Taosi
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Taosi (陶寺) is an archaeological site in Xiangfen County, Shanxi, China. Taosi is considered to be part of the late phase of the Longshan culture in southern Shanxi, also known as the Taosi phase (2300 BC - 1900 BC). Taosi was surrounded by a rammed earth wall; the settlement outgrew the perimeter of the wall. At its height, Taosi covered an area of 30,000 square meters. The settlement is the largest Longshan site discovered in the Linfen basin area, possibly a regional center.
The cemetery at Taosi contained over 1500 burials. The burials at Taosi were highly stratified (the most stratified of Longshan sites), with burial wealth concentrated in the graves of a few males (nine large graves). While the largest graves had a large cache of grave goods (some with over 200 objects), most of the small graves did not have grave goods. A single bronze bell was also found at a Taosi grave.
Chinese archaeologists believe that Taosi was the site of a solar observatory.
[edit] References
- Chang, Kwang-chih. The Archaeology of Ancient China, ISBN 0-300-03784-8
- He, Nu and Wu, Jiabi. Astronomical date of the "observatory" at Taosi site
- Higham, Charles, The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia, ISBN 0-521-56505-7
- Liu, Li. The Chinese Neolithic: Trajectories to Early States, ISBN 0-521-81184-8
