Changing cultural and social identities in a border area : the case of Pre-Imperial and early Imperial Sichuan (V-I cent. BC)
My PhD thesis Changing Social and Cultural Identities in a Border Area. The Case of Pre-Imperial and Early Imperial Sichuan discusses the funerary remains of the Sichuan region dated from the Warring States period to the Western Han dynasty (V-I cent. BC.) My research specifically addresses issues of identity, boundaries and social interaction, immediately prior to and during the early incorporation of the region into the empire, as well as the relevance of these concepts for the interpretation of global trends and local variations identified in the archaeological record. My aims were on the one hand to question the attribution of specific cultural traits to distinct ~archaeological cultures~, as the local ~Ba~ and ~Shu~ cultures~, and on the other hand to detect from the discontinuities of the archaeological record the existence of cross-cutting and overlapping social and cultural identities. The research entails a qualitative and quantitative analysis of a dataset composed of around 300 burials and their grave goods assemblages recorded in Chinese publications and field records. Special attention was given to the use and association of different burial types, specific classes of items (pottery, bronze weapons,
Mengoni, L. E.
Changing cultural and social identities in a border area : the case of Pre-Imperial and early Imperial Sichuan (V-I cent. BC). My PhD thesis Changing Social and Cultural Identities in a Border Area. The Case of Pre-Imperial and Early Imperial Sichuan discusses the funerary remains of the Sichuan region dated from the Warring States period to the Western Han dynasty (V-I cent. BC.) My research specifically addresses issues of identity, boundaries and social interaction, immediately prior to and during the early incorporation of the region into the empire, as well as the relevance of these concepts for the interpretation of global trends and local variations identified in the archaeological record. My aims were on the one hand to question the attribution of specific cultural traits to distinct ~archaeological cultures~, as the local ~Ba~ and ~Shu~ cultures~, and on the other hand to detect from the discontinuities of the archaeological record the existence of cross-cutting and overlapping social and cultural identities. The research entails a qualitative and quantitative analysis of a dataset composed of around 300 burials and their grave goods assemblages recorded in Chinese publications and field records. Special attention was given to the use and association of different burial types, specific classes of items (pottery, bronze weapons,
changing cultural social_identity border_area case pre imperial early_imperial sichuan phd changing social_cultural identities border_area case pre imperial early imperial sichuan discus funerary remains sichuan region date states period western han_dynasty specifically_address issue identity boundaries social_interaction immediately prior early incorporation region empire well relevance concept interpretation global trend local_variation identify archaeological_record aim one_hand question attribution specific cultural_trait distinct archaeological cultures local cultures hand detect archaeological_record existence cross cutting overlap social_cultural identity entail qualitative_quantitative analysis dataset compose burial grave_good assemblage record chinese publication field record special_attention_give use association different_burial type specific class item pottery bronze weapon