audience. For expendables such as stone arrowheads, the standard was mostly convenience of sourcing, simplicity of working and simple application. For some long-term stone tools such as ben-adze and agricultural implements a sturdy, less crumbly and resistant material was chosen. For hacking tools such as the stone fu-ax the Liangzhu peoples may have directly picked morphologically similar river rocks from their streams, burnished them and then put them to use. Meanwhile material extraction and processing involved the full use of the natural properties of the rock, cutting down on difficulty and hiking up efficiency. We can say that the Liangzhu people exercised the use of their stone resources to its very limit.

Chapter 5

Where to Look for Our Stone Tools and Quarries?

Field survey and finds

5.1 A Geological Overview of the C-Shaped Region In their initial investigations on the stone layering at the Liangzhu city wall, archaeological researchers analyzed the wall stones and lithological distribution in the surrounding hills, combining this with a survey and analysis of the ancient river network to bring about a preliminary restoration of the source of stone layering at © Zhejiang University Press 2022 X. Ji et al., Liangzhu’s Story of Stone, Liangzhu Civilization, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5630-0_5

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the city and the extraction routes. Researchers on stone tools in the Liangzhu Site Cluster, accordingly, first turned their thoughts to the actual quarries. The result was work similar to that carried out on the stone layering, namely an appraisal of Liangzhu stone tools and a field geological survey. We have already communicated some of the present knowledge of Liangzhu stone tool materials in the section above. Below, we introduce the state of field geological survey work for Liangzhu. Different from rock studies at the city wall, field geological surveys have expanded their ambit to an area of roughly 1000 km2 around Liangzhu Ancient City. Geologists had carried out some prior work in this region, though the focal point was a general survey of rock age, origin and distribution. No research was conducted on specific questions. The present survey of stone origins ranks as specific topic research. First we carried out a systematic evaluation of the stone tools at Liangzhu Ancient City, which we then combined with the results from earlier geologists, following which we carried out a more detailed field observation on areas with possible quarry connections. During the field archaeological survey, it was necessary to indicate stone types in different areas, though the sheer profusion of such types prevented individual labeling, while there were often vertical changes in the same profile that could not have belonged to a single rock type. The rocks were, in other words, stratified, only at different thicknesses, some only a few dozen centimeters, and others possibly to several dozen or even several hundred meters. We were able to divide rock profiles into different units based on the geological type (rock, fossil, etc.). Rock strata were divided into four levels—clusters, formation, sections and layers, with a super-cluster, supra-cluster or supra-formation established when especially required. The “formation” represents the most essential primary rock stratum unit in field geological survey. As designated in the Guide and Explanatory Guide to Chinese Geology [中国地层指南及中国地层指南说明书] of 19811 : “A formation implies uniformity in rock type, profile and transformative process. The formation consists of either a single rock type, one primary type in repeating sandwiched layers, through two or three interlocking type. Formation characteristics may also include a complex rock composition that is distinct from other regularly plain profiles.” Our description of surrounding rock profiles at Liangzhu all proceed by way of “formation.” Liangzhu Ancient City occupies a C-shaped region whose west, south and north sides belong to the Tianmu Mountains. The scattered hillocks in the vicinity of Liangzhu Ancient City and the hill bodies at the nearby north and west flank are home to a large volume of Mesozoic igneous and sedimentary rock, predominantly in yellow-tipped groups. These are divided into three sections: one section with yellow–gray rhyolithic vitric tuff sandwiching mudstone and pumice, a second section of yellow–gray non-mottled, minor-mottling or scarred rhyolite, and a third layer of gray latite (vitric) molten chip tuff. Dazheshan, on the north side of Liangzhu Ancient City, also hosts a small amount of Cretaceous 1 All China Commission of Stratigraphy. 1981. Guide and Explanatory Guide to Chinese Geology [中国地层指南及中国地层指南说明书] Science Press, Beijing.

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period quartz monzonite porphyry, granite porphyry, rhyolithic porphyry, daciteporphyrite and Paleozoic Helixi Formation gray-green finely grain siltstone. At Dazheshan, to the south of the ancient city, aside from yellow-tipped tuff, we also find some Paleozoic Yushanjian Formation purple-gray lithic sandstone, mudstone and glutenite. Over Dazheshan and heading north is Zhushan [Zhu Hill] with Huangjian Formation at the peak, which also contains some dacite-porphyrite and a small stretch of Wenchang Formation sandstone. To the west of Dazheshan—linking with the hill cluster to its north—is a reservoir facing the river. On the east and south side of this reservoir are two granite bodies surrounded by what is primarily siltstone from the Paleozoic Xiaxiang Formation, fine sandstone from the Wenchang Formation, fine-grain siltstone from the Helixi Formation, fine sandstone from the Changwu Formation, mudstone from the Ningguo Formation, and calcerous mudstone and argillaceous siliceous rock from the Yinzhubu Formation. A definite degree of metamorphic change has taken place at points where these rocks approach the main body. Paleozoic Changwu Formation mudstone, argillaceous siltstone and finely grained sandstone are is also distributed in the west side of the reservoir by the water. Heading west from these rocks, one reencounters tuff in the Huangjian Formation.

