East/Southeast Asia (Geographic Keyword)
326-350 (499 Records)
In recent years, a large number of Neolithic remains have been found in the middle reaches of the Dadu River in Southwest China, most importantly in the valleys of Hanyuan and Shimian. Excavations conducted at the settlement cluster around Maiping site have led to the discovery of numerous features and object finds displaying strong local characteristics. This paper introduces these finds, highlighting their importance for understanding of local prehistoric developments. The middle Dadu River...
Neolithic Resource Use and Niche Construction on Jeju Island, Korea (2017)
One of the key subjects in island archaeology is how islanders adapted to isolated environments and sustained with local resource. Jeju Island sites reveal Early Holocene Neolithic settlements, dating 2,000 years prior to any of Neolithic sites in the Korean mainland. Accordingly, Jeju Island offers an opportunity to understand any shift in subsistence strategies amid the changing Early Holocene environments. A sudden appearance of arrowheads and grinding slabs in the Early Holocene Jeju has...
New Archaeological Discoveries in Sichuan Zhou Kehua; Sichuan Provicial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (2017)
Recent years have seen a large number of archaeological discoveries in Sichuan; especially during the construction of the Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station in Yibin, Southern Sichuan, which led to four years of excavation covering an area of over 6000 sq. m. These excavations brought to light a large number of remains from the late Neolithic, Shang, Zhou, Qin, and Han periods, greatly advancing our understanding of local cultural developments. The present paper will introduce some of these recent...
New Archaeological Discoveries of Liao and Jin City Sites in Jilin Province , China (2017)
Archaeology at Liao and Jin sites in western Jilin Province has enormously increased our understanding of Liao and Jin period history and social organization. At the Chengsijiazi site, temple remains were excavated and a ceramic architectural element was found with "Ninth year of Da’an" written on it. This site is the Liao city of Changchunzhou and the Jin city of Xintaizhou. At the Tahu city site, structures lining both sides of the north-south site axis were excavated and many ceramics were...
New archaeological evidence of prehistoric cultural interactions in the middle of Han river valley, central China (2017)
During 2007 - 2009, the Gouwan Site in Xichuan County, Henan province, was excavated by archaeologists from Department of Archaeology, Zhengzhou University. Located in the middle of Han River valley, the site represents prehistoric cultural manifestations of Yangshao, Qujialing, Shijiahe and Wangwan III in their four developmental sequences although remains of the earliest Yangshao are the most abundant. While the Yangshao and Wangwan III were part of north cultural system in the Central Plains,...
A New Multi-Scalar, Multi-Methodology for the Detection, Identification and Analysis of Ancient Animal Dung (2017)
Animal domestication has traditionally been investigated through archaeozoological approaches which can be problematic and may not detect the earliest stages in this important transformation (Zeder 2006). The study of dung provides an alternative line of evidence for the investigation of: animal presence and proximity, increased animal management, domestication and sedentism, potential secondary product use, animal diet and environment. To identify and analyse faecal material there is still the...
New observations on antlers from Chu tombs (2017)
Lacquered artifacts unearthed from Chu state tombs represent the highest achievements of the lacquer industry in the Eastern-Zhou period (770BC-221BC). Antlers form an important part of several typical Lacquered wood-wares unearthed from large and medium-sized Chu Tombs. Antler-wares mainly belong to three categories: (1) tomb-protecting beast (with two or four antlers inserted on the head), (2) lacquered wooden flying birds with tiger-shaped bases (with two antlers inserted on the bird waist),...
New research and understandings at the Royal City of the Liao Supreme Capital site (2017)
The Liao Supreme Capital site is located in Lindong, Balinzuoqi, Inner Mongolia. It contains the Royal City in its north and the "Han" City in its south, with a total area of five squared km. To preserve and better understand the Supreme Capital’s layout and evolution, Team Two of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of Archaeological Research joined with the Inner Mongolia Institute of Archaeological Research to form the Liao Supreme Capital Archaeological Team, which conducted full...
New research at Qijiaping (2015)
In 2014 a team from the Gansu Provincial Institute of Archaeology, Peking University, Harvard University and National Taiwan University conducted intensive site survey and geophysics work at the site of Qijiaping, the type site of the Qijia Culture. This research complements previous excavation work in the cemetery area of the site, and coring conducted by the Gansu Provincial Institute, and has provided new understandings of the distribution of cultural material in the site area, as well as...
