Antiquity, 2012 vol. 86 pp. 353-367
Abstract: Surface collection, exposed sections and the
use of irrigation wells and channels enabled
the authors to map the settlement pattern
of the elusive Dian kingdom before it
became a subsidiary of the Han empire. The
pattern showed that the Dian were already
hierarchical, with settlements of different sizes
and a political centre in which ritual bronzes
featured. The empire redrew the landscape,
with settlement migrating away from the
wetlands into the hills where it could oversee
the routes of communication into Southeast
Asia.