The Kangmen Reservoir, beneath Dazheshan

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Plum Flowers at Chaoshan

Twenty kilometers east of Liangzhu Ancient City are three relatively small natural hills—Banshan, Chaoshan and Linpingshan. Banshan has a relatively complex petrological composition but is primarily Paleozoic sedimentary rock. The central and east section of Banshan contains a shallow-gray pink crystal dolomite, gray bioclastic limestone and pink crystal limestone in Laohudong and Huanglong formations. Heading outwards we also find Zhucangwu Formation light gray and purple gravely sandstone, quartzite sandstone, conglomerate claystone, gray-white quartzite sandstone from the Xihu Formation (mixed with glutenite and siltstone), gray-green feldspathic quartz sandstone from the Kangjiawu Formation, siltstone, claystone, and yellow–green feldspathic quartz sandstone, siltstone and claystone from the Kangshan Formation. Chaoshan is primarily Paleozoic sedimentary rock: dark gray clayey limestone, mudstone, clayey dolomitic limestone, Chaoshan Formation grayblack carbonaceous claystone, Chaofeng Formation light gray dolomitic limestone and secondary quartzite, Laohudong Formation–Huanglong Formation dolomite and limestone, Kangshan Formation feldspathic quartz sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone. We also find Mesozoic Hengshan formation purple siltstone, fine sandstone, tuffaceous sandstone, Huangjian Formation First section vitric tuff, silty mudstone, pumice, and Paleozoic Banqiaoshan formation siliceous dolomite and quartzite sandstone. The main distribution at Linpingshan consists of rock strata belonging to the Huangjian Formation First Section, Kangjiawu Formation and Xihu Formation. Another stretch of hills greets the eye around 15 km south of Daxiongshan. The eastern extreme of this area conveniently grasps one side of West Lake. The north of West Lake consists primarily of Huangjian Formation Section Three rock. Spread in the south, west, southwest of the Xixi Wetlands and northern shore of Qiantang lake are Paleozoic Xixia Formation (mainly dark gray limestone and carbonaceous mudstone containing chert), Banshan formation (primarily limestone), Laohudong

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formation-Huanglong formation, Zhuzangwu formation, West Lake (Xihu) Formation, Kangjiawu Formation, Kangshan Formation, Xiaxiang Formation (mostly graygreen siltstone and argillaceous mudstone) and Wenchang Formation (blue–gray quartz feldspar fine sandstone containing a small amount of finely grained siltstone and finely grained sandstone). Next, we will describe rock distributions to the west of Liangzhu Ancient City. We essentially begin from the East Tiao. The river forms as the North Tiao, Middle Tiao and South Tiao converge at Yaoping Township. These three rivers emerge from different points in the Tianmu Mountains. Heading upstream along the North Tiao leads to a trio of tributaries. The northern tributary can be traced up to Baizhang Township. Mesozoic Huangjian Formation layers are the primary rock levels to have emerged at Baizhang Township, but also include two intrusive bodies of Early Cretaceous rock, with syenite on the west flank and rhyolithic porphyry on the east. Paleozoic Xiyangshan Formation limestone strata stick out on the northeast side of the syenite body and are slowly transforming into hornfels. One heads northwest as mudstone and argillaceous siliceous rocks and others appear successively at the Yinzhubu Formation, Ningguo Formation and Hule Formation. The middle tributary of the North Tiao emerges from the northwest of Luniao Township and contains two large Early Cretaceous granite blocks. Meanwhile Hetang Formation (mostly a dark gray siliceous carbonaceous mudstone containing argillaceous siliceous rock and occasional stone coal), Dachenling Formation (whose primary rock type is dolomitic limestone, containing siliceous carbonaceous mudstone), Yangliugang Formation (argillaceous limestone, mudstone), Xiyangshan Formation and Yinzhubu Formation. The latter formation levels lie proximate to a body of granite, which has also resulted in hornfels production. The same effect is in evidence in the granitic body in the north section of the south side. There is another large stretch of Huangjian Formation rocks to the southwest of these two granite profiles. The southern granite formation is the larger, and the Siling Reservoir and southern tributary of the North Tiao flow in-between.

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Xihu Formation topography

The Central Tiao flows from west to east, with tributaries to the north and west converging at Gaohong Township. Considerable stretches of Wenchang Formation and Changzu Formation fine sandstone or mudstone are distributed along either shore. A small body of granite sticks out near to Changle Township with hornfelsforming processes underway at surrounding Changwu Formation and Shuowashan Formation–Huangnigang Formation levels. North along the tributary and is primarily greeted with three passages of Huangjian Formation rock. The Qingshan Lake Reservoir at Lin’an can be found by the upper stretches of the South Tiao. Further upstream past Qingshan Lake are Huangjian Formation passage three rock levels and a small section of Shouchang Formation rocks (which are mostly tuffaceous silt mudstone and tuff). Heading south, we primarily meet with layers of Changwu formation, Shuowashan Formation–Huangnigang Formation and Yinzhubu Formation rock. Along the western and eastern shore of the south tributary by Qingshan Lake emerge primarily Proterozoic Nantuo Formation (mylonitized gravel-bearing argillaceous sandstone), Banqiaoshan Formation, Xiuning Formation (sandstone, mudstone, tuffaceous sandstone) and Doushantuo Formation (dolomite, silty mudstone) layers. The area south of Qingshan Lake also contains two small granite bodies where surrounding Xiuning formation and Nantuo formation rocks are undergoing different degrees of hornfels formation. In the southern section of the South Tiao, which flows from Qingshan Lake, we find primarily Xiuning and Nantou layers as well, with some interloping Banqiaoshan formation and Doushantuo Formation. On the north side of the same brook, we find a rather complex stratigraphic situation with a successive distribution of Helixi Formation, Hetang Formation,

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Xiyangyang Formation, Yangliugang Formation and Huayansi Formation (a foliated and laminated argillaceous limestone), Wenchang formation and Banqiaoshan formation. Yushanjiao formation (gray-purple sandstone and mudstone debris) and Kangshan Formation layers are also revealed on the surface.

