The Question of "Why It Is in Henan" and the New Direction of Chinese Scientific and Technological Archaeology

The ritual institutionalization demonstrated in the bronze production at Erlitou and further developed during the Shang and Zhou periods that formed a distinctive feature of bronze civilizations. While exploring the path of the earliest state formation, we could consider why Erlitou was chosen from the unveiling of the Bronze Age in China. Much attention had been paid to archaeological, chronological, geographic, and climatic information in the existing studies, but the relationship between bronze metal resources and the formation of the Erlitou state needed more attention. Viewing the Erlitou culture as the earliest state form in China and thus exploring the path of formation of early states was a return to the original theme of archaeology.     

茂县及岷江上游地区在古蜀文明形成中的重要作用与地位

"古蜀文明"即"三星堆文明",形成的时间大致在公元前1600年～前1500年之间。三星堆文明形成时期的代表性文明因素主要有3种:一是以三星堆城址城墙为代表的本土文明因素,二是以具有二里头文化特征的文化遗存为代表的中原文明因素,三是以具有齐家文化特征的文化遗存为代表的甘青地区文明因素。后二者是通过早在公元前3500年前后就已经形成的岷江上游地区的文化通道,由陇西南进入成都平原地区,并促使成都平原本土文化发生巨变,产生了三星堆文明,开始了古蜀文明的历程。三星堆文明的形成过程反映了岷江上游地区在古蜀文明的形成这一重大历史事件中,发挥了无可替代的桥梁作用。     

The Transmission of Early Bronze Technology to Thailand: New Perspectives

In the four decades since the discovery that a discrete Bronze Age preceded the Iron Age in mainland Southeast Asia, much has been learned about the dating, technology, production, organization, and use of bronze metallurgy in the region, particularly in prehistoric Thailand. Although independent invention of copper smelting in Southeast Asia has not been considered likely by most regional archaeologists since the 1980s, the source of copper-base technology and the mechanisms of adoption remain poorly understood. Arguments claiming that the primary stimulus for the appearance of copper-base metallurgy in Southeast Asia came from early states in the Central Plain of China have dominated recent discussions, but anthropological approaches to technology transmission, adoption, and adaptation have yet to be systematically explored. After summarizing the current evidence for early bronze metallurgy in Thailand, this paper proposes an alternative to the predominant Sinocentric view of the source for Southeast Asian bronze technology. It will be proposed on both chronological and technological grounds that the first bronze metallurgy in Southeast Asia was derived from pre-Andronovo late third millennium BC Eurasian forest-steppe metals technology, and not from the second millennium, technologically distinctive, élite-sponsored bronze metallurgy of the Chinese Erlitou or Erligang Periods. Hypotheses for a transmission route and a research agenda for resolving debates on bronze origins in Southeast Asia are offered.     

二里头的“中国之最”

二里头,本是一个地处中原腹地洛阳平原的普通村庄的名字。和中国千千万万个村落名一样,它朴素得不能再朴素。但就在它的身后,在绿油油的麦田下,却隐藏着3000多年前华夏民族的一段辉煌的历史,直到50年前它进入了考古工作者的视野,才从此跻身于中华文明史乃至世界文明史的殿堂。     

新砦聚落考古的回顾与展望——纪念新砦遗址发掘30周年

经过30年来的发掘和研究,新砦遗址在文化谱系研究、聚落形态研究、多学科合作研究等方面取得了一定成绩。二里头文化第一期不会是夏文化的上限,新砦期也不会是最早的夏文化。如果要追寻早期夏文化就必须到比新砦二期文化更早的龙山时代遗存中去寻找。在新砦遗址找到了城墙、护城河、内壕、外壕以及大型建筑。新砦遗址所在的溱洧流域自旧石器时代已经有人类居住,裴李岗文化时期已经出现较发达的农业,仰韶文化前期,聚落得到较快的发展,仰韶文化后期,聚落分化明显加剧,到了龙山时代开始出现城址,至新砦二期终于出现了都邑性质的原始城堡,二里头文化时期中心聚落似乎迁往它处,至东周时期再度繁荣。     

