A study of the late prehistoric burial records of Xinjiang, northwest China (c. 3000−200BCE)

Abstract

Xinjiang is well known as a key part of the ancient Silk Road. Since the start of research on Xinjiang’s prehistory, the archaeological records have been dominated by burials. For a long period, studies of these burials have focused on grave goods, including typology, dates, and cultural exchange reflected by similarities of object forms and styles between different regions, while leaving mortuary practices and their implications for social and ideological dimensions largely overlooked. In this thesis, burials dated to the late prehistoric period of Xinjiang (c. 3000−200 BCE) in the Northern Zhunge’er Basin, Upper Ili River Valley, Northern Tarim Basin, and Eastern Tianshan Mountain Region are studied from a regional perspective. These regions have diverse landscape, large numbers of excavated graves, and relatively complete cultural-historic sequences, providing optimal conditions for interregional comparison and diachronic observation. The core questions explored in this study are the vertical differentiation of mortuary treatment, change and continuity of burial customs in each region and their implications for social complexity and the behavior and ideology of living people who practiced the burial rituals. Multiple statistical methods are used to investigate the patterns of mortuary variables. The results show that vertical differentiation in mortuary treatment varied greatly from one region to another. It emerged earlier and was much more dramatic in steppe areas than in oasis areas. Among different steppe regions, the emergence and degree of mortuary differentiation is also varied. There are differences between oasis and steppe areas in the variation of numbers of individuals per grave. Collective burials gained a varied degree of popularity in the oasis areas after the 1st millennium BCE, implying an increasing importance of expression of kinship in mortuary contexts. By contrast, the steppe areas either had few collective burials or saw a change from small-scale collective burials to single burials between the 2nd and 1st millennium BCE. Rich burials were used to display the roles and status of individuals rather than the collective. Combining the results of burial analysis and available settlement materials, this study suggests that the development of social complexity was regionally imbalanced in Xinjiang during the late prehistoric period.