The Qingshan Lake Reservoir

The South Tiao formerly flowed from east to west, with a dramatic turn the flood retention basin at Nanhu in former Yuhang District, before joining the North Tiao and Middle Tiao, heading north. Somewhere over ten kilometers east of the Nanhu (South Lake) flood retention basin lie the Xixi Wetlands. The two areas are separated by a hill body on which are distributed rock layers from the Changwu, Wenchang, Hetang, Banqiaoshan and Xiyangshan Formations, with some minor outcrops belonging to the Yangliugang Formation, Huayansi Formation and Huangjian Formation. By now, we will be aware of a burgeoning variety of rock types to be found within a 1000 km2 radius of Liangzhu Ancient City. The variation seen in the rock types among Liangzhu stone tools will also be found within this region. Despite this, rocks are extremely complex materials, and identical names do not stand for identical petrological natures. Many rocks may share similar names and have been formed through similar mechanics, but, having formed in different environments, exhibit major differences. This requires on-site survey and sampling in order to perform a comparison on our stone tools.

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Rock samples collected through field survey

5.2 Resources, Quarries The stone source of the Liangzhu ben-adzes is the most easily distinguished as it is primarily laminated argillaceous siliceous rock. The adze is an extremely common and important processing tool in Liangzhu society, used in a wide variety of applications. Archaeological workers hence followed their review of available materials by drawing a circle around the possible petrological regions of this source within the survey area. Previous research had uncovered a large volume of mostly laminated Xiuning Formation tuffaceous sandstone/ mudstone and siliceous rock at Niulanwu and Fengjiamiao in the southern stretches of the South Tiao field survey discovered that this stretch of rock consisted primarily of tuffaceous thin-grained sandstone and mudstone in rhythmic layering of gray and dark gray, with interspersed black siliceous rock that was mostly argillaceous siliceous rock. In terms of its constitution, foliation (layering) was mostly of a tuffaceous nature (i.e., volcanic ash), while appraisal work showed the laminations in Liangzhu stone tools were mostly sandstone. The distinction remained impossible to discern even with recourse to scientific methods. The naked eye could, however, distinguish definite differences between this material and that used for stone ben-adzes: the lamination ran roughly parallel for the latter, but were curved at many points in this area. Obviously, a part of the stone

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ben-adze population had less straight striations, but these were not especially many. Our preliminary understanding was that the area may have been a lithic source for Liangzhu, but not in particularly high proportion. As our field survey continued to make progress, we would return to the stone adzes and realize that the stone types contained many different kinds of foliation and that there was no single source. The results of our field survey showed that the majority or indeed overwhelming majority of lithic sources used in the manufacture of Liangzhu stone tools could not be found in the survey area. There was the additional matter that no evidence of the major source of gray and purple ignimbrite and laminated argillaceous siliceous rock types that occupied a heavy proportion of Liangzhu stone tools was found in the survey area—these may have been quarried from more distant climes.

Left Fengjiamiao sample; Right Niulanwu sample

Hornfels was another vital rock type among Liangzhu stone tools, a major source in the production of stone knife, li-plow and lian-sickle. Hornfels featuring light or heavy mottling has been found in the surrounding petrology (Hetang, Xiaxiang and Helixi Formations) at the Silin and Shenjiakou rock bodies along the North Tiao watershed—one observes a large volume of such rock types in the river valley extending for eight kilometers on a north–south axis along a tributary (secondary water system) of the North Tiao. Among river stones in the gulch of an ancient riverbed 20 km northwest of Liangzhu Ancient City, we discovered Hetang Formation containing pyritic siliceous mudstone with a gray-black slate which strongly resembled the source for large items like stone li-plow and stone knife, though there was no obvious hornfels formation or thermal metamorphosis and the material was more friable.

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Left Mottled hornfels; Right silt-bearing mudstone after a hornfels-forming process

We did not, of course, come away from the survey area empty-handed. A variety of pumice was discovered at a small hill nine kilometers to the south of Liangzhu Ancient City. This may very well have provided the stone source for a type of “flowery” stone yue-battle-ax found at the high-rank cemeteries, as described above.

This stone source was suspected to resemble the pumice used for “flowery” stone yue-battle-ax

Despite failing to discover the majority of stone sources within the survey area, we nonetheless did achieve some new understandings. Many stone sources in this area could be manufactured into stone tools—sandstone, mudstone and others were all found—though they were all somewhat different from Liangzhu stone tools as appraised to date. We additionally located a gray-purple rhyolite and tuff at a hill and brook gully nine kilometers to the north of the city. From an aesthetic point of view, these were the very same outstanding materials used to manufacture “flowery” yue, although the type has not been discovered in any relevant Liangzhu implements.

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Gray-purple rhyolite

In other words, a definite area within and on the perimeter of Liangzhu Ancient City contained stone sources amenable to the manufacture of stone tools. Yet the Liangzhu people rejected these materials and headed far afield for their rocks. We remain in the dark about the reasons behind this choice. It is possible there were special standards of rock selection in Liangzhu society that put these rocks out of contention.

The hills at Heqiao

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5.3 The Liangzhu Habitation Sphere According to the results of our investigation and research, the source for the majority of Liangzhu stone tools were not locatable within a 1000 km2 radius of Liangzhu Ancient City. This represents a circle with a radius of approximately 18 km. At the walking speed of an adult male (roughly 5 km/h), a return leg of 18 km either way would take up roughly seven hours, without factoring in any baggage carried, or rest times. When considering travel downstream, as well as cargo, this time would not be much reduced even using a bamboo raft on a river route. This, furthermore, simply describes travel as the crow flies—depending on different topographies specific journey to different locations might take twice or three times longer. Ideal conditions are essentially the range of activity covered within a day one individual within Liangzhu or its surroundings leaving home early and arriving back late.

