A GIS approach to the spatial organization and social structure of the Jiaojia cemetery, eastern China

The Jiaojia site is located in the piedmont plains on the north side of the Taiyi Mountains (泰沂山脉). It was a regional centre in the northern part of Shandong during the middle to late stages of the Dawenkou culture (3500 BCE-2600 BCE), and it is currently the earliest prehistoric walled site discovered in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. We performed spatial analysis using ArcGIS combined with mortuary data and statistical analysis. We examined the spatial distribution of the 86 burials excavated at the site’s northern district in 2016 and discussed its implications for understanding the social structure of the Jiaojia site back to the Neolithic times.