Animal Classification in Central China : From the late Neolithic to the early Bronze Age

Ningning Dong

ISBN 10: 1407357921 / ISBN 13: 9781407357928

Published by British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd, 2021

About this Item

nach der Bestellung gedruckt Neuware - Printed after ordering - This monograph uses an archaeological approach to decipher folk classification of animals in ancient societies. Ningning Dong collates faunal data from three late Neolithic and early Bronze Age sites in central China and integrates multiple lines of evidence. The analyses demonstrate a folk taxonomy remarkably different from the Linnaean system. The results show that age might have served as a critical categorical filter, particularly in ritual contexts, and that the wild/domesticated dichotomy was established no earlier than the Shang dynasty. This perceptual distinction is unlikely to have been synchronised with the initial occurrence of domestication in the early Neolithic. Animal categories constituted a vital part of a broader classificatory scheme that concerned the organisation of the cosmos as a whole. This book enriches our understanding of animal categories in ancient China and further discusses the tension between etics and emics, language and action, domestic and wild.

Seller Inventory # 9781407357928

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Animal Classification in Central China : From the late Neolithic to the early Bronze Age
• Publisher: British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1407357921
• ISBN 13: 9781407357928
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 297W x 210H x 10D millimeters 297 millimeters width by 210 millimeters height by 10 millimeters depth
• Weight: 581 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This monograph uses an archaeological approach to decipher folk classification of animals in ancient societies. Ningning Dong collates faunal data from three late Neolithic and early Bronze Age sites in central China and integrates multiple lines of evidence. The analyses demonstrate a folk taxonomy remarkably different from the Linnaean system. The results show that age might have served as a critical categorical filter, particularly in ritual contexts, and that the wild/domesticated dichotomy was established no earlier than the Shang dynasty. This perceptual distinction is unlikely to have been synchronised with the initial occurrence of domestication in the early Neolithic. Animal categories constituted a vital part of a broader classificatory scheme that concerned the organisation of the cosmos as a whole. This book enriches our understanding of animal categories in ancient China and further discusses the tension between etics and emics, language and action, domestic and wild.