Identifying integrative built environments in the archaeological record: An application of New Urban Design Theory to ancient urban spaces

Ancient Maya settlement patterns have long been described as dispersed. Instances of low-density or dispersed urbanism among agrarian-based societies are common in tropical civilizations, and are of particular interest due to their expressed problem of social integration. Traditionally, archaeologists have focused on classic hallmarks of state integration, including force, infrastructural control, large-scale ritual, and kinship; thus, reflecting the polar extremes of integration. Current models accord a more multi-scalar and dynamic nature to state and urban organization, and the need to pursue diachronic perspectives that consider more subtle and varied degrees of integration. With regard to settlement, examining the total patch of occupation on a landscape, how it developed, how it was divided up, and in turn brought together, is of interest. In this study I apply criteria developed in New Urban Design Theory, a body of thought and practice concerned with modern-day issues of dispersed and low density settlement, to evaluate an architectural complex at the Classic Maya centre of Buenavista del Cayo, Belize, believed to have functioned as an integrative space within the civic entity.     

二里头遗址铸铜技术研究

目次一二里头遗址出土青铜器的技术特征及铸造工艺二二里头遗址出土陶范考察三二里头遗址出土浇勺考察四二里头遗址铸铜技术初论二里头遗址是先秦时期的重要文化遗存。在二里头遗址中发现了迄今为止中国最早的铸铜作坊遗址(图一)。铸铜遗物在第三、四、五区都有发现,铸铜作坊遗址主要位于四区,总面积在10000平方米以上,已清理出二至四期的铸造工场遗址,其周围遗留不少陶范、坩埚、炉壁、铜渣、木炭,及一些小件铜器、少量大件铜器〔1〕。青铜器是二里头遗址出土的主要遗物之一,有礼器、工具、兵器     

偃师二里头遗址的都城空间结构及其特征

在最新考古发掘报告与前贤时俊研究的基础上,分析了偃师二里头遗址的都城空间结构及其特征。二里头都城的选址经过了周密的考虑。都城布局经过统一规划,属于单一城制即单一宫城形态的都城,其规划采取了按功能划分为不同分区的结构方法。宫城是一种"非城郭形态"的宫城,具有多宫城性质。二里头都城空间的形成大体经过四个阶段。都城空间的演变过程及其阶段性特征,与夏王朝的历史发展密切相关,是其时社会发展在都城空间领域的集中反映。二里头遗址是我国古代最早的具有明确规划的都城,后世中国古代都城营建制度的许多方面都可以追溯至二里头都城。     

The Nomad as State Builder: Historical Theory and Material Evidence from Mongolia

Theory on nomadic political complexity has largely been based on twentieth century ethnography and numerous historical accounts of the military confederations of pastoral nomads. Over the past two decades, archaeologists have increasingly used material evidence to evaluate ideas about nomadic polities and have added indigenous and local-scale perspectives to an understanding of nomadic political process in many regions across the Old World. One of these is Mongolia, a major center of nomadic state and empire formation, where archaeologists have recently focused attention on an early regional polity that arose at the end of the first millennium BC and is known as the Xiongnu (also Hsiung-nu) state. This paper synthesizes the latest archaeological research on the Xiongnu state in order to evaluate historical models that explain state emergence among nomads on the far eastern steppe. The material record from Mongolia adds the detail and resolution needed to refine existing explanations for Xiongnu state emergence.      

