Archaeological Research in Asia最新文献

{"title":"Controlling the north. The Bandivan fortress, a protohistoric (Kura-Araxes), Urartian, Orontid and medieval site in the Amasia Depression, Shirak Region, Armenia","authors":"Roberto Dan ,&nbsp;Artur Petrosyan ,&nbsp;Priscilla Vitolo ,&nbsp;Andrea Cesaretti ,&nbsp;Elena Fausti ,&nbsp;Onofrio Gasparro ,&nbsp;Boris Gasparyan","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100657","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100657","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article is dedicated to presenting to the scientific community a significant new fortified complex located in the Amasia Depression, in the Shirak Region of modern Armenia. The site, locally referred to as the “Bandivan fortress,” is situated near the contemporary village of Bandivan, on an extensive plateau naturally protected by valleys carved by the courses of two rivers. The site showcases remarkable architectural evidence that can be classified as megalithic, with its initial phase of occupation dating back to the Early Bronze Age. It later emerged as an important centre during late Protohistory until it was conquered and reoccupied by the Urartians, who established it as their northernmost fortified outpost currently known. Subsequently, the site was reoccupied by a medieval village, which later included a cemetery located outside the fortified area. The site was explored as part of a joint Armenian-Italian archaeological mission, and this article discusses its architecture and the materials collected from the surface. Additionally, the site is contextualized historically within the period of Urartian expansion into the north-eastern Armenian Highlands and is connected to the issue of defining the northern limits of Bia/Urartu or the Van Kingdom.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"44 ","pages":"Article 100657"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145097978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Early bronze artefacts of Qujialing Culture (4500 BP) in the middle Yangtze River Valley of China","authors":"Tianxing Cui ,&nbsp;Minzhe Zhao ,&nbsp;Zhihui Yao ,&nbsp;Kai Sun ,&nbsp;Wanquan Zheng ,&nbsp;Yanpeng Cao ,&nbsp;Jian Zhang ,&nbsp;Song'an Jin","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100664","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100664","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Qujialing Culture represents a significant shift in the process of civilization in the middle Yangtze River Valley. The bronze artefacts excavated from the Gouwan site, belong to late Qujialing Culture, approximately 4500 BP. This study employed metallographic analysis, element analysis, and lead isotope analysis to explore the composition and technique of the bronzes. The results show that both bronze artefacts contain over 8 % lead and complex elemental compositions, indicating smelting from polymetallic ores. Lead isotope analysis shows that both artefacts were made of common lead. Studying these bronze objects provides fresh evidence for discerning the timeline, area and diffusion routes of the emergence of early bronzes in prehistoric China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"44 ","pages":"Article 100664"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145466094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bodies in transition: Tooth ablation from Neolithic to Iron Age in Vietnam and Southeast Asia","authors":"Yue Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100661","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100661","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study synthesizes data from Neolithic to Iron Age Vietnam (4000–1900 BP) through the lens of the customary practice of tooth ablation. Its emergence, localization, and eventual transformation—whether into other forms of dental modification or into complete abandonment—closely correspond with successive cycles of interregional interaction and social transition. This local trajectory is then compared with neighboring regions, including Cambodia and Taiwan, revealing comparable yet contextually nuanced adaptations. The findings highlight tooth ablation as both a persistent marker of group affiliation and a flexible medium for negotiating identity. As such, it offers a powerful case through which to examine how embodied practices responded to, and were shaped by, broader dynamics of sociocultural change across prehistoric Southeast Asia. The results bring more attention to the roles of individual adornment choices and bodily expressions within the evolving environment of Southeast Asia since the Neolithic period.