A new variability of cobble-tool industry associated with a bone tool technology from the Luobi Cave, South China (ca.11-10 ka): a comparative perspective from Southeast Asia (2017)
The characterization of Paleolithic culture in South China and their relationship with mainland Southeast Asia remains ill-defined and unclearly known. The lithic industry of South China has been characterized as simple "cobble-tool" industry persisting from early Pleistocene to Holocene and the most representative industry of Southeast Asia was also marked by pebble-tool techno-complex termed Hoabinhian during late Pleistocene-early Holocene. The possible cultural link of the two regions was...
Niche construction of agricultural communities in the Yiluo and Guanzhong regions of northern China in the Mid-Holocene (2015)
Through a lens of niche construction perspective, this paper examines evolving enterprise of plant managements in different ecological and cultural contexts in Mid-Holocene China. Along a stretch of the Yellow River, bulging communities, facing different challenges of changing climates and ecological constraints, constructed agricultural and socially intertwined niches. Multiple Yangshao communities in the Yiluo valley and those in Guanzhong Plain are such examples. Drastically different from...
The Northern Hinterland of Mongolian Empire: Urban centers of Transbaikalia (2017)
In Yuan shih chronicle Hasar, the brother of Chinggis Khan, is described as having the territory of the Argun river and nearby steppe. In the new Yuan empire, after change of the capital from the Onon – Herlen to the Orkhon valley, Eastern Mongolia and Transbaikalia were transformed from heartland into hinterland. Because of previous betrayals by his family Chinggis granted Hasar only four thousand yurts. Also, a city was built in what is today the Hailar/Hulumbur area of Inner Mongolia. This...
Not sourcing: prospecting for Khitan/Liao ceramic production locales through the geochemical and mineralogical characterization of Khitan/Liao ceramic assemblages (2017)
Often the use of geochemical and mineralogical techniques to characterize archaeological ceramics is performed with the underlying idea that the goal of the enterprise will be the sourcing of the ceramics to their production locales. However, in many situations this goal may not be achievable due to such factors as a lack of variability in regional geologies or a lack of information on the scale, type and location of ceramic production. This paper looks at one such case from the Chifeng Region,...
Of kings and artisans: Comparing household and palace-temple rituals at Yanshi Shangcheng (2015)
Elite ritual has been a primary focus in Chinese archaeology. Well known studies of the oracle bones from Anyang and bronze ritual vessels have shed light on elite ritual practices but have also generated a bias linking ritual with elites. Indeed there is strong evidence of elite ritual activity in palace temples of the early Bronze Age site of Yanshi Shangcheng (the Shang city at Yanshi), located in the Central Plain area of northern China. However, there is also evidence of similar rituals in...
On the Precision and Accuracy of Radiocarbon Dating (2015)
Radiocarbon dating in the modern age is a precise experiment requiring an understanding of nuclear physics using accelerators It require measurements on the order of parts per trillion of carbon 14 nuclei in samples. Although most of the procedures of radiocarbon dating are standardized these days, the final results of the measurements have limitations on precision and accuracy that require careful verification before final acceptance. Recently, our group has carried out radiocarbon dating on...
One Foot in the Field and the Other in the Forest: Indigenous "State Hedging" in Cambodia and Beyond. (2016)
This essay uses a comparative approach to investigate the practice of "state hedging" deployed by various peoples moving in and out of the margins of large-scale historical states. Among these peoples are the Kuy ethnic group whose communities in north-central Cambodia have invited me to study them as their traditional forests rapidly disappear. Kuy methods of "state hedging" and the outcomes of pursuing this practice will be compared with the use of similar tactics by peoples in Africa and the...
The Oracle Bone Project: Tracing the Spread and Development of Oracle Bone Divination in Ancient China (2016)
Oracle bones—animal bones used for pyro-osteomantic divination rituals in East Asia—are one of the most important types of bone artifacts in Chinese Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites and the source of inscriptions containing the earliest writing in ancient China. In the Oracle Bone Project, we are creating a database of Chinese oracle bones in order to study the origins of oracle bone divination rituals, their spread across Asia during the Neolithic, the types of animal bones used to...
