Shifting materials: variability, homogeneity and change in the beaded ornaments of the Western Zhou

Hommel, Peter ORCID: 0000-0001-5045-9096 and Sax, Margaret (2014) Shifting materials: variability, homogeneity and change in the beaded ornaments of the Western Zhou. ANTIQUITY, 88 (342). pp. 1213-1228.

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Abstract

Academic interest in the elaborate bead assemblages recovered from graves of the Western Zhou elite has grown in recent years. Beads and beaded ornaments have been seen as both markers of external contact and evidence of change in the Zhou ritual system. Recent study of these bead assemblages, however, indicates that they may also have reflected shifting political circumstances. The use of different bead materials and forms suggests a trend to centralised production and control of manufacture, particularly from the later tenth century BC. The authors correlate a move towards readily manufactured materials with evidence for widespread elite intermarriage, and consider a possible tension between production and the socio-political strategies of the Zhou court.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	China, Western Zhou, beads, grave goods, elite tombs, carnelian, faience, tixingpai
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	12 May 2020 10:20
Last Modified:	18 Jan 2023 23:52
DOI:	10.1017/S0003598X00115418
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3086962