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"44 ","pages":"Article 100661"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145268664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatiotemporal dynamics of prehistoric millet agriculture dispersal in Northwest China","authors":"Chengbang An (安成邦) ,&nbsp;Lei Tang","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100658","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100658","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite extensive research on Eurasian agricultural diffusion, the spatiotemporal dynamics of millet agriculture in Northwest China remain contested due to fragmented datasets. This study integrates plant remains, human isotopes (δ¹³C), and organic residues from 358 sites to reconstruct dispersal trajectories through K-means clustering, IDW interpolation, and Kernel Density Estimation. Results reveal four phases of millet agriculture in Northwest China: (1) rapid establishment in the Loess Plateau (7650–5750 cal a BP) with C₄-dominated diets (δ¹³C &gt; −13.8 ‰); (2) northwestward expansion (5750–4550 cal a BP) marked by tripled site density and millet agriculture altitudinal reach to 2500 m; (3) penetration into Xinjiang (4550–3350 cal a BP) via mountain-oasis corridors, despite wheat's rising prominence in few sites; (4) Late Holocene decline (3350–2200 cal a BP) with mixed C₃/C₄ diets (δ¹³C = −16.8 ‰), reflecting wheat's dominance in arid zones. Crucially, field management innovations (ash fertilization, crop rotation) and mid-Holocene climatic optima (30 % higher precipitation) enabled millet's resilience, contrasting with wheat's reliance on westerly moisture surges. We suggested three dispersal pathways—Hexi-Altai, Tianshan oasis, and Kunlun piedmont—underscoring millet's role in bridging Eurasian agropastoral systems. This multi-proxy framework advances understanding of crop-climate-culture interplay in arid landscapes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"44 ","pages":"Article 100658"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145050485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Heads without bodies: Evidence of cattle sacrifice in the rock art and burials of the Okunev culture in southern Siberia","authors":"Yury N. Esin ,&nbsp;Andrey V. Poliakov","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100660","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100660","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper studies the role of cattle in the rituals and beliefs of early pastoralists in the eastern Eurasian steppe belt. It presents and analyses two types of materials associated with the Okunev culture of the Minusinsk Basin during the middle of the third – early second millennium BCEE: 1) images of cattle heads and complete animal figures on rocks, stelae, and slabs; and 2) cattle skulls in ritual pits discovered mostly within the Okunev cemeteries. The paper demonstrates that both materials represent different manifestations of the same sacrificial ritual, in which the removal and burial of the animal's head was an essential part. Their combined study allows the reconstruction of the components and stages of this ritual practice. The animal's head buried in a pit near the graves of people symbolises the whole animal which, it was believed, would accompany them to the other world. The closest parallel to this ritual in form and chronology is found in the Catacomb culture from the northwestern Caspian region, which can be considered as a direct or indirect source for the introduction of this ritual into the eastern steppes. With the economic and social transformations of the early second millennium BCEE, cattle were gradually supplanted by the horse in herders' ritual practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"44 ","pages":"Article 100660"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145466091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Early beginnings: Naissance of architecture in the Levant – Special issue in honor of Anna Belfer-Cohen","authors":"Leore Grosman,&nbsp;Hadas Goldgeier","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100659","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100659","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper presents an introduction to the special issue, “New Insights into the Earliest Architecture of the First Sedentary Communities in Western Asia.” It summarizes the key insights and perspectives offered in the various articles. In addition, we share reflections that emerged from an interdisciplinary dialogue held between archaeologists, architects and building engineers during the workshop with particular focus on early round structures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"44 ","pages":"Article 100659"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145222479","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Shifting