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- Liangzhu culture and its challenges to traditional narratives of
civilization emergence in China-
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Abstract: Abstract Since its discovery, the Liangzhu Culture amazed the public with its unprecedentedly levels of development rivaling most of its contemporaneous and postdating Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age cultures in the world. Yet, this culture has also puzzled scholars as its achievements were notably made in absence of two primary traditional presumptions of civilization emergence: writing and metallurgy. Through a review of existing archeological scholarship, this paper begins with exploring alternative pathways that the Liangzhu Culture might have pursued in its emergence and early state formation process, primarily the strategy of religious or ideological manipulation. Then, the paper proposes a novel idea that Liangzhu expansions into northern China was accompanied by an exportation of the Liangzhu model of early state formation, leading to the emergence of proto-states pertinent to the Longshan Culture. Finally, this paper analyses how the Liangzhu model of civilization emergence and its exportation northwards challenges traditional narratives of civilization emergence in China.
PubDate: 2023-11-07
- Late Western Zhou animal resource exploitation in the Jianghuai Region as
seen from the Wawuying site (ca. 877–770 BC)-
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Abstract: Abstract From February to July 2019, entrusted by the Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Frontier Archaeology Research Center of Jilin University together with the Anhui Provincial Administration of Cultural Affairs formed a joint archaeological team to conduct field archaeological excavations at the Wawuying site in the Hefei City region of Anhui. A total of 11 pieces of mammal bone and 280 pieces of mollusk shell were unearthed from the site, as well as one bone hairpin. Identified mammals are sika deer (Cervus nippon) and horse (Equus caballus), while the mollusk shells belong to the large, freshwater snail (Cipangopaludina cathayensis). Stratigraphy and the cultural assemblage indicate that the Wawuying site dates roughly to the late Western Zhou to the early Eastern Zhou dynastic period (roughly 877–770 BC). Through the study of the animal remains excavated from the Wawuying site, we can further understand the utilization of animal resources by ancient humans in the Jianghuai region of China.
PubDate: 2023-10-18
- Discovery of the Houjinjiagoudongshan Paleolithic Locality in Nong’an
County, Changchun, Jilin, China-
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Abstract: Abstract The Houjinjiagoudongshan Paleolithic Locality in Nong’an County, Jilin, is an open-air site on the second-level terrace of the south bank of the Songhua River. From May 8-15, 2020, the School of Archaeology of Jilin University and the Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute of Nong’an County formed a joint team to carry out investigations. Thirty nine stone artifacts were collected from Houjinjiagoudongshan Locality, including 15 cores, 22 tools, and 2 lithic fragments. Most of the cores and tools were small sizes, but medium and micro-sized tools were occasionally seen, while no large or giant lithics were observed. The cores were simply flsked by hard hammer percussion. Scrapers account for the majority of the tools, and there are also a small quantity of borers, points, and notches. We can infer that the toolmakers had great flexibility in flaking tools and retouch repairs. On the whole, the Houjinjiagoudongshan locality shows the common characteristics of a core-flake industry of the Late Paleolithic period in the Northeast China region, so we can speculate that the cultural age of the Houjinjiagoudongshan locality should be the Late Paleolithic period.
PubDate: 2023-10-18
- Land suitability modeling and monumentality in Southeast Asia: case
studies from Indonesia and Cambodia-
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Abstract: Abstract In Southeast Asia, the landscape approach through multi-sited regional analyses has generally been viewed as incompatible with studies of monumental architecture. A focus on style and iconography, combined with difficulties in collecting spatially dispersed and large amounts of architectural data, have traditionally resulted in the two approaches becoming separate lines of inquiry in Southeast Asian archaeological research. In other study areas, regional analysis has been effectively used to answer anthropological questions regarding religious, political, and economic change. We explore the relationship between changes in religious practice and the political economy in Early Modern Period Indonesia and Medieval Cambodia through agricultural suitability modeling. This approach allows for the integration of architectural analysis into broader regional-landscape studies to explore issues of statecraft.
PubDate: 2023-10-04
- The origins of southeast Asian weaving traditions: the perspective from
archaeology-
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Abstract: Abstract This paper presents a new map and account of the emergence and spread of spindle whorls in archaeological sites across southern China and southeast Asia. Spindle whorls are evidence of intensive yarn production, and hence of weaving. In the past two decades a considerable amount of new data on the presence of spindle whorls in the archaeological record has come to light, along with improved dates for existing sites. In mainland southeast Asia the occurrences of spindle whorls are linked to the emergence and spread of Neolithic lifeways, including rice farming. Remains of loom parts, a much rarer occurrence, are also considered. Loom components that have been misinterpreted or overlooked in previous publications are described and placed in context. Southwestern China emerges as a key center for innovation in weaving technique, linked with the emergence and differentiation of the ethnolinguistic groups found in the region today. Loom designs that belong to lineages that originated in the Neolithic period are still in use in rural areas southwestern China and southeast Asia today.
