The No. 7 structural foundations of the second building cluster at Yinxu (conventionally known as the Yi-7 site) represent structures built during two separate periods. Those structures built in the earlier period centered around the B1 to B10 rammed-earth platforms and were enclosed by a trench. In contrast, those structures built later included a large building with thick rammed-soil walls supported inside by wood poles, as well as an altar and a low, flat space for making offerings, the surfaces of both of which were covered with rammed-soil. The structures within the Yi-7 site are conventionally thought to have been constructed during the early Wuding period, were probably reconstructed or converted in the late part of that period, and continued to be used into the Linxin and Kangding reigns as well. The structures are believed to have made up a ceremonial complex which existed concurrently with the Halls (Yi-5). The latter were used for making political decisions (the imperial court), while the former were used to make offerings or sacrifices to the ancestors and spirits and possibly constitute the western temple to remote ancestors written of in inscriptions on oracle bones.
No. 7 structural foundations, ancestral temple structures, the western temple to remote ancestors
Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.
