Gender Archaeological Analysis Of Burials From Eastern And Western Zhou Periods In The Gannin Area

Burials can,to a certain extent,reflect all the information about the life of their owners,and are of great importance in recovering a picture of the lives of ancient ancestors.Since the twentieth century,there has been an increasing number of studies on female burials in the Eastern and Western Zhou periods.Most of the studies have been based on historical documents or excavated literature,exploring women’s social status,marital relations,division of labour,gender roles and so on.It was not until the introduction of gender archaeology to China that gender information in burials began to receive attention.There is a wealth of research on female burials from Eastern and Western Zhou periods,but there is a lack of gender archaeology in the frontier areas besides the central areas.There is also a lack of research on minor females.This paper conducts a statistical analysis of female burials from Eastern and Western Zhou periods in the Gan-Ning area from the perspective of gender archaeology,combining relevant literature and archaeological findings,in an attempt to discuss issues related to the social status,economic power,social division of labour and family roles of women.The first two chapters provide a comprehensive overview and analysis of single burials of adult females from Eastern and Western Zhou periods in the Gan-Ning area,starting with burial volumes,burial styles,funerary objects and accompanying burial goods,and counting the accompanying burials with clear gender attributes to reach a preliminary understanding.The third chapter discusses the differences between minor female burials and adult burials and analyses the gender differences reflected in the joint burials.The fourth chapter,based on the statistical analysis in the previous sections,moves to the social level,and attempts to explore the social status,social division of labour and the domestic roles played by women during these periods.The paper argues that the status of women during Eastern and Western Zhou periods seems to have been undergoing a major transformation,with a trend towards women being inferior to men and women gradually losing their voice in the public sphere of society.Among the noble class,fewer female burials have been found,and power may have been more in the hands of men.Among the civilian classes,women were mostly engaged in craft production activities and were trapped in the home.To date,there have been relatively few research findings on gender archaeological analysis of burials from Eastern and Western Zhou periods in the Gan-Ning area.This paper provides a gender-differentiated analysis of the female burials in these periods in the Gan-Ning area,which to some extent fills the research gap and is of considerable significance.