{"title":"A New Evaluation of the Beiyao Bronze Foundry Under the Western Zhou Dynasty","authors":"Rongyu Su","doi":"10.1007/s11759-025-09537-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11759-025-09537-9","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper discusses the Western Zhou bronze foundry at Beiyao in Luoyang. By re-examining available archaeological evidence through technological and socio-economic lenses, this paper sheds new light on the technologies and organization of bronze production and identifies several issues in previous research that require further investigation. It argues that the currently excavated area and recovered materials from the Beiyao site are insufficient to support large-scale bronze production attributed to the early Western Zhou period. A more holistic approach combining history of technology, archaeological data, and social context is advocated for achieving a better understanding of Western Zhou bronze economy.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":44740,"journal":{"name":"Archaeologies-Journal of the World Archaeological Congress","volume":"21 2","pages":"365 - 385"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145062333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editorial: After the 10th Congress","authors":"John Carman","doi":"10.1007/s11759-025-09539-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11759-025-09539-7","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44740,"journal":{"name":"Archaeologies-Journal of the World Archaeological Congress","volume":"21 2","pages":"231 - 251"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145062329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Western Zhou Economy: A Missing Puzzle in the Economic History of Bronze Age China","authors":"Christopher F. Kim, Wu Dongming, Sun Yan","doi":"10.1007/s11759-025-09538-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11759-025-09538-8","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44740,"journal":{"name":"Archaeologies-Journal of the World Archaeological Congress","volume":"21 2","pages":"314 - 324"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145062330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cultural Heritage at Risk: A Critical Examination of the Armed Conflict’s Impact on Archaeological Sites in the West Bank, Palestine (Post-October 2023)","authors":"Salah Hussein Al-Houdalieh, Hasan Said Jamal","doi":"10.1007/s11759-025-09532-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11759-025-09532-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The archaeological heritage of the West Bank faces an unprecedented crisis, as widespread destruction driven by antiquities looting continues to accelerate. This phenomenon is fueled by a complex interplay of factors, including entrenched poverty, the growing demand for looted artifacts in Israeli and global antiquities markets, ongoing political instability, and a limited public understanding within Palestinian society of the socio-political and identity-related significance of cultural heritage. Amid the ongoing armed conflict in Gaza and surrounding regions which commenced in October 2023, a comprehensive survey has been conducted to evaluate the impact of the war—along with its associated socio-economic repercussions—on archaeological sites, with particular emphasis on the phenomenon of antiquities looting. The study systematically examined 440 randomly selected sites across the West Bank. Employing a multidisciplinary methodology, the research integrates extensive on-site documentation—including written records and both ground-level and drone photography—with the analysis of satellite imagery for selected sites. Additionally, interviews with antiquities looters provide key insights into the motivations, methods, and scale of this destructive activity. The findings reveal that a significant proportion of the surveyed sites have suffered extensive damage, with up to 70% of the total area of some sites affected within a single year.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":44740,"journal":{"name":"Archaeologies-Journal of the World Archaeological Congress","volume":"21 2","pages":"252 - 286"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145062334","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Land Grant Recorded in Zhong Fangding 中方鼎 and Its Implication for the Socio-economic Crisis of the Early Western Zhou State","authors":"Chinhau LEI","doi":"10.1007/s11759-025-09526-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11759-025-09526-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Although the land crisis has been considered a potential factor in the decline and downfall of the Western Zhou dynasty, previous scholarship primarily based its argument on inscriptions from the middle and late Western Zhou periods. This paper argues that the land grant recorded in Zhong Fangding provides a glimpse into the socio-economic situation of the early Western Zhou state. By contextualizing the Zhong Fangding archaeologically, geographically, and historically, this article dates it to the 15th year of King Zhao and discusses its implication for understanding the socio-economic pressure that the Zhou court faced and its relation to King Zhao’s southern campaigns.