Archaeological Research in Asia最新文献

{"title":"Population dynamics and imperial expansion in eastern Shandong (China) during the last millennium BCE","authors":"Zhengliang Wang ,&nbsp;Gary M. Feinman ,&nbsp;Linda M. Nicholas ,&nbsp;Hui Fang","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100544","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100544","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We examine the long-term history of eastern Shandong, China, with a focus on shifts in settlement patterns. We expand on prior work where our focus was a series of basins on the southeastern Shandong coast where we first implemented systematic archaeological settlement pattern surveys. Here, we broaden the vantage through the addition of more recently surveyed regions, some contiguous with the initial focal region and others not, as well as evidence from archaeological excavations and textual sources. This broadened lens adds context to earlier publications on the Shandong coast by illustrating how settlement patterns and population changes in the coastal basins were not necessarily equivalent with the other investigated regions. Directional shifts in interaction patterns beyond the coast are documented. Imperial incorporation of the coast into the Qin-Han empires was coincident with an episode of demographic and economic growth.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100544"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142083697","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":"Organization of pottery production at the hormangan neolithic site: Archaeological evidence of craft specialization in southwestern Asia","authors":"Morteza Khanipour","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100556","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100556","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Research into pottery production typically emphasizes the study of pottery itself, with less attention given to the organization of pottery production within prehistoric communities. However, focusing on pottery production can be instrumental in unveiling the economic and social structures of these societies. In 2016, while conducting archaeological excavations at the Hormangan site in the Bavanat river basin, evidence of pottery production was unearthed. Initially, after digging through the surface layers of trench 3, we uncovered a heated structure. Further excavation revealed that this structure was associated with a pottery kiln located on the north side of the Neolithic village. The kiln had an early open plan, with various spaces partitioned by walls, each serving a specific function in the pottery production process. The kiln from Hormangan, dating back to 6150–6000 BCE, bears witness to the nascent stage of specialized pottery production. During Neolithic period societies were taking their first steps towards the complexities and specializations that would characterize later civilizations. The presence of this kiln, along with its associated structures, underscores the craft specialization within the Neolithic society of Hormangan in pottery production. Although the presence of kilns and workshop spaces in Hormangan indicates that pottery production exceeded the household level, aimed at fulfilling more than just a single family's needs, the scarcity of archaeological findings prevents a comprehensive analysis of the organization of pottery production in Neolithic Fars society. The transition from household production to a semi-industrial level, as evidenced by the presence of the workshop and open kiln, signifies an evolution in pottery production and likely points to the existence of surplus pottery production. The archeological evidence obtained show that the societies of southern Iran as a part of southwest Asia in the 7th millennium BCE have taken a step towards specialization and trade and we are witnessing social complexity in Neolithic period.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100556"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142083696","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":"Preserving collectivity through continuity","authors":"Güneş Duru ,&nbsp;Mihriban Özbaşaran","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100555","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100555","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The concept of “continuity” in prehistory has been studied by many scholars mostly through its expression in mortuary practices or symbolism. The study of the ‘continuity in buildings’ emerged primarily through the study of the Southwestern Asian Neolithic. Renewed excavations at Çatalhöyük, and then at Aşıklı Höyük, both in Central Anatolia contributed to the studies and enriched the data. From the mid-9th millennium BCE until its abandonment in the last quarter of the 8th millennium BCE, the long-durée occupation at Aşıklı Höyük testifies to technological developments in architecture and spatial continuity in the use of space. The well preserved architectural remains allow the study of the different rythms and motivations of rebuilding through the continous occupation of the site over a long period of one thousand years. The many strands of evidence suggest that continuity at Aşıklı differs conceptually and practically through the habitation history. Strenghtened by oral communication and story-telling, all activities were collective and collaborative from the beginning, but more actively maintained later in the occupation. Collaboration among the members of the community in the early stages of settlement was based mostly on practicality but as time progressed this extended into many other aspects of the social fabric. Rebuilding took on a meaning far beyond functionality, ultimately serving to preserve social memory and structure, social actions and ideology. Continuity manifested itself clearly throughout the 8th millennium BCE and provided stability that lasted for hundreds of years until the abandonment of the settlement.