A comparative study of burial caves south of the Yangzi River : highland routes and frontier communities at the fall of the Han Empire (2nd to 3rd century CE)
At the fall of the Han Empire, deep-cut valleys south of the Yangzi were blooming with unprecedented activity: ostentatious rock-cut cemeteries, decorated and inscribed, turned the riverside cliffs into theatrical villages of the dead. This thesis uses a typology of rock-cut burials to map the distribution of frontier groups located on major and minor southern tributaries of the upper Yangzi, at the interface between lowland and highland. Epigraphic material is integrated with the archaeological evidence, with the latter being, in large part, first-hand material collected via direct personal survey of burial chambers cut in sandstone cliffs. This dataset is articulated particularly carefully in locational terms to produce an extended analysis of large-scale craft production and funerary expression while Han imperial presence declines on its southwest frontier (2nd-3rd century CE). While existing studies have investigated the origin of elite rock-cut tombs under the Western Han (2nd-1st century BCE) in the Central Plains, and the popularity of rock-cut tombs under the Eastern Han (1st-2nd century CE) in the Sichuan basin, they have relied on only a few excavated tombs and historical texts. These studies have
Wei, Lia
A comparative study of burial caves south of the Yangzi River : highland routes and frontier communities at the fall of the Han Empire (2nd to 3rd century CE). At the fall of the Han Empire, deep-cut valleys south of the Yangzi were blooming with unprecedented activity: ostentatious rock-cut cemeteries, decorated and inscribed, turned the riverside cliffs into theatrical villages of the dead. This thesis uses a typology of rock-cut burials to map the distribution of frontier groups located on major and minor southern tributaries of the upper Yangzi, at the interface between lowland and highland. Epigraphic material is integrated with the archaeological evidence, with the latter being, in large part, first-hand material collected via direct personal survey of burial chambers cut in sandstone cliffs. This dataset is articulated particularly carefully in locational terms to produce an extended analysis of large-scale craft production and funerary expression while Han imperial presence declines on its southwest frontier (2nd-3rd century CE). While existing studies have investigated the origin of elite rock-cut tombs under the Western Han (2nd-1st century BCE) in the Central Plains, and the popularity of rock-cut tombs under the Eastern Han (1st-2nd century CE) in the Sichuan basin, they have relied on only a few excavated tombs and historical texts. These studies have
comparative_study burial cave south river highland route frontier community fall han empire fall han empire deep cut valley south unprecedented activity rock cut cemetery decorate inscribed turn theatrical village dead typology rock cut burial map distribution frontier group locate major_minor southern tributary upper interface lowland highland epigraphic_material integrate archaeological_evidence latter large_part first_hand material_collect via direct personal survey burial chamber cut dataset articulate particularly carefully locational term produce extend analysis large_scale craft_production funerary expression han imperial presence decline southwest frontier exist study_investigate origin elite rock cut tomb western han bce central popularity rock cut tomb eastern han sichuan basin rely excavate tombs historical_text study