Searching for Clues about the Ancient Chinese Economy

Despite the immense interest in the contemporary Chinese economy, to date researchers have shown next to no interest in the economy of China’s earliest dynasties. My current research aims at filling this lacuna. Previously my fieldwork had focused on the analysis of a large bone artifact production site at the Shang dynasty capital of Anyang – an industry spanning both elite and non-elite consumption. This summer, however, work was begun on a new collaborative project on the zooarchaeological assemblage of Guandimiao - the only well preserved Anyang period village site excavated to date. In focusing on the animal bones deposited at the site we hope to learn what they can tell us about food practices and animal husbandry, bone artifact production and consumption and ultimately the economic relationship between village sites like Guandimiao and large centers like Anyang. Though our research is still ongoing, one exciting discovery made this summer was that the bone hairpins found at Guandimiao almost certainly came from the great workshops at Anyang, while more quotidian tools such as awls and spatulas were locally made without the aid of either skilled craftspeople or bronze saws. While awls and spatulas were made at the Anyang bone workshops in addition to hairpins, it appears they were produced for more local consumption (Guandimiao is approximately 200 km from Anyang) while hairpins were apparently distributed over long distances by mechanisms still unclear. Further research will focus on the extent of distribution of the Anyang workshops, the possibility that Guandimiao may have been a site where cattle were raised for the provisioning of the capital, and the nature of life in a small Anyang period village.