 Erlitou in eastern China | |||||||
| Geographical range | Western Henan | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | Bronze Age China | ||||||
| Dates | c. 1900–1500 BC | ||||||
| Type site | Erlitou | ||||||
| Preceded by | Longshan culture | ||||||
| Followed by | Erligang culture | ||||||
| Defined by | Xu Xusheng | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 二里頭文化 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 二里头文化 | ||||||
| |||||||
34°41′35″N 112°41′20″E / 34.693°N 112.689°E
The Erlitou culture (Chinese: 二里頭; pinyin: Èrlǐtóu) was an early Bronze Age society and archaeological culture. It existed in the Yellow River valley from approximately 1900 to 1500 BC.[1][2] A 2007 study using radiocarbon dating proposed a narrower date range of 1750–1530 BC.[3] The culture is named after Erlitou, an archaeological site in Yanshi, Henan. It was widely spread throughout Henan and Shanxi and later appeared in Shaanxi and Hubei. Most archaeologists consider Erlitou the first state-level society in China.[4] Chinese archaeologists generally identify the Erlitou culture as the site of the Xia dynasty, but there is no firm evidence, such as writing, to substantiate such a linkage,[5][6][7] as the earliest evidence of Chinese writing dates to the Late Shang period.
- ^ Allan 2007, p. 475.
- ^ Liu & Xu 2007, p. 886.
- ^ Zhang et al. 2014, p. 206.
- ^ Shelach-Lavi 2015, p. 185.
- ^ Allan 2007, pp. 489–490.
- ^ Liu 2004, p. 238.
- ^ Liu & Xu 2007, pp. 897–899.