East/Southeast Asia (Geographic Keyword)
276-300 (499 Records)
A great deal of effort has been dedicated to developing detailed ceramic chronologies at the late Shang capital of Yinxu (ca. 1200-1045 B.C.E.) in China, but there has been comparatively less focus on the specific, actual uses of ceramic vessels and the roles that they played in the day-to-day life of Shang citizens. Local cooking practices and cooking technology in particular, both of which are key aspects in household dynamics and cultural identity, hold the potential to reveal important...
Late Wurm adaptive systems in Tohoku Japan: viewed from lithic use-wear analysis (2016)
The paper investigates lithic use-wear data from the viewpoint of human mobility patterns and functional inter-site variability. Microwear analysis based on controlled experiments was initiated in 1970s in Japan, and the method combined both high power and low power (that is, high magnification and low magnification) approach. Since then accumulated case studies focused on the Upper Paleolithic period of Northeastern Honshu Island of Japan (Tohoku District). Chronological sequences and...
Lead isotope study of the Jin state bronze artifacts from Wayaopo site, Shanxi province, Northwest China (2016)
The Jin state was one of the most important countries in the Spring and Warring Sates period (771BC~221BC). Before the middle Spring period (~576BC), it shared the bronze cultural tradition with the central dynasty (Zhou Royal family). After that, the bronze culture of Jin state was established and is characterized by different types of vessels, decorations and sometimes, manufacturing techniques. Wayaopo site is one of the typical noble family cemeteries of Jin state. In this work, 45 bronze...
Letting the Gini Out of the Bottle: Hazards of Measuring Inequality Archaeologically (2016)
Since the 1980s, archaeologists have measured economic inequality by borrowing the Gini index from economics, and applying it to the archaeological record in various ways. Burial assemblages were the earliest targets, and more recent efforts have expanded to house sizes, areas of agricultural fields, and household possessions. Each of these sources provides potentially enlightening information about the distribution of wealth within an ancient community. Each source has its advantages and...
Liangchengzhen Consumption Patterns: Moving from Integrative to Competitive (2017)
Patterns of food consumption are intimately linked to economy, social organization, culture, and identity. This study investigated patterns of food consumption across space and time at Liangchengzhen, a Longshan (ca. 2600-1900 B.C.) site located in Shandong Province, China. It was hypothesized that evidence of increasing social inequality with respect to food consumption would be found from early to late phases. Rice and meat from mammals, especially pigs, were hypothesized as the most likely...
The lithic assemblage of Guanyindong: Implications of technological cognition of Hominids in Southwest China in Middle-Late Pleistocene (2017)
The Guanyindong site, discovered in 1964, is located in Guizhou Province, Southwest China, dated back to 80―115 ka and 40―190 ka based on two U-series dating (fossil and carbonate samples) results. The 2323 stone artifacts and numerous fauna fossils were yielded during 3 main excavation seasons. Here we present the study of 2272 stone artifacts, which consist of untouched flakes (N=161）and retouched flakes (N=1077), cores (N= 176), chunks and debris (N=804). The principle raw materials are...
Lithic technology and human adaptation in Pleistocene Central China (2017)
Nearly half a century ago, Prof. Grahame Clark summarized the five modes of lithic technology in Paleolithic times: Oldowan, Acheulian, Mousterian, Blade and Microblade Techniques. Major areas in the western part of the Old World followed this sequence, however, going east to the Tibetan Plateau and the deserts of Central Asia, China, and East Asia, the core-and-flake and cobble–tool industries persisted majorly throughout the Pleistocene. This paper introduces the new discoveries in the central...
Local and Regional Economics in Northeast China (2015)
Food production and other forms of economic activity manifest at both local and regional scales. In some instances population density within one community may lead to stress at the local scale. The region can, however, mitigate local stresses through regional exchange between small polities. In the same way that household exchange mitigates the risk of a single community, inter-community exchange mitigates risk for many communities regionally. This paper will explore both regional and local...
Local Communities in the Northeastern Frontier of the Central Plain during the late second and early first millennium BC (2015)
This paper will discuss how local communities in the northeastern frontier of China used metal artifacts and mortuary practice to articulate identity and delineate their cultural and political affiliations among themselves in the region and with polities in the Central Plain during the late second and early first millennium BC, which was a period that witnessed the rise and expansion of state powers in the Central Plain, namely, the Shang and Zhou. Previous studies examined material culture from...
