ABSTRACT
The concept of globalization thinking has been used for studying contemporary society (Hopkins 2002; Scholte 2005). Yet, little has been done on ancient society. What is the denition of globalization? Archaeologists agree that ‘globalization is a form of connectivity’. This form of connectivity records human interactions on local and regional scales (Robertson this volume). Most historians and archaeologists agree that global systems need not be strictly inclusive of the whole world (Wallerstein1976: 346; Robertson this volume). Globalization, however, has to form the connections between dierent regions and has an impact on social change (Jennings 2011: 2). Furthermore, Feinman (this volume) emphasizes the importance of an historical perspective on globalization that bridges the past material world with the thinking of contemporary globalization. Within this framework, this chapter aims to provide a contextualized analysis on the outcome of the intensive globalization during the sixth century ce by examining archaeological records of the Northern Zhou dynasty (557-581 ce) in northern China.