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100555"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142050215","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":"Primary selection? Petrographic analysis of ceramics excavated from the Jianchuan Basin, Northwest Yunnan Province, China","authors":"Li Lan ,&nbsp;Min Rui ,&nbsp;Suo Dehao ,&nbsp;Li Yuniu","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100546","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100546","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The Haimenkou site, located in Jianchuan County, Yunnan Province, on the bank of the Haiwei River to the southwest of the Jian Lake, is a large ancient waterfront settlement site dated as early as 2578–2464 BCE. Past excavations have revealed different cultural characteristics on each side of the Haiwei River, especially in pottery. This paper analyses the pottery sherds using petrography methods and X-Ray Fluorescence analysis (XRF) to identify the production technology and raw materials of the ceramics excavated from both sides of the Haiwei River. Based on the structure, shapes, and types of the tempers mixed in the clay, it is evident that the raw materials of pottery sherds from the two sides of the Haiwei River in the Late Neolithic likely came from different sources. People inhabited on the west side of the river deliberately selected their pottery tempers from the sediments along the Haiwei River, while those on the east possibly obtained their pottery tempers from weathered petrological sediments in nearby mountains.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100546"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141992716","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":"Ritual tooth ablation in ancient Taiwan and the Austronesian expansion","authors":"Yue Zhang ,&nbsp;Hsiao-chun Hung ,&nbsp;Mike T. Carson","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100543","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100543","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The earliest farming communities in Taiwan practiced a distinctive bio-cultural marker of identity, in the form of deliberate anterior teeth extraction. This distinguishing body transformation can be traced back to 4800 years BP in Taiwan and associated with the first Austronesian communities, and it has endured among contemporary Austronesian speakers in Taiwan and extending across the Asia-Pacific region. Through a comprehensive exploration of archaeological and ethnographic evidence, our study highlights how this practice developed in Taiwan over nearly five millennia and furthermore establishes its role in relation to issues of group identity. The results can expand our understanding of cultural practice, identity-forming processes, and migration routes of ancient Austronesian populations across the Asia-Pacific region.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100543"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352226724000448/pdfft?md5=adff6e810fc0fb2a46674d9be4c84c44&pid=1-s2.0-S2352226724000448-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141984975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Tel Tsaf decoration: Contextualizing a Chalcolithic pottery phenomenon on a regional scale","authors":"Karolina Hruby ,&nbsp;Florian Klimscha ,&nbsp;Danny Rosenberg","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100541","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100541","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The Tel Tsaf decoration motifs have been known for over 45 years now, first described after R. Gophna's excavations at Middle Chalcolithic (ca. 5200–4700 cal BCE) Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley, Israel, during 1978–1980. While this type of decorated pottery was also found in other sites in the region, very limited data has been published. This data scarcity resulted in a fragmentary view of the phenomenon and consequently, the Tel Tsaf decoration motifs were regarded by many scholars as a monolithic phenomenon. The current paper represents a focused effort to analyze an assemblage of 682 sherds bearing the Tel Tsaf decoration, unearthed at the eponymous site between 2013 and 2022. We conduct a detailed attribute analysis that includes stylistic, morphometric, and contextual studies of the decorated vessels and the decoration repertoire itself. Through the analyses, we address internal variability of Tel Tsaf decoration style, emphasizing the local origin and complexity of the phenomenon in the cultural landscape of the Middle Chalcolithic in the southern Levant.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100541"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141990651","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":"Paravani-2, a Late Upper Palaeolithic rock-shelter site in the Javakheti highland, Southern Caucasus (Georgia)","authors":"Christine Chataigner ,&nbsp;Makoto Arimura ,&nbsp;Tamara Agapishvili ,&nbsp;Jwana Chahoud ,&nbsp;Irekle Koridze ,&nbsp;Ana Mgeladze ,&nbsp;Tim Mibord ,&nbsp;Bastien Varoutsikos","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100542","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100542","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In the second half of the last century, numerous excavations were carried out in the Southern Caucasus, particularly in Georgia. However, most of the sites excavated were given a cultural attribution based on the material found, in the absence of absolute radiocarbon dating. Errors concerning the cultural attribution of sites appear to have occurred, as revealed by our re-excavation (2012–2014) of the Paravani-2 rock shelter, which was initially considered to be a pre-Ceramic Neolithic site. Most of the occupation of this site in fact dates from the end of the Upper Palaeolithic, between the very beginning of the post-LGM deglaciation and the Bølling-Allerød warming. Situated at an altitude of over 2000 m in the immediate vicinity of the only obsidian source in the region, the Chikiani volcano, the lithic industry and faunal remains found in this shelter provide valuable information on the culture, subsistence and mobility of the late Pleistocene human groups in the Caucasus.