China (Other Keyword)
26-50 (66 Records)
The appearance of art is an important development in behavioral modernity. In this paper we address the production of early Holocene ostrich eggshell beads. Such beads have been found in many Chinese late Paleolithic sites and also the early Holocene site of Shui Donggou. The study of these ancient beads will help us to better understand early craft production and the role art played in the development of society. In this paper, we present the results of our experimental ostrich shell bead...
Farmers and Late Holocene Climate Change on the Edge of the Qinghai Plateau (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Living and Dying in Mountain and Highland Landscapes" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In the late Holocene, a cooling and drying climate, greater intergroup contact, and increasing sociopolitical complexity prevailed across Eurasia. On the eastern edge of the Qinghai Plateau, at the edge of the East Asian summer monsoon zone, millet farming societies faced local, cyclical changes to moisture and vegetation between 3000...
Foundations of Childhood: Bioarchaeology of Subadults at the Late Shang Capital of Yinxu (2017)
Oracle-bone inscriptions and pre-Han texts say little about children, making bioarchaeology the best available method to study childhood during earlier periods. In 2004, extensive excavations were carried out on building foundations in Dasikong Village, a Late Shang (c.1200-1046 BC) lineage neighborhood found on the outskirts of modern-day Anyang, Henan Province, China. This led to a uniquely high recovery of subadult remains as younger subadults are often found in and around foundations. For...
From Serial Specialist to Cereal Specialist: Managing Hunting and Husbandry in the Context of the Terminal Pleistocene-Early Holocene Fitness Landscape of North China (2017)
Recent reconstructions of terminal Pleistocene-early Holocene settlement and subsistence patterns in northern China indicate that the intensive yet highly mobile hunting pattern that developed during the Younger Dryas as a way of mediating the increased temporal and spatial patchiness of the terminal Pleistocene resource base was maintained and even facilitated by early experiments with farming millet in the early Holocene. The long-term viability of this novel adaptation was evaluated in the...
Genetic structure of ancient population of the Early Bronze Age Qijia Culture and genetic contribution present-day Chinese (2016)
The Qijia culture was an early Bronze Age culture distributed around the upper Yellow River region of Gansu (centered in Lanzhou) and eastern Qinghai, China. It is regarded as one of the earliest bronze cultures. The Mogou site was a massive site of Qijia Culture in the Ganging region, more than one thousand graves have been found there. In our research, we studied the genetic structure of early ancient Mogou population, and further explored the genetic relationship between them and present-day...
Human occupation during the penultimate glaciation in China’s Western Loess Plateau: The technological evolution and adaptive variability of the Yanghsang (2017)
The newly excavated Yangshang site generated a high-resolution record in China's Western Loess Plateau which demonstrated that ancient humans occupied this region since MIS-7. Nearly 1700 stone artifacts and more than 330 animal remains were unearthed in 2013. Although the site was dominated by the quartz based core/flake tradition, same as most lower Paleolithic sites in Northern China, the core reduction analysis and raw material economic study among the long term cultural sediments indicate...
Interpretation of Burial M33 at the Longshan Site of Liangchengzhen (2015)
A relatively rich burial, M33, was excavated in 2000 at the late prehistoric, Longshan period center of Liangchengzhen by a collaborative team from Shandong University, The Field Museum, and Yale University. The most unusual grave good was a turquoise artifact located on the left arm of the interred. This presentation provides a description of contextual, use-wear, comparative and replication analyses in order to better understand the nature of the turquoise artifact and the burial ritual for...
An Intersite Comparison of Human Skeletal Trauma in Shang Dynasty China (2017)
Participation in the near-constant military campaigns of the Late Shang dynasty of China may have constituted an important social role for much of the population. Archaeologists have employed mortuary analysis and a close-reading of contemporaneous oracle bone inscriptions to help elucidate the nature of warfare and its participants. A large-scale bioarchaeological analysis of human skeletal remains could not only provide valuable insight on the relationship between weaponry as grave goods and...