A gravelly shoreline

In subsequent work on the origins of Liangzhu stone tools, investigators chose several points beyond the survey area for study. This also led to certain new discoveries. At a hill near Heqiao Township, roughly 80 km in a straight line from Liangzhu Ancient City, we located a large stretch of a laminated siliceous bedrock that was very similar to what we had seen in Liangzhu stone tools. The hilly brook here converged with the Changhua Brook in the upper stretches of the Fenshui River, where a large floodplain had formed, harboring a huge volume of upstream river rocks, many of

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which could be formed into stone tools with moderate grounding. Mining the hill bedrock would have been a more onerous task in which many rocks would be prone to unmanageable breakage when removed from the context. But it would have been an excellent choice for Liangzhu peoples desirous of these rocks to collect and process river them at the flood plain. After natural shipping over a short stretch, the collections on this flood plain were mostly less fragile and only moderately lumpy river stones, which could be processed with a high level of efficiency.

Heqiao Ancient Town

As a matter of shipment, moreover, transportation was extremely convenient. Locals at Heqiao could recall cutting down timber in the nearby mountains during the 1950s, tying a few logs together to form rafts, and reaching Hangzhou downstream on the Qiantang River. Docking at Hangzhou, they would untie the logs, sell the wood and walk home—a return-journey of around three to five days. Heqiao Ancient Town was also a major historical period transportation hub, a border town of West Zhejiang. Tangchangshou Township was established here during the Ming Jiajing (1521–1567) period. Boats plied the stretch during its golden age: flocks of merchants gathered,

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and Tangchangshou became a vital nodal point for the Huizhou merchants of the time. It is possible the area played the part of vital nodal point in Liangzhu society as well. To make a bold supposition, could there have been one or even many “Stone Tool Roads” during Liangzhu times? With the quarry for stone ben-adzes already at a site one-hundred kilometers distant, perhaps shipment routes were of similar lengths for other stone materials. It is also possible it was not individuals from the Liangzhu center who reached these places for materials, but that the local population lay within the Liangzhu ambit and shipped stones from the area. Within such long-distance transportation there may have been many intermediate “transfer stations.” These may have served to select stone materials or to perform some rough processing work and may have even been engaged in “trade.” Although there remains no evidence to support the presence of a Liangzhu currency, we cannot rule out the possibility of barter. The differing material conditions between regions, for example, with each having their own special stone resources or other materials (such as timber), could result in material exchanges between people from different areas at these transportation hubs. Such hubs may very well have been at the confluence of rivers.

A suspected source of Liangzhu stone ben-adzes

Further archaeological work is required to corroborate these questions. Yet we can be certain that we have, out of habit, underestimated the abilities of the ancients. Before the popularization of planes and the high-speed rail, Liangzhu people may have been active across an area similar in size to our own. Their social structure was also certainly not explained through a few ranks alone. Their industry and means of production was certainly also, to a definite degree, complex.

Chapter 6

To Be Continued

Geographical position of Jiaxing (right), Liangzhu Ancient City (middle) and Heqiao Ancient Town (left)

6.1 An Expanded Scope Current research on the stone sources of Liangzhu stone tools is extremely lacking. But we can confirm from present discoveries that these sources lie in remote regions.

© Zhejiang University Press 2022 X. Ji et al., Liangzhu’s Story of Stone, Liangzhu Civilization, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5630-0_6

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While searching for Liangzhu’s stone sources, researchers first realized the paucity of research on the stone tools themselves. Firstly, our ideas on Liangzhu stone tools were mostly conjecture, lacking in scientific proof. Secondly, we still lacked sufficient precision on the division of materials behind the stone tools, which required microscopic research and chemical analysis. Our work at the time, moreover, primarily revolved around the Liangzhu Site Cluster (i.e., Liangzhu Ancient City and its surroundings), without initiating any relevant work on discoveries at other Liangzhu sites. When considering the extraction of materials for Liangzhu manufacture of stone stools, nature—i.e., local extraction—came first to mind, and hence we drew up our survey area of 1000km2 . Yet this was likely still too nearby for Liangzhu society. Later researchers would discover that stone tools unearthed at Liangzhu sites in Jiaxing in many cases closely resembled Liangzhu Site Cluster tools. Jiaxing sits around 100 km to the northeast, in the east of the flat Hangzhou–Jiaxing–Huzhou plains. Liangzhu stone tools were either brought in through materials from other locales that were then processed, or else directly shipped in as finished product. Meanwhile Heqiao, a suspected Liangzhu quarry, lay 80 km directly southwest of Liangzhu Site Cluster. In such a calculation, the range of shipment and dissemination of Liangzhu stone sources was already 180 km from east to west, a journey of at least 200 + km if we factor in bends in the river and the hilly paths. The range of Liangzhu site distribution remains primarily the region around Taihu Lake, covering Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. The academic community has yet to form a systematic and comprehensive understanding of the petrological characteristics of stone tools unearthed across this area. There may exist some similarity among stone tools, and even some similarity in the petrological constitution of various groups. If this is the case, then we might be able to split the area of Liangzhu culture distribution into a number of blocks, with each block possessing its primary supply of materials for stone tools and primary processing area. Exchange and trade would follow based on the particularity of resources in each region. If we permit that some form of trade existed in the lower Yangtze region or around Taihu Lake during the Liangzhu period, it would mean there were corresponding special locales within the region. These may be special mines or collection areas for stone quarries, or stone tool processing grounds, or meeting points for trade, or regional centers that were a combination of two or all of the above aspects. Interconnected, these locales would form a complex web of trade. The quarry would inevitably be in some hilly region, in plains near the hills, or a river valley between hills. For the processing grounds vicinity to the quarry would be the first requirement, and on the other hand sufficient physical and material resources would be required to support a portion of the population practicing this specialist stone tool processing. Trading posts would have to be located at convenient transportation points and also near the processing grounds. If we consider the river as the most effective means of contemporary transportation, the river system may developed around these converging points, where flows were densely distributed. The chain of production and trade may have taken one of the several forms below. (1) If the quarry was in a developed part of the river network, materials would be

