关键词: 陶寺遗址, 环境背景, 社会背景, 临汾地区

Abstract:

The Taosi site is located at Xiangfen County, Linfen City, Shanxi Province. Linfen area is one of the important civilization cradles in China,in which the cultures of Yangshao and Longshan periods developped continuously. The Taosi site is a large settlement of the Taosi culture in Longshan period, and it has some characteristics of an early capital city. This article explores how the cultural and environmental backgrounds effect formation of the Taosi capital city. The investigation focuses on analyses of the distribution features of the Taosi culture sites using Geographic Information System, pollen assemblage from a loess-paleosol sequence, data collected from geomorphologic survey and archaeology materials. The archaeological sites of the Taosi culture are classified into five grades, and the Taosi site is the largest. The analysis of GIS shows that the sites of the Taosi culture can be divided into eight interconnected settlements. The Fenhe River passes through Xiangfen interconnected settlement, which has the highest site density. The archaeology materials show that, there are a few of pottery kilns and stone artifact workshops in the Taosi site. A large number of charred plant seeds are identified from the Taosi site, such as foxtail millet(Setaria italica) and broomcorn millet(Panicum miliaceum). The pollen analysis shows that, from the late Last Glacial to middle Holocene, Pinus, Artemisia, Selaginella sinensis and Concentricystes are the main elements, among which Pinus and Concentricystes increase sharply. The result of geomorphologic survey shows that, the terrain is flat, with a stable water supply from Taer Hill, before the building of the Taosi site. Four major influencing factors in the formation of the Taosi capital city are concluded as follow. First, the continuous development of regional culture under the suitable environment of the Holocene optimum, and the diversity of the Taosi culture promote a flourishing culture. Second, the development of settlements is conducive to the agglomeration of population and resources, and as a result, a central settlement forms. Third, the geographical conditions of the Taosi site are able to meet the needs of a large numbers of people for food and energy. Finally, flat land with rills, abundant building materials, developed handicrafts and convenient traffic conditions are conducive to the building and development of a capital city.

Key words: the Taosi site, environmental background, cultural background, Linfen area