Archaeological Observations Of The Development Of Tomb Status Of Qi During East Zhou Dynasty In The Linzi Area

Qi culture is an important archaeological culture in the Haidai area during the Zhou dynasty.Tombs are an important part of the cultural heritage as they reflect the social relationship and life of the tomb owner before his death.The structure,scale,burial system,and funerary objects of the tombs have become important signs that demonstrate the status of the tomb.It can be said that tombs are the most direct embodiment of all levels of society,the mirror or refraction of the social hierarchy,and the best entry point for discussing the hierarchical structure of the tomb owner.Therefore,this paper selects Qi tombs(??)of the Eastern Zhou dynasty in the Linzi area as the research object,and uses the mathematical statistical methods combined with the existing typological research results to classify,stage,and study the tombs in phases.Tomb owners are classified according to the social groups and ranks before their death,divided the developmental stage of Qi culture in correspondence to the characteristics of various tombs.Also,the appearance of tomb cultures and the flow of people are explored based on the various stages.Lastly,the paper presents a longitudinal diachronic observation of the evolution of the tomb owners' hierarchical structure with a horizontal comparative study on the changes of burial grades and discussion of related issues.Through the comprehensive collection of tomb materials,the Linzi area Qi tombs of the Eastern Zhou dynasty are divided into four classes according to the differences in types of funerary items:Jia,Yi,Bing,and Ding,representing tombs with bronze vessels,tombs with ritual potteries,tombs with pottery,tombs without pottery respectively.Tombs with bronze vessels indicate the status of tomb owners,where they mostly belong to the aristocratic class.Tombs with ritual potteries that do not have bronzes but consist of a ceremonial pottery tripod indicate that the tomb owners belong to the emerging class.This type of ceremonial pottery mainly refers to the bronze rituals of the same period,including the three categories of food,wine,and water.Tombs with pottery contain pottery used for daily purposes and tombs without pottery have funerary items like bones,hooks,and weapons,the tomb owners of Bing and Ding types belong to the civilian class.Combining the existing research results and archaeological reports,the tombs are divided into six periods:early,middle and late Spring-and-Autumn period,early,middle and late Warring-States period.With the analysis of the changes of tombs in various historical periods,Qi culture is divided into formation,development and prosperity,transformation,and gradual decline stages.Based on the different stages of Qi cultural development,the thesis discusses the temporal changes of various tombs and grades and conducts longitudinal diachronic observations on the changes of Qi tomb status in Linzi area.The first stage,there are only Jia and Bing types of tombs.The tombs of type Jia are exclusive to copper rituals and carriages,while the tombs of Class Yi are only with pottery and bones.The second stage,the size of the three status of tombs overlaps,the ty pes and combinations of burial objects are obviously different,and the status is clear.However,the emergence of Class Yi tombs indicates to some extent that the boundaries between the two classes have begun to change,disturbing the original social order.The third phase,the aristocratic hierarchy began to change internally,and the original boundaries gradually became blurred;the emerging ranks developed steadily,the number increased,and the interior began to differentiate,Class Bing tombs appeared in the emerging civilian class.The aristocratic class at this stage began to change.The emerging class included the declining aristocratic class and the civilian class that transcended the system.The civilian class,including the original civilian class and the emerging civilian class,reflected the further expansion of exchanges between the three classes.Fourth stage,the internal status of the aristocratic hierarchy gradually blurs,flowing between the upper and lower classes.The number of tombs in Class Yi,which has tombs with carriages and stones increased and indicates that the difference between Class Jia and Class Yi tombs is further reduced and exchanges are frequent.The proportion of emerging pottery in Class Bing tombs increases,representing that it is more similar to Class Yi tombs,with frequent flow between classes,and the difference is greatly reduced.A horizontal comparative study of the changes in the status of the tombs in the Eastern Zhou dynasty is conducted.Class Jia tombs experienced a process of internal differentiation,strict hierarchy,incomplete internal differentiation,ambiguous hierarchy,and frequent exchanges between upper and lower classes.After the emergence of Class Bing tombs in the late Spring and Autumn period,the development continues.In the middle and late Warring States period,the two sub-layers of high and low can be clearly divided.The development is a process in which the hierarchical boundaries are gradually broken.From the Spring and Autumn period to the Warring States period,Class Bing tombs,steadily develops.The extreme difference between the occupied area of the tomb,the type and quantity of pottery is constantly expanding,reflecting the gradual differentiation of its interior,which may be related to economic level,disposable resources or occupation.Lastly,issues related to the thesis such as the types and the combinations of ceremonial pottery are briefly mentioned.