Oral Health and Dental Attrition of Human Remains from Tianli Cemetery, Xinzheng (ca. 8th-5th Century B.C.) (2017)
Oral health (caries, antemortem tooth loss (AMTL), enamel hypoplasia, and dental attrition were assessed in human remains from Tianli cemetery, Xinzheng, Central China (Zhou Dynasty, ca. 8th-5th Century B.C.). This study explores diet and eating habits in a population practicing dry land agriculture. Males exhibited greater frequencies of enamel hypoplasia than females. In contrast females suffered more from caries, AMTL, and tooth wear than males. Heavy wear on the upper anterior teeth is...
Oral Health in the Middle Yangshao Guanzhong Basin (2017)
The Middle Yangshao cemetery at Yangguanzhai is the first cemetery of this period ever found in the Loess Plateau of China. This paper presents the results of an analysis of the oral health of this population, which found lower rates alveolar abscesses, occlusal wear, antemortem tooth loss, caries, calculus, and linear enamel hypoplasias than would be expected in a typical Neolithic agricultural population. This sheds light on the diet of the Yangguanzhai population. The paper also places the...
Organic Artefacts and Organic Residues in Island Southeast Asia and Australia: Seeking Intangible Behaviours in the Deep Past (2017)
Exploring intangible behaviours—such as the decoration of oneself, or the manufacture of clothing or baskets— in the deep past is often beyond the reach of archaeologists. The microscopic examination of use wear and residues, however, allows researchers to gain significant insights into such ‘invisible’ behaviours. Organic artefacts recently excavated from sites located in both northern Australia and Timor-Leste (Island Southeast Asia) were microscopically examined for use wear and residues, and...
ORJACH :Teaching Japanese Archaeology and Culture Online (2017)
New technologies must be utilised and our new online resource is a ''great tool''and invaluable for teachers and students. The aim of the online project is to increase awareness to the rich Japanese cultural Heritage and archaeology. ORJACH is providing fantastic educational resources and ''fun'' materials for teachers in the form of lesson plans, worksheets and a hands on finds box for use in primary and secondary schools via an online interactive gateway. I will be demonstrating the successful...
Osteoarthritis, Labour Division, and Occupational Specialization of the Late Shang China – Insights from Yinxu (ca. 1250 – 1046 B.C.) (2017)
This study investigates the prevalence of osteoarthritis of commoners at Yinxu, the last capital of the Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1250 – 1046 B.C.), to study lifeways and stress of early urban populations in ancient China. A total of 197 adult skeletal human remains from five sites were analyzed to examine eight joints of upper and lower limbs in addition to three indicators of spinal osseous changes. The clear sex difference of elevated osteoarthritis prevalence in males indicates a strong gender...
Out of sight and out of mind? The non-funerary burial of objects in early Southeast China (2016)
The archaeological record of Lingnan (Guangxi and Guangdong) during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods includes many non-utilitarian objects buried singly or in small groups, in non-funerary contexts that suggest widely shared ritual beliefs. Examples include the so-called "stone shovels", the majority of which have been found in southern Guangxi, as well as a number of later bronze vessels and bells which appear to have originated in central and northern China. Importantly, many of these...
An Overview of Technological Changes in the Pottery of the Early Holocene Shangshan Culture, Zhejiang Province, China (2016)
This paper will outline diachronic trends in pottery technology and subsistence practices of the early Holocene Shangshan culture (11,400 to 8400 cal. BP) in the lower Yangtze Valley, China. It is hypothesized that Shangshan peoples engaged in low-level production of rice and began the process of bringing this crucial cereal under domestication. Early Shangshan pottery was tempered with rice leaves, stems and chaff, and is the earliest known Chinese pottery tempered with dry organic material and...
Painted Pottery of the Siba Culture and Its Implications (2015)
The Siba Culture (c. 3950-3550 years BP) is an early Bronze Age culture in Northwest China. Painted pottery of the Siba Culture is characterized by red slip, decorated with black and thick paint, which is easy to peel off. The painted motifs are mainly geometric patterns, apart from a few animal and human figures. These art treasures provide an important dataset to investigate the subsistence and culture of the ancient Qiang groups. Studies of the painted pottery also address: 1) implications of...