PubDate: 2023-09-18
- The history of prehistoric archaeology in Myanmar: a brief review
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Abstract: Abstract Myanmar’s (also called Burma) critical location at the juncture between South and East Asia plays a significant role in shaping the region’s cultural trajectory, particularly in terms of long-range population migrations and cultural interactions within the framework of southern China and Southeast Asia. This paper summarizes the history and practices of prehistoric archaeological research in Myanmar by collecting, sorting, and analyzing global publications from the last 150 years. We outline five significant periods in the development of research on prehistoric archaeology in Myanmar: the roots in the 1870 to 1930s; the beginnings, between the 1930 and 1950s; stagnation in the 1950s through 1970s; recovery in the 1970s through 1990s; and continuous development since the 1990s. Finally, we briefly discuss the features and hotspots of prehistoric archaeological research in Myanmar, as well as current constraints and future directions for the field.
PubDate: 2023-09-18
- Henceforth fishermen and hunters are to be restrained: towards a political
ecology of animal usage in premodern Japan-
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Abstract: Abstract Domestic animal usage remains a key problem in understanding Japan’s premodern economy. Assumptions that religious and other cultural proscriptions limited the use of domesticated animals, and the consumption of meat in particular, from Late Antiquity until Westernisation in the nineteenth century remain widespread. However, the zooarchaeological record from historic Japan is patchy and the scholarly literature often uncritically reproduces state-centred ideas about agriculture and the economy. In this essay we critically review the ways in which historical and zooarchaeological studies of animal usage in premodern Japan have been impacted by broader cultural discourses. We examine animal usage from the Bronze Age to the eve of modernisation, broadly 1000 BC to AD 1850, in terms of a tension or dialectic between promotion and restriction by the state and other authorities. While the utilisation of animals for warfare and official transport was more closely controlled, other uses reflected a complex and often international political ecology that requires further analysis by zooarchaeologists.
PubDate: 2023-08-29
DOI: 10.1007/s41826-023-00072-6
- A field work report on newly discovered and documented megalithic jar
sites in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic-
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Abstract: Abstract Xieng Khouang and neighboring provinces in Central Laos are home to a vast megalithic landscape featuring large stone jars, discs, and imported boulders located in elevated positions. Sites were first noted in the late nineteenth century, with systematic recording commencing in the 1930s. Continuing on from the 2019 field survey by the Plain of Jars Archaeological Research Project, this paper presents the results of a 2020 survey across Xieng Khouang Province, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) which led to the documentation of 27 previously unreported megalithic sites, growing the Lao PDR Government database from 102 to 127 known jar sites, with 124 geo-located. In addition, a preliminary analysis of the known jar sites to date is conducted regarding distribution and jar characteristics providing a basis for further investigation.
PubDate: 2023-07-19
DOI: 10.1007/s41826-023-00071-7
- On the promise and purpose of archaeology for rebuilding the history of
the Xia Dynasty of Bronze Age China-
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Abstract: Abstract While resolving chronological issues of the Chinese Bronze Age through written records found in ancient texts is a central issue in historical and archaeological research in China, an academic dilemma exists in that no contemporaneous writings produced during the Xia Dynasty itself have yet been discovered. Identifying cultural remains of the Xia period is a task for archaeology and the premise behind studying what is called the Xia Culture. To explore the Xia Culture, we should “seek the unknown from the known.” For archaeological research on the Xia Dynasty, two indispensable prerequisites for systematic archaeological cultural pedigree research are, first, great concentration on archaeological materials, and second, assiduous historical research: through cultural remains, we may seek out a comprehensive understanding that not only conforms to the specific historical particularities but also reflects the archaeological concerns about universal laws of human behavior. This is how archaeological discourse may make contributions to the writing of the ancient history of the Xia Dynasty.
PubDate: 2023-06-12
DOI: 10.1007/s41826-023-00070-8
- Secondary burial practice at megalithic jar site 1, Plain of Jars Laos
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Abstract: Abstract In 2020 a Lao/Australian archaeological research team revisited one of the largest megalithic jar sites in Laos, Site 1, and undertook excavations in an effort to more fully understand the ritual practice at the site. This paper reviews previous research undertaken at the site and describes the recent excavation which revealed evidence of secondary burial practice dating to the 8th to thirteenth centuries. The research confirms the use of Site 1 as a burial site where multiple individuals were interred in secondary burials in shared mortuary contexts.
