Conspicuous Consumption: Bronze Vessels in High-Ranking Elite Tombs of the Western Zhou (1045–771 BCE)

Abstract This paper introduces the concept of conspicuous consumption into the study of Western Zhou material culture. It reveals that a select group of high-ranking elites, relative to their peers, engaged in this practice with extravagant use of bronze vessels in their tombs. Such behavior was driven by social and political factors unique to the individuals or their lineages. The paper argues that conspicuous consumption offers a valuable analytical lens for examining the wide variability in burial data and for revealing the complexity of funerary practices that extend beyond the constraints of the sumptuary regulations during the Western Zhou period.