East/Southeast Asia (Geographic Keyword)
51-75 (499 Records)
Coastal foragers of southern Korean Chulmun period had actively exploited marine resources from the initial phase(6000~4500 B.C.E.), and they also have a complex network with groups of Japanese Kyushu Island from that times. Researchers usually have thought that islands served as economic patches for coastal foragers with large numbers of shell mounds. However, based on several burial sites recently excavated at some islands like gadeok, Yeondae, Yokji, we now need to reconsider islands as being...
Beyond the Bayon and Ta Phrom: Modeling Demography and Population Health at Angkor, Capital of Medieval Cambodia (802 – 1431 CE) (2017)
Angkor, the capital of the Khmer empire, is famous for being the largest "dispersed," or "low-density," city in antiquity, with an estimated population of 750,000 people. Attracting and maintaining a large support population of agriculturalists to Angkor was paramount for Khmer rulers in order for them to amass the spiritual and physical capital needed to compete against their rivals in this society’s merit-based, temple economy. In the on-going conversation surrounding Angkor’s domestic...
Bioarchaeological Analysis of Bronze Age Populations in Xiaohe Cemetery Using Dental Nonmetric Traits (2016)
The archaeological site of Xiaohe cemetery (Cal. 3980 to 3540 years BP), one of the earliest sites in Lop Nur Desert of Xinjiang, China has attracted considerable attention in recent years due to its well-preserved organic materials, such as mummified human remains. However, questions of the regional diversity of populations are still not well understood, as few detailed researches have been undertaken. This study utilizes 17 dental morphological traits to assess the phenetic relationships...
Bioarchaeological Conservation and Ethics in Mainland Southeast Asia (2017)
This paper identifies the ethical and conservation challenges of working with skeletal remains from mainland Southeast Asia, a region including Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. Due to the increasing political rest experienced over the past decades, researchers have had better opportunities to work in these countries, with relatively easier access to appropriate permissions to excavate archaeological sites. The first-hand accounts of bioarchaeological research conducted by the...
A Bioarchaeological Investigation of an Explosive Impacted Skeleton from Ifugao, Philippines Cordillera (2015)
The Ifugao Archaeology Project (IAP) investigates the sparse prehistoric and colonial archaeological record of the Philippine Cordillera. The biological anthropology of the area is almost completely unknown. A single adult human skeleton has been recovered from primary archaeological context in the Ifugao area. The paucity of skeletal remains is largely due to cultural practices that include the processing and collection of juvenile and adult skeletons for ritual storage. One adult human...
Bioarchaeology, human ecology, and subsistence change in ancient China (2015)
This paper will explore the links between bioarchaeology and human ecology, and how they can contribute to studies of ancient Chinese subsistence. Both fields deal with similar types of data, including measures of nutritional status, fertility, disease burden, food production, and human-environment interaction. However, the two fields differ widely in both the time scale and the resolution of their data. Can models from human ecology inform bioarchaeological research? Can the long time scale...
A biodistance study of Shang Dynasty human sacrifice (2017)
Ongoing archaeological investigations at the Shang capital of Yin Xu in modern Anyang have contributed much to the understanding of the Shang Dynasty (~1600-1046 BCE) and Bronze Age China. Bioarchaeological investigations of the thousands of sacrificed individuals recovered from the royal cemetery at Yin Xu has historically been somewhat limited, but is becoming an important component of current research at the site. Earlier work focused mainly on collection of craniometric data and the typology...
Bone Craft Product and Economies in the Late Shang Period at Anyang, China (2016)
This paper will discuss recent analysis of worked animal bone discovered at the late Shang Xinanzhuang site, and the manufacture strategies and raw materials manipulations within different locations in Anyang, Henan. Xinanzhuang is considered to be associated with the industrial-scale boneworkshop at Tiesanlu site because of the close proximity between the two sites. Previous studies on bone artifacts from Tiesanlu provide some understanding of craft production systems during the late Shang...
A brief analysis of the evolution of bird design in ancient Chinese head-ware (2017)
The bird design, as a distinctive and time-honored decoration in the Chinese culture, has its unique national forms and artistic glamour, which had also condensed and accumulated rich and profound connotations. Being an indispensable part of the ancient Chinese civilization, the head-ware of ancient Chinese women had evolved continuously in the transmission of cultural heritage. Which, reflecting not only the changes in people's aesthetics, but more importantly, the ever-developing ideology and...