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collected and shipped to different areas, with corresponding processing grounds of different scales found en route, which may have also become small trading centers. (2) If transportation to the quarry was less expedient, and extracting materials difficult, then trading posts for stone resources or collection points, located at the nearest transportation hub, would be locales to acquire resources for daily living, with stone traded and transmitted elsewhere. (3) If transportation at the stone quarry was inconvenient, but population could be found at a definite scale nearby, then an area for the rough processing of stone tools might appear, completing the proto-form of the stone tool, before trade was transmitted these to other areas for more precise processing. (4) For some special (regionally unique) stone sources, sparsely populated at the quarry, and inconveniently placed, where a developed area of transportation existed between the sources, these would develop as central meeting points for trade of stone resources; redistribution of stones from different regions would occur here before shipment to various processing grounds. (5) For some special stone sources exclusive to different areas, convenient trading and sufficient transportation would be enough to complete production and processing within the region; inter-regional trade, therefore, would occur at some locale near to both (or at an agreed-upon area), and the trade would primarily be in finished stone goods or some special resources.

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Forms of stone tool quarrying, processing and trade

The above, naturally, are some initial and simple speculations on the present author’s part. Such basic models formed a trade network along with a number of regional specialties and some nodal connections. The latter were either quarries or transportation hubs (trade centers). Obviously, we cannot rule out the possibility that some processing grounds possessed both attributes. We may be able to employ such a conjectural model to attempt a search and recovery of the production and trade network (on the precondition, naturally, that such existed). This requires searching for nodal points within the network. This would require two pieces of foundational work. First we would need to conduct a comprehensive and systematic appraisal of the stone tools unearthed at all Liangzhu sites. Secondly, we would need a geological survey over a large catchment area. Stone tool appraisal would on the one hand require piecing together the ratio of

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petrological types among unearthed tools and searching for any special attributes, and on the other a mineralogical, petrological and geochemical analysis of some stone tools made with special materials, together with their quarries. A geological survey, meanwhile, would need to revolve around the site itself, where, having surveyed a definite region, we could examine which stone tools belonged to the area of inquiry and which originated outside the region. Aside from this, one would have to combine topography, analysis of transmission routes, and trade routes. Precise and in-depth research on certain special sites—in particular stone tool processing grounds—would also be in order. Research on processing grounds would primarily revolve around the following points: (1) proximity to quarries; (2) proximity to transportation hubs; (3) presence or absence of plentiful amounts of surrounding sandstone or chert (mostly used as a tool for processing jade and stone tools). An area for processing stone tools would have to possess the three characteristics above. Proximity to a stone quarry would mean we were dealing with a simple stone tool processing ground based on nearby extraction; a geographical position at a transportation node, however, would mean we could define this as a center for combined quarrying, processing and trading. One could then proceed a step further and analyze processed stone tool types and the rock varieties used, proceeding to search for connectivity between stone tools in surrounding sites with this locale as a center. The absence of stone sources as well as any sandstone and chert in the area and pure reliance on a nearby transportation hub would make the area a site for processing and trade—what would become a meeting center. Analysis of geographical characteristics could permit us to deduce the origin of stone sources or where these sources spread to. Rich sandstone and chert would mean a site for stone tool collection and processing, with the sandstone and chert traded and distributed to other areas. Tracing the courses taken by this sandstone and chert (especially the latter) would allow us to speedily distinguish one or several trade routes. Naturally, we must put quotation marks around the “trade” under examination. It was, after all, a far cry from trade in the modern meaning. The size of such a trading network in Liangzhu times remains unknowable, though potentially it may not have been restricted to the Taihu Lake region. One current research priority should be focus on such subordinate trading networks within the realm of Liangzhu culture. By analyzing petrological resources across the entire Taihu Lake region, combining sites and unearthed stone tools and jades, we may be able to find a “Stone Tool Road.” At present, the picture we receive from the topography is that only the Tianmu Mountains in the west of the Hangzhou–Jiaxing–Huzhou plains possessed abundant stone resources. The area was also home to a number of small hill features. The location of Liangzhu Ancient City, also, may very likely indicate that it exerted a degree of control over these resources. At present we can prioritize analysis of the stone resources at these surrounding hills, while also conducting a comprehensive analysis of Liangzhu Ancient City stone tools and quarries. We should also achieve a comprehensive understanding of the rock distribution across the entire Tianmu Mountains. The region must harbor some areas of stone tool distribution, small processing grounds or rough processing grounds—these would sit in valleys between the hills and at confluences in the river network. Meanwhile, there may be some

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trading points over the large stretch of plains east of Liangzhu, where a plentiful and varied trade would be carried out. These trading points would be hard to trace, being very likely temporary, seasonal, even mobile. Aside from fixed stone tool processing sites, there may also have been markets akin to those in modern times, which were periodical as well as temporary sites. In other words, much remains to be done. At present, it seems we should gradually expand the range of our work. On the one hand, the geographical ambit of our research and investigation should be enlarged to the maximum degree possible; on other hand, the content of our research should combine topology, economics and logistics, aside from stone tools and resources alone. Development of human activities and society is curtailed by a number of factors and also keeps to its own laws. Our analysis of these factors and combination with excavated materials might reflect back on contemporary social form and human activities—the exact content archaeological should investigate. Hence, it is said that archaeology is a highly comprehensive discipline, touching on anything related to human society. As for research on stone tools and resources, this may be just a part of archaeology, but it allows us to understand some “large” questions.

