The Construction of Social Identity in Early Iron Age Greek and Eastern Zhou Chinese Burials: A Comparative Approach

Abstract

The Early Iron Age in Greece and the Eastern Zhou period in China were periods of tumultuous social transformation and critical state formation. To understand the making of these two societies, one must examine every brick that builds these spheres—namely, the individual. This research explores the similarities and differences in the construction of individual social identity in the mortuary sphere between Eastern Zhou China (770-256 BC) and Early Iron Age Greece (ca. 1050-650 BC), using Attica and the Jin region as case studies. It aims to understand how social identity is constructed according to socio-historical developments, and the social and political implications of these similarities and differences during this critical moment of state formation. This study has compiled 233 richly furnished burials from Attica and 243 richly furnished burials from the Jin region and aims to incorporate all aspects of material traces into the analysis. To tackle this diverse array of material evidence, this study employs a robust framework consisting of three layers of analysis. The first layer examines the corporeality of the deceased, modified by costume. The second layer looks at the material assemblage from tombs. The third layer uncovers the active roles participants played in creating the funeral and the sensory experiences of the social collective. The comparative approach is a key component of this study. An unprecedented comparison between Early Iron Age Greece and Eastern Zhou China enables a break with conventional narratives and provide new insights into the historical progress of state formation. A gender perspective is another key component exploring the construction of gender relations against a broader socio-historical background and rejecting any normative and ahistorical assumptions. This study reveals that the collective understanding of gender plays a crucial role in driving and responding to key social transformations. However, gender construction is not always dichotomous. A relational way of gender construction is employed when gender is integrated into social ranking. Moreover, more than one layer of identity and more than two categories of gender may be expressed in the mortuary sphere. Finally, the interrogation of mortuary data reveals that, at the start of the transformational period, reverence for ancestors was dominant in both Attica and the Jin region. However, as the centuries passed, their religious orientations diverged, ultimately leading to two contrasting religious frameworks at the conclusion of the state formation process. This divergence also impacts distinct evolutions in the model of the state and the location of authority in each cultural sphere.