Made locally or long-distance transportation? New evidence on ceramic vessels from salt production sites from the Late Shang Period in North Shandong (2017)
Research on salt production in Ancient China has been examining the function, typology, and chronology of a certain type of ceramic vessel, the kuixingqi (Helmet-shaped vessel). Instead of examining typology of Kuixingqi vessels from salt workshops at North Shandong region, dated to 3000 BC, I began by looking at how those Kuixingqi vessels made and transported into the salt workshops, if those vessels are not made locally. I will present the findings of the ceramic petrographic analysis...
"Make little use of pots": A review of earthenware assemblages from three nutmeg plantations on the Banda Islands, Maluku Province, Indonesia. (2017)
In his 1544 voyage to Maluku, Galvao noted that residents "make little use of pots." Despite their purported "little use," earthenware is ubiquitous in Metal Age Malukan sites, but few detailed studies of these assemblages have been presented in the literature. In this paper, I reviewed the ceramic assemblages from multi-component sites in the Banda Islands, Maluku Province, Indonesia. The Banda Islands were the world's sole source of nutmeg prior to the 17th century and was a center of early...
Making It Cool: Modern Lessons in Reinterpreting, Reappropriating and Understanding Hunter Gatherer Studies (2016)
Studies of hunter-gatherers have recently garnered less attention than ever before. This has occurred in large part due to a correlation between a reduced number of forager societies and relevancy with such reduced numbers. In effect, there exists a dogma where studying hunter-gatherers is no longer pertinent to today’s society, nor to the anthropological subfield. However, my paper begs to differ. Hunter-gatherer studies, specifically my own amongst modern populations of the Ata of Negros...
Making stone tools ignoring environmental changes (2016)
The common assumption that environmental shifts force humans to change the technology or types of their stone tools is examined on the basis of the Paleolithic of Mainland China. During long periods of time humans made core and flake industries from local hard rocks whether various types of quartz and even flint. This presentation will summarize the Pleistocene sequence of China stressing the traditions of the producing the same lithic industries. Rare examples of bifacial assemblages will...
The Management of Techniques and Labor in Copper Production: Based on the New Materials in Tonglushan Sifangtang Cemetery (2017)
Since November 2014, the Hubei Provincial Institute of Archaeology have found 123 tombs in Tonglushan Sifangtang Cemetery, Daye, Hubei province in China. It is the first time for Tonglushan ancient copper mine site and Chinese mining archaeology to find laborers' cemetery, which is highly related to mining site. Given its wide distributed area, well protected situation, and rich clues related to mining culture, this achievement provides significant data for understanding the management of...
Mapping mining remains in the borderlands of Southwest China (2017)
About 43 very important silver mines and some 6 copper mines are known to have been worked between the early 15th and the mid-19th century across the Far Southwest of China and in the borderlands beyond. Written sources on mining in the Ming and Qing periods are so scarce that in some cases we identified sites before eventually finding their historical names. Under ideal research conditions, this paper would present archaeological surveys on these sites. In the real world of greatly improved...
Maritime Archaeology in Hamanaka 2 site on Rebun Island, Japan: preliminary peport of field research from 2011 to 2016 (2017)
Since 2011, BHAP and JSPS Core to Core program have been conducted the joint archaeological investigation at Hamanaka 2 site on Rebun Island, Northern Japan. This site has been recognized as important sand dune site that provided well-preserved archaeological materials date back to middle Jomon period (ca. 5,500 - 4,500 cal BP). Interdisciplinary studies conducted by participating scholars produced significant outcomes in archaeology, physical anthropology, molecular biology, paleobotany and...
The Maritime Silk Route and Southeast China during the Han dynasty: A view from Panyu, Hepu, and Lingnan’s hinterland (2017)
Consisting of the present-day provinces of Guangxi and Guangdong, the Lingnan region was from early on impacted by political and cultural forces centered to its north. Following Lingnan’s brief occupation by the Qin (214 – 204 BCE), the Qin general Zhao Tuo established the independent kingdom of Nanyue, whose defeat at the hands of Han armies in 111 BCE resulted in the region’s formal incorporation into the Han Empire. Importantly, various lines of evidence dating to the Han dynasty point to...