农业和文明起源

文明起源在考古学上是一个复杂的问题,牵涉到人类社会的许多方面。其中一个重要方面就是农业。本文试图强调农业对文明起源所起的推动作用,并提出一些有关农业考古的看法,希望对目前正在进行的中华文明探源工程和类似课题有所帮助。     

The Use of Animal Bone as Fuel in the Third Millennium BC Walled Enclosure of Castanheiro do Vento (Northern Portugal)

Experiments on fire manipulation of bones as fuel demonstrated that animal bones are effective in the act of maintaining lasting combustion. These experiments are almost always applied to the studies in hunter–gather societies in prehistory, even though the use of bones as fuel is also known in historical times. Based on data and models resulting from these recent experiments, both in laboratory and in real hearths, I tested the hypothesis of the use of animal bone as fuel in the third/second millennium BC walled enclosure of Castanheiro do Vento, in northern Portugal. The faunal assemblage shows some specific characteristics such as a very low percentage of identifiable material and close to 90% of charred bones with a very high index of fragmentation I link the faunal analysis with the results of some experiments recently published. These experiments show the particularities of bone fuel combustion, specifically used in certain activities. Nevertheless, the interpretation of these activities in Castanheiro do Vento is difficult to achieve because of the preliminary state of the investigations. As an additional problem, the available interpretations in the literature concern mostly hunter–gather, and models do not take into account the complex societies of the third/second millennium BC. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中国的早期铜器与青铜器的起源

中国公元前16世纪以前的早期铜器已在50多个地点发现500多件,主要分布在四个地区,其年代最早为公元前4500年。早期铜器的发展,经历了公元前4500～前2500年尝试冶炼各种原始铜合金的发生期,公元前2500～前2000年以红铜为主的发展期和公元前2000～前1600年以青铜为主的成熟期。中国古代青铜器分别起源于西北地区和中原地区,青铜时代开始于公元前2000年前后。     

Early Neolithic pig domestication at Jiahu,Henan Province,China: clues from molar shape analyses using geometric morphometric approaches

The zooarchaeology of pig domestication in China is a challenging task due to its wild boar ancestors being widespread throughout Eurasia. However using geometric morphometric approaches on molar tooth (M₂), shape and size variations, from modern and Neolithic suids, using Yangshao pigs as a surrogate for the Neolithic domestic form, we have addressed the identification of morphological change during the early step of domestication in three early Neolithic sites where claims of pig domestication have been made. Phenetic relationships here have revealed clear and interpretable phenotypic signatures in the samples of modern and Neolithic pigs; which provide evidence for pig domestication at the site of Jiahu from at least 6600 BC cal., re-establishing the Yellow River region as one of the earliest centre of independent Chinese pig domestication.     

关于中国稻作起源证据的讨论与商榷

本文是对傅稻镰等人最近的文章批评中国栽培水稻起源研究缺乏证据、提出长江下游水稻栽培开始于公元前4000年这一观点一文的回应。我们首先考察中国从野生稻采集到水稻栽培过程研究的相关文献．进而从水稻形态学和考古学的角度对早期水稻遗存加以研究。讨论集中在以下三个方面：长江流域最早水稻栽培的时间：长江下游和淮河流域初期栽培水稻的遗存;考古遗存所见水稻粒形态大小变化的意义。我们也考察了傅文用来区分野生水稻和栽培水稻的几个标准：考古纪录中所见的未成熟稻遗存、水稻粒的增大和水稻粒的形态。根据已经发表的资料和我们对水稻的研究,我们认为到全新世早期（距今9000年前后）,南北中国的新石器时代居民就可能已经收获野生稻并开始水稻栽培了。     