6.2 The Stone from Another Hill “The stone from another hill can be used to carve jade” (他山之石可以攻玉) is a familiar and flowing expression in Chinese. Nowadays, it is commonly believed that the “stone” in question was flint. This is how geological dictionaries will define chert—commonly known as “firestone,” a dense and hard sedimentary siliceous rock. It is mostly microcrystalline quartz. Sometimes, it contains a matt opaline, which is frequently a light gray or gray-black. Mostly it appears in the shape of unstable blocks or in a laminated form, without structuring thick and freestanding strata. A lumpy or lenticular chert is called a chert nodule and a laminated shape as a chert band. These are mostly produced in limestone and frequently formed through metasomatism. Chert contains an extremely high proportion of silica, which makes for its high degree of hardness at around 7 Mohs. Liangzhu jades, meanwhile, were mostly amphibole (tremolite, actinolite) and serpentine. Amphibole is relatively hard at between 6 and 6.5 Mohs. Among artifacts presently unearthed from Liangzhu culture sites, only chert exceeds it in toughness and can be used to carve jade. The exquisite divine-human animal-face pattern on Liangzhu jade cong was very likely chertengraved. Chert in various sizes is also commonly found in areas where stone tools and semi-processed jades have emerged in considerable number. This shows that chert is connected with jade processing.

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Liangzhu divine-human animal-face pattern

There are three main sources for the silica in chert. The first is biological. Following the death of certain silicate biota such as radiolaria, the shell or skeleton descends to ocean floors, where it ultimately transforms into chert. Such chert is generally formed in the depths of distant oceans, and oceanic flow can transport such silicates to shallow ocean regions, where it becomes nodules of chert through a sedimentation process. The second source lies in terrestrial fragmentary material, mostly the silicon oxide produced through eluviation, erosion, dissolution or transformation of quartz, feldspar, rock debris or clay-earth minerals, brought in river flows to a shallow ocean region where it sediments to form nodules. The third source is volcanic or in deep thermal flows, primarily the silicate hydrothermal liquid from volcanic eruptions or spewing in large fault zones—these are observed through ocean-floor sedimentation or by silicate biota, transported along the currents and form silicate rocks through further sedimentation. Man began exploiting chert as far back as the Paleolithic, at which time the rock was primarily chipped into stone tools. Usually, the rocks referred to as chert in archaeological excavations divide into several types. The first has an identical meaning to geological chert—a silicate rock. The second, obsidian, is an acidic vitreous rock with a constitution equivalent to granite, though entirely formed of vitreous elements, and containing an extremely minimal amount of water (less than

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1%), mostly black or brown and with obvious glassy texture and conchoidal fractures. The third type, quartzite, is a metamorphic rock containing more than 85% quartz, formed of quartz sandstone or metamorphic rock that has undergone further partial metasomatism or thermal alteration. Aside from quartz, this rock may also contain very small amounts of feldspar, sericite, chlorite, muscovite, biotite, hornblende and pyroxene. It will generally take on a granoblastic and blocked texture, with occasional bands.

Top obsidian; Bottom left limestone; Bottom right chert nodule in limestone

At the Zhongjiagang Site in Liangzhu Ancient City, we find chert alongside jade materials and semi-complete stone tools and jades. It is roughly thumb-sized and

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formed of silexite. Considering the importance of chert in stone tool and jade production and processing, at present its origins still seem up for debate. The Zhejiang region certainly fits the conditions for chert formation. The lofty peaks to the south, nearby West Lake in Hangzhou, contain a similar silicate rock which we may also call chert. On-site surveys have revealed, however, that the chert in this case contains relatively large amounts of sulfur and carbon. It also stains the hands and produces an unusual smell, greatly different from excavated chert. One can be confident that the chert here could have been discovered in Liangzhu times, without being exploited, an indication of some “pickiness” on the part of contemporaries. The chert unearthed from Liangzhu sites is mostly a silexite that is commonly striated or interlayered among limestone, not forming its own thicker layers of rock. It has a dense texture and is relatively tough, which would present relative difficulty to extraction. Mere reliance on gathering loosened bedrocks in the form of river stones would win Liangzhu people only very thin and crumbly chert that they would struggle to put to widespread use. Yet enormous effort would be required for the enormous challenge of mining the bedrock. As such a vitally important processing tool, chert must have been a relatively precious tone resource in Liangzhu times. It may have lay in very distant shores. Its spread and routes of transmission may reflect the trading links of the period.

Limestone samples

Echoing the lines of poetry on the “The stone from another hill, can be used to carve jade” was the corresponding “The stone from another hill, can be used to grind stones.” Both couplets originate in “The Cry of the Heron” [鹤鸣], a poem in the “Minor Odes of the Kingdom” [小雅] of the Book of Odes [诗经]. The full poem runs as follows: The cry of the heron in the winding marshes, his voice heard in the wilds. The fish submerged in the depths, sometimes appears on the banks. Joy in his garden, shade of lofty sandalwood, fallen leaves under shrubbery. The stone from another hill, can be used to grind stones. The cry of the heron in the winding marshes, his voice heard in the skies. The fish submerged in the depths, sometimes appears on the banks.

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Joy in his garden, shade of lofty sandalwood, fallen leaves under shrubbery. The stone from another hill, can be used to carve jade. The common belief nowadays is that the “carving” in the final line indicates a whetstone, and so the earlier “stone from another hill” may refer to a kind of sandstone. Sandstone is a classic solidified sedimentary rock whose main material component is granular, with a secondary agglutinate component. The granular component consists of mostly quartz, feldspar, mica and rock debris, the agglutinate component silicate, iron substrate or calcium substrate. Subdivision into grit sandstone, fine sandstone and siltstone is possible based on grain size. At different stages in grinding stone tools and jade, the grain thickness of employed sandstone will move from thick to thin. Adding “can be used to carve jade” to “can be used to grind stones” reflects the grinding and carving processes in jade processing.

