A Study on the Whetstone-as-Funerary-Object Practice at the Jinsha Site, Chengdu

Abstract

Whetstone-as-funerary-object was a common practice seen in tombs at the Jinsha site. Commonly found in the tombs at the Jinsha site, whetstones could have been a signifier of professional soldiers or violence groups in the ancient Shu culture, thus a product of the stratified ancient Shu society. Whetstones have been largely discovered in boat-coffin burials. The practice took form no later than the early Western Zhou dynasty, went on the decline in the late Spring and Autumn period, and came to an end in the Warring States period. The burial custom in question reflects the rise and fall of Jinsha as the central settlement area, and is a likely result of the two major transitions the ancient Shu society underwent over the period from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn period. The ancient Shu society experienced regime changes and went under the reign of reshuffling rulers in the late Spring and Autumn period; as a result, the emerging ruling elite abandoned the old whetstone-as-funerary-object practice, and embraced the new world.

Keywords

whetstone, Jinsha site, boat-coffin burial, craftsman, professional soldier

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