Cultural Contacts along the Silk Road during the Early Bronze Age

DOCUMENT Citation Only Guiyun Jin. XianJun Fan. GuoKe Chen.

The combination of crops and weeds found in the site reflects a typical rainfed agriculture dominated by foxtail millet and broomcorn millet. Under the external cultural influences, wheat and barley started to be cultivated. Since late Machang culture and, through the agricultural development during the "Transitional type" period, were widely cultivated during the period of Siba culture, when marijuna appeared in the crop assemblages. The integrated study of archaeobotanical and...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Shuicheng Li.

After 4,000 BC, prehistoric populations in southern Kazakhstan and the western side of the Urals in Central Asia began to migrate towards southwestern Siberia. At the same time, Yangshao culture began to spread, and the scale of their expansion towards the northwest was the greatest. The causes are likely multifold. Firstly, the emergence of agriculture in Holocene leaded to the increases in population pressure. Secondly, the arrival of the Copper Age increased the demand for metals such as...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Jianli Chen.

This paper analyses iron objects and iron making remains from the eastern Silk Road area, such as Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia and Shaanxi provinces, and found that there are several characteristics about the development of iron technology: 1. iron production not only related to geographical distribution of ore resources, but also to state pattern. 2. Iron played a vital role in everyday life. 3. The development and transmission of iron metallurgy had some relation to the evolution of...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Tsuimei Huang.

The turquoise-inlaid bronze plaques with animal motifs excavated from the Erlitou sites are among the most conspicuous artifacts ever discovered in the Culture. This work explores issues regarding the function and origin of these items, which were worn as ornamental objects at the wrists of the deceased at the time of excavation. Through an analysis of the deposition and placement of these artifacts in the graves, it is speculated that this unique artifact type could be traced all the way back...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Xiaohong Wu.

There are many bronze artifacts found from the sites located along the Hexi Corridor. The radiocarbon dates assigned to the archaeological sites do not always represent the time of the bronze artifacts from the sites. The bronze artifacts can't be dated directly. To get the precise dates of bronze artifacts needs to understand the formation of archaeological sites and the archaeological context of the bronze artifacts with pottery and other datable remains. The good samples for radiocarbon...

DOCUMENT Citation Only TzeHuey Chiou-Peng. Jianfeng Cui.

This work discusses results from current studies and issues on the production and use of early Yunnan metals, as well as possible interaction between western Yunnan sites and their counterparts in surrounding regions. Archaeological materials from recent excavations at western Yunnan sites witness the earliest signs of copper-base metallurgy in Yunnan dating around the middle of the 2nd millennium BC; they offer illuminating data for studying the step-by-step development of metallurgy in the...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Wu Guo.

Early nomadic kingdoms appeared during the early period of the first millennium BC. Those objects or art theme symbolized the ideology of the ruling class embodied on the prestige goods, the imperial kinsmen's cemetery, the large seasonal ritual center. The formation and expansion of the Aldy bel /Sandaohaizi culture reflected this process. Standing gold deer, curled up or standing snow leopard, the implements of the boar or patterns, and the conical gold earrings, widely spread with along the...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Gideon Shelach.

Bronze artifacts from different parts of the Eurasian steppe zone have been used to argue for prehistoric interactions among the societies that lived in this region during the late second and early first millennia BCE. Indeed, similarities among such artifacts as knifes and daggers with animal heads are telling. But what was the nature and intensity of such interactions and their affects on the local communities? In this paper I will address those questions by looking at specific well dated...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Jianfeng Cui. Guoxiang Liu. Runan Ni.

In this study, we present some sandwich glass beads found in Hulunbir，Inner Mongolia,China. According to the chemcial analysis, these beads are also soda-lime glass with very low Al, Mg and K contents. And the beads are transparent which is due to the Mn2+ decourling techinic was used. Compared with the data published, the beads were much likely from the area ruled by Roman Empire.

DOCUMENT Citation Only Dong Guanghui. Fahu Chen.

The Hexi Corridor of Northwest China was an important area for cultural exchange between west and east parts of the Eurasia during both historical and prehistoric times. Here we present new dataset of archaeobotanic, zooarchaeological and bone isotopic analysis, and radiocarbon dating from late Neolithic and Bronze sites in Hexi Corridor, and discuss the history of trans-continental cultural exchange in Hexi Corridor before Han Dynasty (202BC-220AD). Our results revealed the chronology of...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Kunlong Chen. Jianjun Mei. Thilo Rehren. Congcang Zhao.

The production of ritual bronze vessels is an internationally recognised feature of Bronze Age China, contrasting strikingly with other early civilizations across the world. Their manufacture exploded in the Shang period (16th to 11th centuries BC), when bronze metallurgy spread across the whole territory of present-day China. However, while the production of ritual bronze vessels predominated in the Central Plains, resent research is showing how surrounding regions exhibited strong local...