Ceramic manufacturing and development of social complexity in the Neolithic Linfen Basin, China

Archeological surveys and excavations indicate that during the Late Neolithic Age, the Linfen Basin featured a multi-tiered settlement hierarchy centered in Taosi. This study focuses on the pottery artifacts in the Linfen Basin, aiming to explore the relationship between pottery production and the development of social complexity in the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin. We analyzed 109 pottery sherds collected from the Linfen Basin using XRF and inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). This study finds no difference in the chemical composition of pottery clay among the Longshan sites in the Linfen Basin, either diachronically or synchronically. Considering the distribution of clay resources in the Linfen Basin, it is possible that these Longshan communities shared a clay resource near Taosi, which possibly controlled the clay resources. The chemical analysis of pottery clay sherds points to further study of resource acquisition patterns in the development of social complexity in Neolithic China.