PubDate: 2023-04-03
DOI: 10.1007/s41826-023-00067-3
- Searching for Bagan’s suburban neighborhoods: some initial results
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Abstract: Abstract The IRAW@Bagan project is aimed at generating an integrated socio-ecological history for residential patterning, agricultural practices, and water management at the Classical Burmese (Bamar) capital of Bagan, Myanmar (11th to fourteenth centuries CE) across a range of significant ecological, climatic, economic, socio-political, and religious changes. This objective is being achieved through a settlement archaeology study within the suburban settlement zone immediately surrounding Bagan’s walled and moated shwei myo taw, or “royal golden city.” This discussion presents the results of the initial test excavations at the Shwe Creek and Otein Taung residential sites, with emphasis on the nature of occupation surfaces and the character of associated features, artifacts, and ecofacts. The findings confirm that Bagan’s suburban zone does indeed contain evidence for habitation sites related to members of the commoner segment of the population.
PubDate: 2023-03-20
DOI: 10.1007/s41826-023-00069-1
- The innovation of iron and the Xiongnu – a case study from Central
Mongolia-
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Abstract: Abstract This article presents the oldest iron smelting furnaces of the Xiongnu Empire period in central Mongolia and argues that a significant smelting center existed at the site of Baga Nariĭn Am. Five iron smelting furnaces and four smelting installations were excavated, with a total 26 furnaces further identified through SQUID magnetometry. In combination with a review of data on iron production in contemporary Mongolia, the Transbaikal region, Tuva, the Minusinsk Basin and the Altai, we argue that this new data alters existing narratives of the adoption of iron in eastern Eurasia. While iron smelting as such was adopted from the Minusinsk Basin, where the oldest iron smelting furnaces in eastern Eurasia are currently found, we suggest that the driving force behind the massive boom in iron metallurgy from the second century BCE onward was the Xiongnu Empire. During the course of the Xiongnu Empire, the development of more efficient iron technology is evident, with the steppe empire also inventing a new furnace type. These findings are significant for understanding the dynamics of iron industries in the eastern Eurasian Steppe and paves the way for necessary work on metallurgical installations in the Minusinsk Basin and Tuva.
PubDate: 2023-03-15
DOI: 10.1007/s41826-023-00066-4
- Handheld X-ray fluorescence analysis of pottery unearthed from the site of
Xinjie in Shaanxi Province of Northern China-
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Abstract: Abstract Chemical compositional analysis, which can reveal elemental variations of archaeological pottery, provides clues to understanding the production and use of pottery over time at specific loci. This paper presents a chemical composition analysis of pottery of the Late Yangshao (c. 5300–5000 cal BP) and Early Longshan (c. 4900–4400 cal BP) periods from the site of Xinjie in Lantian City, Shaanxi Province, northern China. Xinjie is one of the few sites that preserve material evidence for the Late Yangshao—Early Longshan transition in the Guanzhong Basin. Multivariate statistical analysis of the semi-quantitative compositional data obtained in situ using a Thermo Fisher Niton handheld X-ray fluorescence analyzer suggests that both local and exotic wares were consumed at the site and that external cultural influence was integrated into local pottery-making tradition. We discuss the production and use of pottery at Xinjie through additional lines of archaeological evidence and examine two possible sources of the Xinjie exotic wares—the white pottery. Although Xinjie white pottery shows a localized style and form, its production and use may owe their origins to the east (maybe originally in the Haidai region). We suggest that the Xinjie white pottery should be imitations instead of being imported as final products. Further analytical studies involving the application of well-established quantitative approaches to a larger sample size from representative sites would help evaluate our hypothesis (or other possibilities).
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.1007/s41826-023-00068-2
- Dash Kasan; an imperial architecture in the Mongol capital of Sultaniyya
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Abstract: Abstract The village of Varāy (Viyar) is located at the foot of Āq Dāgh Mountain in the southeast of Sultaniyya, Iran, and is known for its impressive rock-cut architecture called Dash Kasan. The history of Sultaniyya, which later became the Ilkhanid (Mongol rulers) capital, began with the issue of an order by Arghūn Khan (1258–1291 CE), to build a huge city enclosed by stone walls and fortifications. According to many in the field, Dash Kasan occupied a prominent place in the development of Arghūn’s architectural project; first as a stone quarry, and then as a Buddhist monastery. This building is unique in its architectural design and decoration. The site’s two large-scale dragon snakes carved out of cliffs, and the development of a vast open space by cutting the solid rock are the only examples of their kind in Iranian art and architecture. Although most of the debates on the identity of this site to date are centered on its religious function during the Mongol period, there is little architectural evidence to support this idea. Hence, the nature and the scope of earlier studies are not sufficient to substantiate the architectural discourse surrounding this monument. The aim of this paper is to study this enigmatic rock-cut complex to provide a more detailed description of the current remains. According to the results, the architectural layout of this building suggests it was originally designed as pre-Ilkhanid Mongolian ceremonial halls and reflects a Chinese, East Asian architectural influence that was evident and pervasive throughout the Mongol territories.