Bronze Age to Early Iron Age Pastoralist settlements in Xinjiang, China (2016)
The period from the Bronze Age (2500-900 BCE) to Early Iron Age (900-200 BCE) witnessed the emergence and flourish of some massive pastoralist settlements along the Tian-Shan Mountains in Xinjiang, China. Specifically, these large-scale settlements mainly cluster in three regions known as Balikun, Wenquan and Hejing, located in the eastern, western and middle Tian-Shan Mountains respectively. Recent investigation of pastoralist settlement remains in these three regions offers a wealth of...
The Bronze and Iron Age Sites Saridjar and Karim Berdy, Tajikistan (2017)
The Late Bronze Age site of Saridjar was discovered during a survey of the northern Yakhsu valley in 2010. Excavations in 2012, in 2013, 2015 and in 2016 prove that we are dealing with a 200 x 200 m large settlement with at least three construction phases. The proportion of the hand-made ceramics in all levels varies between 80 and 90%. Only occasionally wheel-made ware appears. Andronovo pottery of the Federovo phase is present in small numbers. At Karimberdy nearly all the pottery was...
Building a Virtual Bridge Connecting Indian Himalayan Archaeology with a Virginia University and the World (2017)
The Virtual Curation Laboratory at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia, and the Archaeology Department of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna (HNB) Garhwal University, in Garhwal (Srinagar), India, have partnered to create three-dimensional (3D) models of artifacts and sculptures from the trans-Himalayan region of northern India. Many of these items are on display in the HNB Garhwal University Museum of Himalayan Archaeology and Ethnography. This partnership seeks to preserve these...
Burning Questions: An Anthracological Approach to Culture, Ecology, and Imperial Expansion at Angkor, Cambodia (2017)
Compared to archaeological research in other parts of the globe, the analysis of wood charcoal assemblages, or anthracology, remains an underutilized methodology for investigating aspects of the human past in Cambodia. This paper argues for the importance of anthracology as a viable scientific methodology by foregrounding its interpretive potential in addressing a diverse suite of micro- and macro-scale questions pertaining to human-environment dynamics and cultural practices over the longue...
"Call Any Vegetable": Culinary Practices in Neolithic and Metal Age Mekong River Delta (2017)
Almost nothing is known about the early development and diversity of Vietnamese cuisine, which potentially has its origin more than 2,000 years ago. This research investigates the culinary practices in southern Vietnam during the Neolithic and Metal Age (3000 BC-AD 500) by analysis of food residues recovered from earthenware pottery. To identify former food contents, organic residue analysis was conducted on sampled pottery vessels recovered from two Neolithic sites (Rạch Núi and An Sơn) and two...
Carbon and Nitrogen isotopic analysis on human and animal bones of Nanwa site, Henan Province, China (2017)
The Nanwa site（1680BC-Song Dynasty; located in Dengfeng city, Henan Province, China, provided a valuable opportunity for the Xia Dynasty and the Chinese civilization investigation. We could provide effective evidence for the food resources utilize pattern and agricultural economy development. Stable isotopic carbon, nitrogen analysis of 14 animals and 22 human bone collagen from the Nanwa site indicated that, wild animals (-19.9‰, 4.4‰, n=1) have a C3-based terrestrial diet. Domesticated pigs...
Carnelian Beads in Korea and Japan (c. 100-700 CE): Style, Technology and Trade patterns (2017)
This regional study of carnelian beads in Korea and Japan (c. 100-700 CE) provides new perspectives on patterns of regional and long-distance trade and exchange. Possible source areas for carnelian will be presented along with the major stylistic and technological features recorded from carnelian beads. Preliminary analyses confirm the existence of intra-regional exchange between polities on the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago proposed by earlier scholars. Long distance exchange...
Casting metals for the Qin First Emperor and his underground empire (2017)
Among the most spectacular finds at the Mausoleum of China’s First Emperor (259 - 210 BC) are the Terracotta Army built to protect him in the after life, and the two sets bronze chariots designed and buried to facilitate his travel in his underground empire. Thousands of terracotta warriors are equipped with casting bronze weapons, including swords, lances, halberds, spears, crossbows, and arrows, and the quantity and quality of bronze weaponry provide an extremely rare opportunity to...
