Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong

How the interaction between resources and society shaped the social world is an important anthropological concern. In the study of the Bronze Age, prominent resources, represented by bronzes, are often the focus of researchers. However, there are many different types of resources, and while prominent resources are important, ubiquitous resources cannot be ignored. Therefore, studying the interaction between resources and society within an anthropological framework is a promising avenue that offers new perspectives on this topic. This study analyzes lithic and ceramic artifacts to explore the connection between society and ubiquitous resources during this period. Using a combination of geoarchaeology, statistical methods, and spatial analysis, stone and ceramic remains excavated from five Shang Dynasty (1,600-1,050 BC) sites in the Jianghan area have been examined. The results of the study reveal new phenomena, proving that the utilization and acquisition of ubiquitous resources was a complex network among the societies of the Shang Dynasty. Different levels of settlements had very different resource strategies, and the resource strategies showed changes over time as the power of the Shang Dynasty in the Jianghan area receded. In addition, the social scenario under the perspective of ubiquitous resources complements the social landscape previously understood through prominent resources, allowing us to see that Shang society had both strict order and open mobility in its resource strategies.