Cemetery of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties at Xiaohucun of Xingyang

This book includes the excavation data and basic research findings of 58 tombs in the late Shang Dynasty (1250 BC-1046 BC) and 64 tombs in the Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC-256 BC) [2 tombs in the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC-771 BC) and 62 tombs in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 BC-256 BC)] from the cemetery at the Xiaohu Village of Xingyang City, Henan Province. The cemetery is situated to the northeast of Xiaohu Village, Guangwu Town of Xingyang City, Henan Province, approximately 5 kilometers north to the Yellow River. It is higher in the north and lower in the south, with tombs mainly distributed within an area of about 400 meters from north to south and about 200 meters from east to west respectively. The 58 tombs in the late Shang Dynasty were all rectangular earthen shaft pitted, with a total of 405 relics unearthed including 154 bronze wares. The inscription of Chinese character She (“舌”) was discovered on over 20 bronze wares, indicating that this should be a cemetery of the She (“舌”) clan during the late Shang Dynasty. The 64 tombs in the Zhou Dynasty are all earthen shaft pitted, with a total of 217 relics unearthed, most of which are potteries. The tombs date from the late stage of the late Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC-476 BC) to the late Warring States Period (476 BC–221 BC). These tombs in earlier periods are generally distributed in the northern part of the cemetery, while those of later periods are in the southern part. The data obtained from the Xiaohucun Cemetery in Xingyang is of great academic value for studying China’s funeral and burial customs, ethnicity and related history and geography in the late Shang Dynasty and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.