This study integrates three lines of evidence—spatial analysis of pottery-making remains, standardization of pottery dimensions, and wealth differentiation in burials—to systematically investigate changes in pottery production patterns in the Gan-Qing region and their socio-environmental dynamics. The results indicate that from the Majiayao period to the Qijia period, pottery production gradually centralized, accompanied by the increase in pottery standardization. Wealth differentiation within cemeteries reached its peak during the same time. After 3500 BP, the level of pottery standardization declined, and social differentiation weakened. This transition is closely related to the regional subsistence shift towards pastoral mobility. This study emphasizes that pottery standardization must be cross-validated with direct evidence to indicate specialization; that craft specialization is an institutional expression of social complexity; and that environmental pressure and subsistence transformation jointly shaped the evolution of pottery production patterns in the Gan-Qing region.
Lu et al. (Thu,) studied this question.