Left round plaque; Middle dragon-head pattern zhuo-bracelet; Right jade turtle

6.3 Searching for the Jade Spirit of Liangzhu Jades have been carved in China for over 7000 years, extending over a broad cultural spectrum. Liangzhu culture’s most characteristic attribute is its jades—cong, bi-disk and yue-battle-ax are all representative Liangzhu items. The divine-human animalface pattern on Liangzhu jades reflects the religion and faith of Liangzhu society. The 3000 + jades unearthed at the Royal Cemetery of Fanshan on the northwest edge of Mojiaoshan in Liangzhu Ancient City are a source of endless wonder.

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Top left plaque decoration; Top right semi-lunate object; Bottom left crown-shaped decoration; Bottom right bird

Scientific examination of the Fanshan, Yaoshan, Huiguanshan and Tangshan Liangzhu jades, carried out by Gan Fuxi, discovered that over 80% of the jades unearthed at the first three of these sites were carved from tremolite and actinolite, with the remainder primarily serpentine, serpentinized talcite and talcite. At the lower rank burials at Wenjiashan and Bianjiashan, the majority of excavated jades were serpentine, talcite, or an intermediate serpentized talcite. This discrepancy in jades between high- and low-rank burials demonstrates the relatively rich understanding of jades on the part of Liangzhu peoples, who were already capable of distinguishing tremolite from serpentine. Soft jade, as usually spoken of, is an aphanitic dense-massive conglomerate of actinolite or tremolite, sturdy, with differing iron contents and a texture running from deep-green to colorless. Actinolite is isomorphic to tremolite and contains less than 80% of the latter, being referred to as iron actinolite when this proportion falls under 20%. Actinolite is generally expressed in greens of different depth, richer the higher the iron content. Tremolite and actinolite are ordinarily both produced in contact with metamorphic limestone and dolomite, and tremolite is also seen in serpentine, while actinolite normally forms in regions with a slightly higher ferric content. Serpentine is a product of thermal interaction ultra-basal olivine and pyroxene. Dolomite can also form serpentine under such thermal conditions. The factors behind the production of talc are identical to serpentine, as it can be formed metamorphically through heating and erosion on ultra-basal rock or through contact with dolomite. This explains why serpentine and jade-talc often occur together. Additionally, formed serpentine can undergo re-constitution into talc under rich conditions of silica or carbon dioxide. Hence, it is possible that when Liangzhu peoples extracted their jades, the same rock contained both serpentine and talc, as well as intermediate rocks.

Mg3 Si4 O10 (OH)2

Layered, monoclinic

Talc

Comparison of tremolite, actinolite, serpentine, and talc

Mg, Fe)3 Si2 O5 (OH)4 )

Layered, monoclinic

Serpentine

0.0–0.5 )Si8 O22 (OH)2

Ca2 (Mg5.0–4.5

Ca2 (Mg4.5–2.5 Fe2+ 0.5–2.5 )Si8 O22 (OH)2

Double-chain, monoclinic

Double-chain, monoclinic

Fe2+

Chemical composition

Tremolite

Crystal habit

Actinolite

Mineral 5.5 ~ 6.5

Hardness (Mohs)

Varieties of green, dark green, black green

White or white with soft yellow, pinkish red, light green, light brown 1

2.5 ~ 3.5

Fresh green, bright green, yellow, moss green 6 ~ 6.5

White or light gray

Color

2.58 ~ 2.83

2.55±

3.1 ~ 3.3

2.9 ~ 3.0

Specific gravity

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The question of the origin of Liangzhu jades must inevitably be answered for, though at present it remains a practically unanswerable myth. By analyzing a small number of factors, Gan Fuxi revealed a relative uniformity between microscopic constituents and their volume in Liangzhu tremolite, which demonstrated a common quarry or quarry region for all jades—this lightened the load in the search for the source of Liangzhu jade, though we still had no way of resolving that question of origin.

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Serpentine

When tremolite was discovered at Xiaomeiling in Liyang, Jiangsu in the 1990s, the widespread belief was that this was the jade source for jades unearthed at Liangzhu culture sites. But comparison of microscropic factors revealed a relatively high strontium content that was not so pronounced in Liangzhu examples. The Classic of Mountains and Seas [山海经] records a “Mountain of Floating Jade” in a likely pointer to the modern West Tianmu Mountains. Though the Classic is myth and legend for the most part, imaginations have still been caught by the words “floating jade,” and some have deduced that the West Tianmu Mountains contained a jade quarry, the source of the Liangzhu jades. At present, no such source has been discovered in this area. Even so, this intersection of Zhejiang and Anhui does boast the topological conditions for mineralization of tremolite. We should note that these conditions would not necessarily result in the formation of tremolite, while issues with the precision of early geological work might mean some smaller mineralization factors were overlooked. Even more painstaking work is required to compensate for this deficit. Liangzhu individuals already possessed an estimable ability in transport, but they remained limited given the development of contemporary social production. It is certain that jade, the carrier of Liangzhu religion and faith, was under the thumb of the ruling class. Current archaeological work informs us that Liangzhu Ancient City was the political, economic and cultural center of Liangzhu culture—for convenience of rule, therefore, jade production could not take place too far from the ancient city. It would, to be sure, still have occurred in the hills that Liangzhu leaned on and guarded.