PubDate: 2022-12-19
DOI: 10.1007/s41826-022-00065-x
- The “Third Way” to stone tool interpretation—— Prehistoric stone
tools of Eastern Africa: a guide-
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PubDate: 2022-12-16
DOI: 10.1007/s41826-022-00064-y
- Human adaptive behavior in the Late Paleolithic of the Suifen River Basin
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Abstract: Abstract During the Late Paleolithic, the Suifen River Basin in northeastern China provided suitable conditions for the local prehistoric human to survive. Three types of lithic industries exist in the Suifen River Basin, including the flake industry, the blade industry, and the microblade industry, but artifacts from the flake industry continue to dominate.The study of the lithics revealed that the human occupants visited the Suifen River Basin during the Late Pleistocene. They chose suitable river terraces as campsites, collected igneous rocks from river floodplains or bedrock outcrops, and produced flakes by hammering, pressing,or bipolar technique,then retouched them into tools with various functions, and lived a hunting and gathering life in this area.
PubDate: 2022-12-16
DOI: 10.1007/s41826-022-00063-z
- Ancient inscriptions and climate change: a study of water management at
the ancient capital of Bagan, Myanmar-
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Abstract: Abstract Bagan (11th to 14th Century C.E.) was a capital as well as a cosmological and ritual epicenter of Theravada Buddhism for the Classical Burmese Empire. Integral in the Buddhist belief system is the notion of merit; achieved through good deeds or donations to the Buddhist Church. This often took the form of developing or renovating water management infrastructure throughout Bagan’s peri-urban zone. These were important endeavors given the semi-arid environment and limited water resources which characterize this region. This ancient landscape was also shaped by two significant climatic events during the occupation of Bagan; the Medieval Climate Anomaly (900–1300 C.E.) and Little Ice Age (1300–1570 C.E.). In this pursuit for merit, donations were inscribed on stone monuments endowing the donor with social recognition and spiritual benefits. Recorded within these stone inscriptions are references to types of water management features, construction techniques, locations, dates, donors, and recipients. The quantitative analysis of these inscriptions provides will address the shifting management strategy in response to changing water availability due to climatic fluctuations.
PubDate: 2022-12-12
DOI: 10.1007/s41826-022-00061-1
- Michael Parker Pearson, The Archaeology of Death and Burial
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PubDate: 2022-12-05
DOI: 10.1007/s41826-022-00062-0
- History buried in a drainage ditch: bearing witness to the last glory of
Cao Cao’s burial complex-
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Abstract: Abstract The discovery in 2009 of the tomb of the well-known historical figure, Cao Cao in Anyang, Henan Province, China, was hotly discussed and debated. In order to address some social concerns, archaeologists conducted surveys and coring work in the surrounding area. A suspected cemetery border ditch located 200 m to the west of the burial complex was excavated; the results initially suggested that this feature was part of a drainage system composed of ditches and brick-lined and covered drainage features, served some houses built in the latter half of the tenth century AD. Further investigation of records suggests that these constructions were very likely tomb-guarding facilities built in the early Northern Song dynasty for Cao Cao’s burial. They were subsequently abandoned during the following Jin and Yuan dynasties and reused for public gatherings. The people who lived in these houses might have been the last ones that knew Cao Cao’s exact burial place and witnessed the last glory of his burial complex.
PubDate: 2022-11-28
DOI: 10.1007/s41826-022-00059-9
- Bronze casting clay moulds and production sequences: understanding
knowledge and Organization of the Artisans in Late Shang (14th – 11th
century BC), China-
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Abstract: Abstract This research extrapolates the knowledge and choices made by the artisans through the bronze vessel casting mould production. Our discussion on the late Shang dynasty often focused on the elites in their burials, elaborate artifacts, and rituals. To comprehend the artisans, we cannot rely on the artifacts used by the elites. Artifacts that the artisans directly influenced are the tools they made and used themselves. The bronze casting moulds were one type of the tools they made and used for the bronze casting, leaving their existence and knowledge within the artifacts. How the artisans made these casting moulds and the way in which they used them is the knowledge and organization commanded by the artisans. From the sequence of production of the casting moulds, this research highlights the different knowledge involved in producing the moulds from raw material processing to firing and casting. From the sequence of production, we offer new insight into how the artisans’ organized their production.
PubDate: 2022-11-24
DOI: 10.1007/s41826-022-00057-x
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