crop choices in a transition zone: Macrobotanical insights from Shandong, Eastern China (5000–2200 cal. BP)","authors":"Shuhan Zhang ,&nbsp;Yu Zhang ,&nbsp;Xu Liu ,&nbsp;Rubi Wu ,&nbsp;Haohong Cai ,&nbsp;Qingzhu Wang ,&nbsp;Jun Gao ,&nbsp;Hui Fang ,&nbsp;Gary M. Feinman ,&nbsp;Linda M. Nicholas ,&nbsp;Jixi Gao ,&nbsp;Xuexiang Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100665","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100665","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding shifts in agricultural regimes and crop choices is central to archaeological research. This study examines macrobotanical remains from the Qianzhongzitou site in Shandong, eastern China (5000–2200 cal. BP), to explore how communities in a coastal–inland transition zone adapted their agricultural practices to shifting ecological conditions and patterns of social interaction. The results reveal a fluctuating sequence of crop choices. During the late Dawenkou to Longshan periods (5000–4000 cal. BP), a stable climate and macroregional exchange supported a mixed farming system dominated by foxtail millet (<em>Setaria italica</em>), supplemented by rice (<em>Oryza sativa</em>). In the Yueshi period (4000–3000 cal. BP), agricultural practices shifted toward intensified dryland farming of drought-tolerant broomcorn millet (<em>Panicum miliaceum</em>) and soybean (<em>Glycine</em> max), likely in response to hydrological changes associated with the 4.2 ka climate event, while small-scale rice cultivation persisted in favorable microenvironments. By the Zhou period (3000–2200 cal. BP), a cooler, drier climate combined with the political consolidation of the Qi State promoted renewed reliance on foxtail millet-based agriculture, with limited adoption of wheat (<em>Triticum aestivum</em>). At Qianzhongzitou, agricultural strategies evolved in close alignment with broader regional developments, political policies, technological innovations, and population movements. These findings highlight how farming communities in a transitional landscape continuously adapted their agrarian practices to address both climatic and political considerations and constraints.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"44 ","pages":"Article 100665"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145466093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Further insight into the shape variability of handaxes from Indonesia","authors":"Mohammad Ruly Fauzi ,&nbsp;Jatmiko ,&nbsp;Thomas Sutikna ,&nbsp;Fadhlan S. Intan ,&nbsp;Sigit Eko Prasetyo ,&nbsp;Harry Widianto ,&nbsp;François Sémah ,&nbsp;Truman Simanjuntak ,&nbsp;Hubert Forestier","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100663","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100663","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Bifacial handaxes from the Indonesian archipelago rarely get full attention, and a comprehensive study needs to be conducted on their variability. Not only is there a scarcity of numbers and a lack of a spatio-chronological context, but the limited information on Indonesian handaxes also generates difficulty in understanding their significance. Using previously published documented and grey literature from Indonesian institutions, we examine a total of 44 specimens of handaxes across the Indonesian archipelago. A fully digital observation was completed using classic-morphometric and geometric-morphometric analysis. The results provide essential quantitative insights into the often-overlooked aspects of shape variability (typology), symmetry, and cutting-edge morphology. Our analysis reveals that Indonesian handaxes from Java, Sumatra, and the Wallacea Zone exhibit similarities. However, applying multiple approaches to describing morphological attributes reveals subtle differences in shape variation. This finding indicates the timing for early hominin arrival in Sumatra, Java, and Wallacea. This study paves the way for advanced comparative research on Acheulean-related implements in Indonesia and Insular Southeast Asia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"44 ","pages":"Article 100663"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145466092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dental caries as indicators of agricultural practices in the foothills of Neolithic China","authors":"Doudou Cao ,&nbsp;Xiangyu Liu ,&nbsp;Wanfa Gu ,&nbsp;Hong Zhu ,&nbsp;Ruojing Zhang ,&nbsp;Zhiqing Zhou ,&nbsp;Qingli Wei ,&nbsp;Jiaxing Zou ,&nbsp;Yujie Qiu ,&nbsp;Jian Chen ,&nbsp;Lanpo Ding ,&nbsp;Emma Pomeroy ,&nbsp;Haibing Yuan","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100645","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100645","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Dental