Postscript

Interdisciplinary archaeological stone tool and petrological research has carried us along several consecutive stages of research. The earliest archaeological stone tool research relied on stratigraphic and typological studies and investigated a primarily division into forms and styles. Subsequently, experts from other fields became involved, either actively or through participation on invitation. Here, we primarily introduce the cooperative interdisciplinary research between geologists and archaeologist working on Liangzhu archaeology, with a primary focus on the cooperation initiated by Dong Chuanwan at the Zhejiang University School of Earth Sciences. The initial work was carried out in relative isolation, with geologists performing geological descriptions and petrological appraisals of archaeologically unearthed stone tools and other stone remains, which archaeologists included in their reports. Such cooperation frequently slid into mere formalism due to disciplinary differences or lack of mutual understanding—it was also too shallow and struggled to solve any issues, only good for accumulating or replenishing original resources. The professional vocabulary bamboozled many archaeologists, who were restricted by their own disciplinary background and needed geologist to annotate or explain things in detail. Yet even if these archaeologists could figure the meaning of the rocks— their minerals, structure and formation processes—this was unlikely to advance their research much, deductively speaking. It was a struggle to set this work toward solving specific archaeological topics.

© Zhejiang University Press 2022 X. Ji et al., Liangzhu’s Story of Stone, Liangzhu Civilization, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5630-0

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Left on-site petrological appraisal; Right topic-group discussion

Such interdisciplinary work, to a degree, would only “skim the surface”—an interdisciplinary hopscotch that resulted in little fruitful work. Yet research on the stone layering at the Liangzhu Ancient City wall foundations provides one extremely successful case of geological–archaeological cooperation. After over a decade of breaking in and accumulating experience, each had a definite understanding of the other; following the discovery and confirmation of Liangzhu Ancient City would have their own new ideas on the site—this established and developed research on the Liangzhu layering stones. No particularly “high-end, precise and advanced” research methods were employed, only relatively standard geological methods such as traditional petrological appraisal, field geological survey, geochemical analysis and examination and the production of petrological slides for microscropic inspection. Though lacking in any extraordinary “elite, grand and superior’” technique, much foundational work was nonetheless achieved. Measuring, appraising and summating more than 10,000 stone blocks layering the city wall was, for example, a titanic project. With sufficient foundation work, subsequent research could be carried out with exceptional reliability and confidence. These ample base achievements also assured that the ultimate research product was representative and not subject to interference from any peculiar samples.

Left petrological samples and slides; Right polarizing microscope

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Additionally, archaeologists participated fully, with research topics drawn up and developed from an archaeological standpoint. Work was left to the professionals for specific applications, with geologists responsible for some more exact work, and archaeologists employing their own jargon to progress, summarize and explain the fruits of our labor. This ultimately resulted in research results that could be understood and acknowledged by all. The stone-layering study can be called an experimental project where the results thoroughly exceeded expectations. The project permitted the appraisal of Liangzhu rocks and allowed for research topics on their origins (later referred to simply as the “stone tool research project”) as a continuation and supplement to the stonelayering project. Such research was extremely broad and touched on an even richer and more complex geological and archaeological content. Differences in interment environments among stone tools at different sites, also, had resulted in different degrees of erosion. Moreover, these were not shipped directly from a natural context, as with layering stones—here artificial processing was also involved, such as might influence the natural properties of the stone behind the tool. This presented some difficulties to our initial appraisal work. We occasionally met with other problems as our topic advanced. These were challenges, as well as opportunities. They provided their own revelations for deepening future research. From the present vantage point, unfurling the mystery of the source of Liangzhu stone tools requires experimental simulation as a supplement to such interdisciplinary work. For example, aside from comparative mineralogical and geochemical research on suspected rocks, we might also produce some imitation stone tools for comparison. Obviously, if manageable, the optimal method would be to process these stone tools in a suitable environment, simulating stone tool burial in Liangzhu culture. At present, it seems that a number of stone tools were burnished and polished during the original processing event, which may have resulted in major changes to their appearance—chemical composition and mineralogical structure might be essentially identical between these lithics and the modern sources, but the discrepancies in outward appearance would be many, and persuading the average viewer of their identical nature would be a challenge. There is the additional matter of the changes that occurred to the same stone tools during burial, which may to some degree have altered their original features. Hence, experimental archaeological work will be inseparable from our final conclusions.

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Pale gray exterior following weathering on stone tool, with dark-gray fresh side

Experimental archaeological research on the stone li-plow

Once the sources of these stone tools have been fundamentally demarcated, imitation stone tools can be used and a series of experiments conducted in harvesting, hacking and tilling carried out targeting different types and their possible functions. This can be achieved while inspecting microwear on the original and imitation lithics, analyzing and confirming the specific use in each case.

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Recent years have seen a gradual advance and strengthening of scientific archaeology, with a wealth of natural science disciplines and new techniques slowly becoming integrated into archaeological research. Doubtless this is positive news for archaeological research, but no matter what technique or analytical method employed, the final result must rest on the materials themselves. Archaeology is ultimately a science, where the materials should speak for themselves, something we can never overlook. Hence, a scientific archaeology, or the interdisciplinary cooperation between some other scientific discipline and archaeology, ought to focus on archaeology, but let the materials speak; its ultimate goal should be to solve archaeological questions. In the first chapter of this book, we mainly consulted the Comprehensive Research Report, Liangzhu Ancient City [良渚古城综合研究报告], while in the specific topic research, results in the Liangzhu Ancient City Layering-Stone Research Report were our primary reference for the content of chapters two and three, and chapters four through six offered some interim summary of targeted research in Liangzhu stone tools as a means of eliciting thoughts. Stone tool research topics remain ongoing, and much work has yet to get off the ground. Much of the content and description here represents our personal opinion. Mistakes will be numerous. We invite criticism and corrections.