Casting Technology and Craft Production of Bronze Wares in the Central Plains of China in Late Shang Dynasty (13thBC-11th BC) (2015)
Casting technology played a more significant role in the formation of Chinese ancient civilization than any other early civilizations. Accompanying with the appearance of bronze vessels in Erlitou period (1800B.C.-1500B.C.), the piece-mold casting technology was first established and then became a prolonging thousand-year traditional method after Shang Dynasty. The formation of piece-mold casting technology tradition, which is very different from mainly using the forging method and lost-wax...
The Cemetery at Qijiaping: New insights into the production and use of ceramics vessels (2015)
Excavated in 1975, the cemetery at the Qijia Culture type-site of Qijiaping in southern Gansu province, China, provides a wealth of data on life and death in Qijia society. Up to this point however, the production and use of the most common type of burial good, ceramic vessels, has never been fully researched. This paper will explore production organization and methods likely used to produce several classes of vessels though statistical analysis of vessel standardization. Ideas of what...
Centers of power and ritual: discussing the archaeological remains from two large Zhangzhung-Period Settlements on the Tibetan Plateau (2015)
The two large settlement sites of Ka’erdong and Zebang which were radiocarbon-dated to 3000-1500 BP probably belong to the former Zhangzhung Kingdom (1500 BC – AD 645). These two sites are unusually large, covering an area of 130,000 m2 and 500,000 m2 respectively. Both sites have large cemeteries, residential areas, ritually-used spaces, and defensive structures. The largest structure observed is a large stone-mound tomb with a diameter of 60 m and a height of 6 m that can be attributed to a...
The Central Plains Archaeological Survey: A Preliminary Report (2016)
Over the past five years, the authors have conducted a geoarchaeological survey in Northern Henan Province, China, to test three hypotheses of regional and global significance. First, many Chinese archaeologists consider this area void of archaeological remains. Based on our data, most archaeological material is far below the surface - approximately 5 to 8 meters. Second, the location of the Yellow River during the Bronze Age year is argued to flow to the south, entering the ocean near Shanghai....
Cereal cultivation shift during Qijia culture period in Gansu and Qinghai Province, NW China: Archaeobotanic evidence (2015)
Qijia period (4400- 3500 cal yr BP) is the key period for the introduction of wheat and barley originated from West Asia into Gansu and Qinghai Province, northwest China. Based on archaeobotanic and radiocarbon data from Caomaidian, Lajia, Jinchankou and Lijiaping Qijia sites, we discuss change of cereal cultivation through that period. Our results suggest only foxtail millet and common millet were cultivated in Caomaidian and Lajia sites dated to 4300-3900 cal yr BP, which account for 97.19% of...
Cereals in Southeast Asian Prehistory (2017)
Rice is the most important crop in Southeast Asia today. The evidence is that rice was equally important in Southeast Asia’s past. From the Neolithic period to the Middle Ages, rice has been discussed as food, a ritual item, a farming system, a culinary tradition, a tradable commodity and the basis of power. However, was it always the staple crop in Southeast Asia? The archaeobotanical studies conducted in Central Thailand by Weber revealed that in some instances and places, millet was more...
Changing landscapes of the Paleolithic/Neolithic transition in Taiwan (2017)
Toward understanding the Paleolithic/Neolithic transition in Taiwan, a paleo-terrain approach allows reconstruction of the ancient landforms and habitats of where people lived. Those ancient contexts help for us to situate the activities of people using their landscapes in different ways at intervals of 7000, 6000, 5000, and 4000 years ago. This approach needs to account for significant change in tectonic movement of land masses, slope erosion and re-deposition patterns, fluctuating sea level,...
Characterization of early imperial lacquerware from the Luozhuang Han tomb, China (2017)
This paper focuses on presenting the characterization of materials from fragmented pieces of an imperial lacquer plate in the Luozhuang Han tomb, which dates to the early Western Han dynasty. Various non-invasive and minimally invasive techniques were performed, including optical and electron microscopy, XRF, Raman spectromicroscopy, FT–IR, XRD and THM-Py–GC/MS. The lacquerware pieces consist of a five-layer structure, which includes (from the top): a red pigmented layer, two lacquer finish...