ABSTRACT
The first systematic archaeological excavations conducted by Academia Sinica, from 1929 to 1937 in Anyang, revealed a late Shang site with a surprisingly developed material culture. The Chinese chariot, as do chariots everywhere, consists of three basic components: a chariot box in which the driver and others ride, an axle and wheel assemblage, and a harnessing assemblage. The Archaeological Context of the Chinese Chariot. Some intuition of the chariot's role in early Chinese society can be gained from the archaeological context in which these artifacts were found. A point of some debate has been the military effectiveness of the chariot, a point with broad implications for the social impact of the chariot. Some idea of the extensiveness of such conferrals of chariots or chariot-trappings can be gained from a statistical analysis of Western Zhou bronze inscriptions.
