CLAN-SIGN INSCRIPTIONS AND THEIR SOCIAL CONTEXTS OF SHANG DYNASTY

过去六年在长江中游发现的大型城墙遗址，为研究复杂社会的发展提供了动力。在讨论中华文明的起源时，我把重点放在了公元前第三个千年的城墙遗址上。为此，我们发掘了银香城遗址，这是中型城墙遗址之一。我们的团队在1995-96年间进行了发掘，同时对其他城墙遗址进行了考古调查。我们调查了长江中游地区的7个大型城墙遗址。这些城墙遗址似乎是在曲家岭文化时期建造的。围墙围墙的大小有一个耐人寻味的变化。石家河遗址是最大的围墙遗址建筑群，目前已知围栏内外存在40多个聚落。除了一些房屋、储藏坑和墓葬外，该遗址的主要发现是一座仪式建筑。在这些礼器中，大汶口文化中最具意义的是刻有符号的大口尊烧杯。毫无疑问，曲家岭-石家河文化与大汶口文化直接接触，石家河遗址是区域政治单位内的仪式中心和远程交流的中心。

The discovery of large walled sites from the middle Changjiang River valley during the last six years has provided impetus for examining the development of complex societies. I have focused on the walled sites during the third millennium B.C.in the discussions about the origins of Chinese civilization. For that purpose we, have excavated Yinxiangcheng site, one of the medium-sized walled sites. Our team excavated in 1995-96 and simultaneously undertook archaeological surveys for the other walled sites.We have investigated seven large sites with walls in the middle Changjiang River valley. It appears that these walled sites were constructed during the Qujialing Culture. There is an intriguing variation in the size of the walled enclosures. The site of Shijiahe is the largest walled site complex, now more than 40 settlements are known to have existed inside and outside the enclosed area. Except for some houses, storage pits and burials, the major find at the site is a ritual structure. Among the ritual objects the big-mouth zun beaker with incised symbols, which were typical of the Dawenkou Culture, is of the utmost significance. There can be no question that the Qujialing-Shijiahe Culture and the Dawenkou Culture made contact with each other directly, and that the Shijiahe site served as the ceremonial center and the central place for long distance exchanges within the regional political unit.