Recent research is highlighting the archaeological significance of the Loess Highland of north-central China. Here, the authors report on some of the findings from Zhaigou, in Shaanxi Province, where excavations have so far revealed monumental architecture, elite burials and evidence of craft production, indicating marked social stratification and networks of interaction with the Shang capital of Anyang on the Central Plain. Rather than an extension of the Shang state, the authors argue that Zhaigou and other highland sites existed as peer polities within which the local elites arose and wielded limited power through their control of access to prestige goods.
Wang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.