Archaeological field research by my colleagues and me over the past 2.5 decades has focused on better understanding the shape and social dynamics of Hongshan-period societies in northeastern China's western Liaohe River valley.

Hongshan society was long-lived. It was highly stable, and the social organization had a strong ritual basis.

Only modest prestige and even less productive differentiation is represented, and no evidence of wealth accumulation is present.

Overall, this represents a flavor of complexity distinctly different from other natural experiments with prehistory that are known worldwide.

We are left then with the conclusion that the presumed leaders of these Hongshan super local communities, some of whom were buried in elaborate ceremonial facilities, were special principally in the ritual realm that was little reflected in the economics and social interactions of daily life.

It is worth questioning, however, whether the important individuals in these burials, as important as they seem to have been in ritual, exercise much if any political power at all … Perhaps they were ritualities instead.

The successes (of our research) are a testament to a shared recognition in the importance of Hongshan society and a shared interest in better understanding its social dynamics, so as to be able to lay it alongside other examples of differently complex societies from both inside and outside China for a comprehensive comparative analysis.