Investigating Breastfeeding/Weaning Practices and Adult Mobility Patterns during the Western Zhou Dynasty (1122 – 771 BC) at Boyangcheng, Anhui Province, China (2017)
In a first for Chinese archaeology, breastfeeding/weaning practices were investigated at the Western Zhou Dynasty (1122 – 771 BC) site of Boyangcheng, Anhui Province. Ribs and long bones were analyzed to examine short and long term dietary changes in each individual. The adult δ13C and δ15N results indicate that mixed C3 (possibly rice) and C4 (millet) terrestrial diets with varying levels of animal protein were consumed. The elevated subadult δ13C and δ15N results reflect that solid foods were...
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...
The Lost Dead of China: Why Does Hong Kong Retain the Unowned and Unclaimed Dead from the Chinese Diaspora of the 19th and 20th Centuries? (2017)
The 19th and 20th century Chinese diaspora directly contributed to the economic and social development of many nations in the Asia-Pacific region. It also had one unforeseen effect as many if not most Chinese who traveled overseas to seek safety or economic gain for themselves and their family had a deep-rooted desire to have their corpse returned for burial to their home village in China, as evidenced by the wreck SS Ventnor whose hold carried the remains of almost 500 Chinese from the New...
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...
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,...
Measuring the Travel Distance: Travel Path and Cultural Difference of the Ming Officials (2020)
This is a paper/report submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The Ming government (1368-1643) established a personnel system to counter against bureaucracy corruption and to secure the frontier. Regulations include separate family members in the line of authority, appoint officials to a non-native region. This indicates that people from multiple cultures were appointed to travel across the country to serve their duty. By using the GIS as a...
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...
Micromorphology of Hearth Features and FTIR Analysis of Clays at Xianrendong and Yuchanyan Cave: Reconstructing Pyrotechnology and Human Behaviour Connected with the Earliest Pottery (2017)
The cave sites of Xianrendong and Yuchanyan are known for having produced the earliest pottery sherds yet discovered, respectively 20,000 cal BP and 18,600 cal BP. Both of these Chinese Upper Palaeolithic sites have been systematically sampled for radiocarbon dating and geoarchaeological analysis. Through micromorphology we identified clay lined fire features and ash lenses at both caves, revealing technological behaviour concerning pyrotechnology and the manipulation of clays in the Chinese...
Microscopic Analysis of Sherds from Pit H85 (2017)
H85 is the largest pit discovered in the north-central area of Yangguanzhai. In 2014 the archaeological team took sherd samples from the 12 layers excavated up to that point. Where possible, the team took one sherd from each of the colors grey, red, and beige as well as both fine, levigated texture and coarse, tempered texture from each layer. Thin sections of these sherds were produced and examined under the microscope to determine the choice of temper and other steps in the preparation of the...
Migration, Diffusion, and Trade: Potting in Neolithic NW China (2015)
Painted pottery traditions in Neolithic Northwest China emerged through diverse processes of human migration, technical transmission, style imitation, and material exchange. Starting around 6000 years BP, Yangshao farming communities expanded incrementally farther upstream along the Upper Yellow River drainage and westward along the Hexi Corridor. The painted pottery tradition introduced by Yangshao immigrants developed into different chronological and regional styles in Northwest China over the...
Modeling a rapid transition in subsistence regimes in highland western China (2015)
The highlands of western Sichuan (or Eastern Tibet) experienced a profound change in both settlement patterns and in subsistence regimes when a shift from a millet-based agriculture to wheat and barley based agro-pastoralism took place c. 2000 cal. BC. Using a model that predicts the changing possible distribution of crops across the area, we examine the role that changes in ancient climate could have played in the reversal of subsistence practices in this area. SAA 2015 abstracts made...
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...
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...
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...
A Plan for the Management of Archaeological Sites in the Tempe Papago Park Area (1988)
Papago Park in the City of Tempe extends from Tempe Butte northward across the Salt River bed into the southern portion of the Papago hills. The archaeological sites in the park are relatively small, but they represent both the Indian and Anglo occupation of the Salt River Valley, and span more than one thousand years of history (A.D. 800 to late 1800s and early 1900s). Excavations at two of the sites have produced artifacts dating to a) the prehistoric Indian period, b) the early historic...