(一)前言在人类早期历史发展的长河中,有几个重要的事件或阶段性变化尤为引人注目,除了以农业出现为标志的新石器革命及其后的城市革命、国家的起源等,复杂社会的形成与发展也是多年来学界讨论的一个热点问题,甚至是西方考古学界研讨的核心问题之一。与此相关,近些年来我国学者围绕中国文明的起源做了大量研究,在这一探讨的过程中一些学者也涉及到了社会复杂化的内容,但整体上看这一问题受到的关注仍显不足,对出现于史前时期的这种特定社会形态尚缺乏明确的界定和论证。有鉴于此,这里首先拟对中原地区早期复杂社会的形成与初步发展做一番梳理和分析。限于篇幅,本文的研究暂截止于仰韶时代,以后的状况容另外撰文讨论。 (I) Preface In the long history of mankind’s development, there are several important events or stage changes are particularly striking. In addition to the Neolithic revolution marked by agriculture as well as the subsequent urban revolution and the origin of the country, The formation and development of complex society is also a hot topic discussed by the academic circles for many years and even one of the core issues in the study of western archeology. Related to this, in recent years, scholars in our country have done a great deal of research on the origins of Chinese civilization. In the course of this discussion, some scholars have also dealt with the issue of social complication. However, on the whole, this issue has received insufficient attention , There is no clear definition and demonstration of this particular social form that appeared in prehistoric times. In view of this, the first attempt here is to sort out and analyze the formation and initial development of the early complex societies in the Central Plains. Due to space limitations, the research of this article is only ended in the Yangshao period, and the future status will be discussed in addition.