The emergence of rice agriculture in Korea: archaeobotanical perspectives

This paper reviews archaeobotanical records on the beginning and spread of rice agriculture in the Korean peninsula. Argument for the earliest evidence of domesticated rice at the Sorori site, 15,000 years ago, is invalid. The evidence for rice cultivation in the Neolithic (Chulmun) is still insufficient although rice remains have been reported from a few late Neolithic sites in central-western Korea which dated to about 3000 BC. The existence of rice agriculture in the Bronze Age (Early and Middle Mumun: c.1300 ∼ 300 BC), on the other hand, is demonstrated by the high percentage and/or frequency of rice remains among crops recovered from various sites, as well as through the numerous findings of paddy fields. Rice appears to have been introduced from the Liaodong region, China, while so called 'southern diffusion route' that the beginning of rice cultivation was first stimulated by influences from Southeast Asia or South China is no more valid. Charred rice remains recovered from the Bronze Age dwellings consist of dehusked clean grains and weedy seeds are very rare among samples containing rice grains, which could be related with the harvesting and processing methods of rice. Measurements of charred rice grains also will be reported in this paper. Agricultural villages disappear from the archaeological records from the third century BC, which corresponds to the beginning of the Early Iron Age (Late Mumun), and reappear from the late first century with the emergence of urban societies.     

CHEMICAL COMPARISON OF RARE CHINESE WHITE POTTERY FROM FOUR SITES OF THE ERLITOU STATE: RESULTS AND ARCHAEOMETRICAL IMPLICATIONS

White pottery is among the most significant finds from China's earliest state, Erlitou (c. 1900–1500 bc ). Samples were primarily discovered in small numbers from elite tombs of a few sites, leading to the hypothesis that they were made at only a few locations and then circulated regionally as prestige items. To facilitate determining provenances, we compare the ICP–MS trace elements and TIMS Sr isotopes of whiteware with two soil samples from Nanwa, a possible manufacturing site, and with shards found at three other sites: Erlitou, Huizui and Nanzhai. The Nanwa shards demonstrate special elemental and Sr isotopic features. Considering the chemical observation and archaeological background together, we propose that Nanwa was a centre for whiteware production, although the two soil samples we collected there were probably not the exact materials used. Some whiteware pieces from Erlitou, Huizui and Nanzhai fall in the chemical field defined by Nanwa samples, indicating that they were possibly made at Nanwa. Many other samples from these three sites plot outside the Nanwa field, implying they were probably not Nanwa products. This study demonstrates that while chemical sourcing is very useful, firm archaeological context must remain the cornerstone of such research.     

新砦期的确认及其意义

对新砦遗址的重新发掘,发现王湾三期文化、新砦期遗存和二里头文化早期遗存的三叠层,确认了新砦期的存在,再次证明二里头文化是在当地龙山文化基础上产生的。新砦期即使不是最早的夏文化,也是探索早期夏文化的新支点。     

Lasting Alliances and Emerging Competition: Economic Developments in Early Mesopotamia

In this paper, I argue that archaeologists have overlooked variability within the category of "prestate Mesopotamian societies" by focusing exclusively on political organization. If economic and not only political criteria were used to evaluate developments in early Mesopotamia, a different perception of prehistory and history would result. Mesopotamian societies in the 6th millennium B.C. can be shown to be politically "stable" but economically changing. The analysis of economic processes is based on the structural Marxist concept of "modes of production."     

The Archaeology of Trading Systems,Part 1: Towards a New Trade Synthesis

After almost three centuries of investigations into the question of what it means to be human and the historical processes of becoming human, archaeologists have amassed a huge volume of data on prehistoric human interactions. One of the largest data sets available is on the global distribution and exchange of materials and commodities. What still remains insufficiently understood is the precise nature of these interactions and their role in shaping the diverse cultures that make up the human family as we know it. A plethora of theoretical models combined with a multitude of methodological approaches exist to explain one important aspect of human interaction—trade—and its role and place in shaping humanity. We argue that trade parallels political, religious, and social processes as one of the most significant factors to have affected our evolution. Here we review published literature on archaeological approaches to trade, including the primitivist-modernist and substantivist-formalist-Marxist debates. We also discuss economic, historical, and ethnographic research that directly addresses the role of traders and trade in both past and contemporary societies. In keeping with the complexities of interaction between trade and other aspects of human behavior, we suggest moving away from the either/or perspective or strong identification with any particular paradigm and suggest a return to the middle through a combinational approach to the study of trade in past societies.