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"39 ","pages":"Article 100542"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352226724000436/pdfft?md5=76ac94b543a24bcaf71b73d3bced7913&pid=1-s2.0-S2352226724000436-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141946044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Emulation and retention: Horses and chariots at the burial site of Majiayuan in northwestern China","authors":"Chengrui Zhang ,&nbsp;Yan Xie ,&nbsp;Bingbing Liu ,&nbsp;Zexian Huang ,&nbsp;Rowan K. Flad ,&nbsp;Huan Liu ,&nbsp;Yue Li","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100533","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100533","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Animals often acquire ritual and symbolic significance when incorporated into mortuary contexts in human society. In Bronze Age China, horses and chariots were frequently interred together as teams in separate pits associated with burials, forming integral components of the mortuary rituals among elites in settled states. Although examples are scarce, the mortuary use of horses and chariots was also observed in pastoral societies during the first millennium BCE. The examination of complete horse skeletons from an elite tomb at Majiayuan, a large burial site in northwestern China dating back to the 4th-3rd centuries BCE, indicates the integration of four adult, male, tall horses with an elaborate wooden chariot. Alongside the combination of four horse skulls and one chariot, which likely represents an alternative form of the team, these practices were exclusive to a select group of high-ranking individuals at Majiayuan. The selection, arrangement, and interment of horses and chariots followed the examples of four-horse-one-chariot sets in contemporary settled states, while also retaining pastoral society's practice of interring animal skulls and hooves in burials. This blend of emulation from settled states and retention of pastoral mortuary traditions reflects part of a ritualized set of mortuary practices at Majiayuan, highlighting the social importance attributed to horses in pastoral societies and their symbolic connections to centers of political power.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"39 ","pages":"Article 100533"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141729503","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":"Detecting megalithic structures in the Northern Jordanian Plateau: New data from historical satellite imagery","authors":"Benjamín Cutillas-Victoria ,&nbsp;Marta Lorenzon ,&nbsp;Stefan L. Smith ,&nbsp;Maija Holappa ,&nbsp;Antti Lahelma","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100540","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2024.100540","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This article examines the archaeological detection strategy undertaken during the TYRAS project - Tell Ya'moun Regional Archaeological Survey - and its suitability for identifying megalithic structures. The study area covers 288 km² of the Northern Jordanian Plateau, a geographical region consisting of diverse landscapes of desert, plains and mountains. Our investigation uses an interdisciplinary methodology that combines satellite imagery examination (mainly HEXAGON images), spatial analysis, archaeological fieldwork, and photogrammetric techniques. The image analysis results combined with the terrestrial survey have made it possible to identify new, hitherto unknown megaliths. Eight new megalithic structures spread over four new sites have been discovered, forming groups of associated megaliths or located in isolation, contributing to a better understanding of the megalithic phenomenon of the region and its geostrategic location in the landscape. However, we have also detected some problematic issues that we will explore here, such as the accuracy of our work routine in detecting positive and negative results, together with the need for fieldwork to test such approaches.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"39 ","pages":"Article 100540"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352226724000412/pdfft?md5=73a8010cbc78b527c26cfa9d1bff5e93&pid=1-s2.0-S2352226724000412-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141593538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The change of crop structure and its influencing factors in the Late Neolithic Nanyang Basin: New macrobotanical evidence from the Maotang site, central China","authors":"Mengwei Li ,&nbsp;Yuzhang Yang ,&nbsp;Wanli Lan ,&nbsp;Weihua Wu ,&nbsp;Wensheng Yang ,&nbsp;Juzhong Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100532","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2024.100532","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The Maotang site in the northeastern Nanyang Basin, central China, encompasses both the Qujialing (5300–4500 BP) and Shijiahe (4500–4200 BP) cultures. Based on the flotation of soil samples collected at the site, micromorphological identification confirmed the presence of three crop seeds, rice (<em>Oryza sativa</em>), foxtail millet (<em>Setaria italica</em>) and broomcorn millet (<em>Panicum miliaceum</em>), as well as 18 types of non–crop seeds, along with some fruits and nuts. The analysis indicated that during the Qujialing–Shijiahe Cultural period, the Maotang site functioned as a agricultural settlement cultivating a combination of rice and millet. Within this mixed farming, rice and foxtail millet dominated, while broomcorn millet occupied a relatively lower position. Notably, during the Qujialing Culture period, rice had greater significance than foxtail millet, and after entering the Shijiahe Culture period, rice and foxtail millet became nearly equally important. Based on relevant studies on paleoenvironment, agricultural history and archaeological culture, this article argues that cultural diffusion has had a significant impact on the evolution of crop structure during the Neolithic Nanyang Basin. Specifically, the northward expansion of the Qujialing Culture notably established a predominance of rice in the mixed cultivation system, which was more prevalent in the southwestern area of the basin. However, during the Shijiahe Culture period, due to the decline of the Shijiahe Culture's influence and the flourishing of archaeological cultures from the Central Plain, the position of foxtail millet increased obviously, and it nearly had the equal importance as rice in the northeastern area of the Nanyang basin. This study provides the latest archaeobotanical data from the transitional area of the central China, contributing to a further exploration on the relationship between the crop structure evolution and archaeological culture diffusion in the Neolithic period.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"39 ","pages":"Article 100532"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-06-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141484983","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}