caries has long been associated with increased reliance on starchy crops during the agricultural transition, yet recent evidence reveals a more intricate relationship between diet, environment, and oral health. Neolithic China, with its diverse agricultural practices across fertile foothills and river valleys, offers valuable contexts to examine how varying subsistence strategies shaped dental health. This study explores the impact of different lifestyles on dental health in China's foothill regions during the middle to late Neolithic (∼5500–3700 BP). A total of 2885 teeth of 149 adults from three sites were examined: hunter-gatherers from Niuheliang in northeastern China (478 teeth, 30 individuals), millet agriculturalists from Qingtai in the Central Plain (1769 teeth, 83 individuals), and rice farmers from Gaoshan in the southwestern region (638 teeth, 36 individuals). Caries was recorded by sex, age, tooth location and severity, with corrections made for antemortem tooth loss. Hunter-gatherers exhibit the lowest prevalence (26.7 % of individuals, 3.4 % of teeth), followed by rice farmers (36.1 % of individuals, 4.9 % of teeth), with more densely settled millet farmers showing the highest prevalence (75.9 % of individuals, 14 % of teeth). Caries rates increase with age, but sex differences are not significant across sites. This gradient suggests a significant association between intensive millet farming and increased caries, while rice farming and mixed hunter-gatherer strategies appear less detrimental to dental health. By situating these results within the context of diverse subsistence strategies in Neolithic China's foothills, this study underscores the importance of localised environmental and cultural factors in shaping health outcomes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"43 ","pages":"Article 100645"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144570899","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lady in wool and silk: 2000-year-old fashion from the Niya River oasis in the southern Tarim Basin, China","authors":"Mayke Wagner ,&nbsp;Moa Hallgren-Brekenkamp ,&nbsp;Katrin Dilßner ,&nbsp;Zhiyong Yu ,&nbsp;Wenying Li ,&nbsp;Xiaojing Kang ,&nbsp;Xiaocheng Chen ,&nbsp;Patrick Wertmann ,&nbsp;Dominic Hosner ,&nbsp;Carol James ,&nbsp;Evelyn Sitter ,&nbsp;Irina I. Elkina ,&nbsp;Tengwen Long ,&nbsp;Aleksandra I. Krikunova ,&nbsp;Cataria Fahrendholz ,&nbsp;Ariane C. Michaelis ,&nbsp;Pavel E. Tarasov","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100622","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100622","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Wool and silk are regarded as hallmarks of distinctly separate climates and environments, textile and tailoring crafts, social status and fashion regions. Wool was the domestic material for clothing in the Tarim Basin when silk became widely available some 2000 years ago. The multi-layered garment of a young woman discovered by a Sino-Japanese team in 1995 in tomb 95MN1M5 at the Niya site consists of both materials and shows an astonishing variety of textile and garment construction techniques. The outfit was thoroughly analysed and the results were validated by reproducing the entire costume, consisting of a robe, tunic dress, wrap skirt, blouse, loose trousers gathered round the ankle (bloomers), socks, shoes, and a girdle. These items represent three sets of garments belonging to different vestment traditions. The trouser-tunic suit resembles Parthian fashion, comparable to the pictorial art in Dura Europos, Palmyra and Noyon Uul (Noin-ula). The silk robe is reminiscent of Han fashion comparable to finds from Mawangdui (Hunan) and Mashan (Hubei), but with the addition of a wool fleece padded ruffle at the hem to change the silhouette from a tight fit to a loose conical shape. The blouse-skirt suit resembles local wool fashion from the Tarim Basin, but in silk. Insets of multicoloured floral tapestry bands framed by colour shading in the trousers and shoes belong to a family of closely related textile designs that were highly valued between the Mediterranean and Central Asia in the 1st–4th centuries CE. Direct radiocarbon dating places the burial between 60 and 130 CE, during the ‘First Silk Road Era’. Despite the seemingly archaic nature of the burial, in a tree trunk and wrapped in a felt blanket, the young woman's outfit is evidence of the most skilful recombination of elements from different fashion traditions to create something new, at once cosmopolitan, local and individual.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"43 ","pages":"Article 100622"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144108257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}