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":44740,"journal":{"name":"Archaeologies-Journal of the World Archaeological Congress","volume":"21 2","pages":"430 - 450"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145062327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Your Loved One Can’t Rest Near Mine: The Materiality of a Contemporary Immigrants’ Cemetery","authors":"Talia Shay","doi":"10.1007/s11759-025-09531-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11759-025-09531-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Contrary to the claim that the twenty-first century archaeological ontology, which centers on materiality, is non-historical, this article argues that materiality can be examined critically in order to uncover its political implications. My argument is based on my former and recent studies of the mortuary practices of a community of halakhically non-Jewish immigrants who arrived in Israel in the 1990s from the former FUS in result of the historical events, and continue to come to this day. My study involves a ‘deep description ‘of the materiality and its ontological perspectives, which provides a critical view point. Firstly, it reveals what is permissible and what is not in the funerary practices of the community in contrary to the Jewish-Israeli conventions. Secondly, the materiality unveils what is covered up by official history, namely the counter-policy of the religious orthodoxy to the idiosyncrasies of the community.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":44740,"journal":{"name":"Archaeologies-Journal of the World Archaeological Congress","volume":"21 2","pages":"287 - 313"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145062326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Conspicuous Consumption: Bronze Vessels in High-Ranking Elite Tombs of the Western Zhou (1045–771 BCE)","authors":"Yan Sun","doi":"10.1007/s11759-025-09530-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11759-025-09530-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper introduces the concept of conspicuous consumption into the study of Western Zhou material culture. It reveals that a select group of high-ranking elites, relative to their peers, engaged in this practice with extravagant use of bronze vessels in their tombs. Such behavior was driven by social and political factors unique to the individuals or their lineages. The paper argues that conspicuous consumption offers a valuable analytical lens for examining the wide variability in burial data and for revealing the complexity of funerary practices that extend beyond the constraints of the sumptuary regulations during the Western Zhou period.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":44740,"journal":{"name":"Archaeologies-Journal of the World Archaeological Congress","volume":"21 2","pages":"404 - 429"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11759-025-09530-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145062328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Salt in the Western Zhou Political Economy","authors":"Christopher F. Kim","doi":"10.1007/s11759-025-09528-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11759-025-09528-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper reviews the archaeological and paleographic evidence for salt in the political economy of the Western Zhou state. In so doing, it proposes that models of the Western Zhou political economy must move away from bronze-centric, elite-redistributive views and instead adopt a more holistic perspective that also considers the complexities of local and regional networks in which different types of goods and commodities were exchanged.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":44740,"journal":{"name":"Archaeologies-Journal of the World Archaeological Congress","volume":"21 2","pages":"344 - 364"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145062332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Before the Western Zhou: An Outline of Shang Political Economy","authors":"Roderick Campbell","doi":"10.1007/s11759-025-09527-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11759-025-09527-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper provides a diachronic context for the discussion of the Western Zhou economy by focusing on the period immediately before it and raising the question of how the Western Zhou political economy fits into the larger developmental trends of the Chinese Bronze Age. This paper deconstructs some aspects of the elite-redistributive model of the Shang economy, specifically the idea that Central Plains Bronze Age political economies of the 2nd millennium BCE were centralized and uncommercialized. Beginning from the assertion that historically specific institutions and their multi-scalar diachronic changes are entangled with the agency and practice of political economic actors, this paper rejects simplistically derived evolutionary stages and insists on tracing the multi-scalar processual and institutional causes and impacts of historical change.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":44740,"journal":{"name":"Archaeologies-Journal of the World Archaeological Congress","volume":"21 2","pages":"325 - 343"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145062331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Copper Mining in Western Zhou China: New Archaeological Evidence from Hubei","authors":"Dongming Wu","doi":"10.1007/s11759-025-09524-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11759-025-09524-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This article reviews new archaeological evidence of copper mining in Hubei province and its importance to the Western Zhou economy. It focuses on the social dimensions of copper production, showing that the local societies in southeastern Hubei shared distinctive material culture and technological knowledge and participated in well-organized local and interregional economic networks. This often-neglected social perspective broadens our understanding of the Bronze Age economies in China.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":44740,"journal":{"name":"Archaeologies-Journal of the World Archaeological Congress","volume":"21 2","pages":"386 - 403"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145062325","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}