Marking Ainu Objects (2015)
Close examination of Ainu objects in American museums reveals patterns of use-wear, re-use, and intentional marking. These marks draw attention to the life of the object, an avenue of research when depositional data or documents are absent. In colonial contexts, modification as a form of individual or cultural ownership can be used to oppose assumptions of assimilation by revealing ways materials were appropriated or were part of cultural hybridization. Ainu artifacts drawn from multiple...
Mass Procurement and Feasting at Houtaomuga site, Northeast of China (2017)
Houtaomuga is a late Neolithic site located in the northeast of China. A special feature G2 has produced a large sample of aurochs (Bos primigenius) skeletal remains. Examination of the assemblage in G2, including bone quantity, surface modification and mortality profile suggests a site of mass aurochs procurement that took place during late summer to fall. Feasting is suggested to be a likely reason that could lead to this mass deposition.
Masters of the Sea? Examining the Role of Southeast Asians in Fifteenth Century CE Southeast Asian Maritime Trade (2015)
Current historical and archaeological evidence portrays fifteenth century CE maritime trade in Southeast Asia as a complex and multi-layered landscape. A main argument centers on the factors that shaped the development of this intra-regional trade. Some scholars consider foreign entities (e.g. China and some Indian states) as the primary instruments that heavily influenced Southeast Asian socio-political and economic affairs while others promote Southeast Asian agency and contends that it is the...
Materials Processing in the Production of Ceramic Bronze-Casting Molds from the Zhouyuan area, China, c. 1100-771 BCE (2017)
The extraordinary bronze ritual vessels of Shang- and Zhou-period China were cast in multi-part ceramic molds, constructed from many individually formed mold sections. This piece-mold casting method was unique to ancient China, and an essential component of the technology appears to have been the use of a specialized type of ceramic paste to form the casting molds. This ceramic material was soft, porous, and rich in silica, making it quite unlike pottery clays in terms of composition,...
Medieval Warmth: Did the Medieval Warm Period Sink the Maya but Make the Mongols? (2015)
World temperatures are now back up to the range last seen in the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), a time known to have caused droughts in many areas, warmer moister weather in others. The droughts may have destroyed lowland Maya civilization, as well as Pueblo III culture, and may also have impacted Khmer civilization in Cambodia, and other tropical cultures. Recently, Mongolia has been shown to have had warmer weather, which would have made life easier for forest and grassland Mongols, though...
Merit Making at Ancient Bagan, Myanmar: A Consideration of Socio-Religious Entanglements and the Rise and Fall of a Classical Southeast Asian State (2017)
Much of the recent discourse surrounding the collapse of archaic states is centered on the impacts of ecoside or climate change. Driven by natural scientists and increasingly sophisticated data generation and analysis methods, such environmentally-based approaches to collapse have tended to gloss over the myriad cultural factors also involved in such severe transformations, thus inhibiting our ability to fully grasp the complexities of the collapse process in the various case studies currently...
Micromorphology and isotopic geochemistry of the Yangguanzhai moat deposit (2017)
Geoarchaeological research conducted at the Yangguanzhai Site was tasked with identifying the composition and formation processes associated with one of the most striking features of the site, the Yangguanzhai "moat." Originally, it was hypothesized that this moat was filled with thick packages of ash related to the manufacturing of pottery at the site. Therefore, micromorphology and isotopic geochemistry were employed to further examine moat sediments. Samples collected from the moat have δ13C...
Micromorphology and Site Formation Processes at Xianrendong Cave (South China): A Preliminary Analysis of the Late Upper Palaeolithic Layers. (2015)
Xianrendong (Jiangxi Province) is one of only two Upper Palaeolithic sites in South China that have been systematically sampled for radiocarbon dating coupled with micromorphological analysis. The cave produced the earliest known pottery sherds (20,000 cal BP), together with a typical cobble tool industry. We present a micromorphological analysis of the formation processes of the Xianrendong deposits, investigating both the stratigraphic integrity of the pottery-containing contexts and the...