• [Introduction]
• [Editors Note]
• [Indices]
• [1-9]
• [10-19]
• [20-26]
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• EAAN No.: [10]
• [11]
• [12]
• [13]
• [14]
• [15]
• [16]
• [17]
• [18]
• [19]

EAANnouncements 13
Summer 1994

Contents

EAAN activities Member News Asian Scholars Abroad Reviews & Reports John COLES: Japanese wetland archaeology, March 1994 China Round-up Simon HOLLEDGE: Excavation at Bancun in Henan Province Simon HOLLEDGE: Visit to the site of Zaojiaoshu in Henan Province Kathy SCHICK: A report on collaborative archaeological research in the Nihewan Basin in Hebei Province

Jobs & Grants Exhibitions & Museum News Lectures Noteworthies Conferences Announcements Conference Calendar Papers read Conference Reports Book Reviews Zhongguo wenwu kaogu cidian [Dictionary of Chinese Archaeology], edited by HE Xianwu and WANG Qiuhua (Charles AYLMER) Iron and steel in ancient China, by Donald B. WAGNER (Gina L. BARNES) Book Review Bibliography Asian-Language Publications Journal updates

EAAN activities:

• From the editor......

We are extremely pleased to announce our first Honorary Member of EAANetwork:

Prof. Kwang-chih CHANG

of Harvard University. His membership was conferred during the amEAAN meeting in conjunction with the recent AAS meetings in Boston. Three different panels of papers on Chinese archaeology were given at these meetings, all honoring Prof. Chang in some way: by having him as Chair, or by having his students present papers (p PAPERS READ). The immense activity of the Harvard group was very apparent, and K.C.'s role as the foremost Chinese archaeologist was suitably acknowledged. We all walk in his shadow and wish him better health and all the best for his current excavation project in China.

• Book Reviews Editor

Simon Kaner, currently finalising his dissertation for the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, has kindly volunteered to act as Book Reviews Editor after he submits his thesis this July. If you are interested in reviewing a particular book, please contact Simon with your request (giving full details of the book itself together with the publisher's address). He will then write on your behalf on EAAN letterhead to the publisher to ask that the book be sent directly to you on condition that the book review appear in EAANnouncements within 2 or 3 issues after receipt of the book. Please note that certain publishers may refuse to comply with this request, but one won't be able to hold Simon responsible for refusals. Books will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis, so submit your request to Simon quickly at 33 Herbert St., Cambridge CB4 1AG, UK.

• EAAN Treasurers

Don Wagner (Needham Research Institute, Cambridge) has agreed to act as the central Treasurer for EAAN activities. He succeeds Koji Mizoguchi, who has returned to Japan.
Sarah Nelson (Univ. Denver) has also volunteered to collect subscription fees in US$ for North American EAANnouncements subscribers. Next year's fees will thus be collected through the University of Denver. Watch for the new address in future 'nouncements.

• Journal for East Asian Archaeology?

The success of EAANnouncements has prompted some reflections to the effect that it might be time to think about founding a full-fledged English-language scholarly journal devoted to East Asian archaeology. Such a journal could publish both original work by Western scholars and translations from East Asian languages; it might serve a useful function in bringing our area of study to the attention of a wider Western scholarly readership. We should like to invite opinions and suggestions on how the scope of such a journal might be defined, and how it might be organized and funded. We have a few such ideas in our pockets but would like to know how others feel about the project, especially if anyone is willing to participate in any part of the organization and production process. Since the establishment of the electronic discussion group for Early East Asian Archaeology and History (see adjoining advert), the nature of EAANnouncements is due to change somewhat, and we feel this is a good time to explore the establishment of a complementary outlet for longer pieces of work. Please send your reactions to:

Dr. Gina L. Barnes, St. John's College, Cambridge CB2 1TP, UK FAX +44-223-333503
Prof. Lothar von Falkenhausen, Art History Department, Dickson Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles CA 90024 USA FAX +1-310-206-1903
 

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MEMBER NEWS (in alpha-order):

 

Barbara BANKS (Univ Chicago Library) is continuing preparation for a Chinese Institute exhibition in New York, "On flying hooves: the Horse in Chinese Art" tentatively planned for 1995, and is the Coordinator for the Directory of Asian Art and Culture Collections in North America, organised through the Museum Committee for Asian Art and Culture, Association for Asian Studies.Her new email address is: [...]

Gina BARNES (St John's College, Cambridge) spent the first three weeks of March in Japan, courtesy of Nabunken; she used the opportunity to visit Kagoshima, Miyazaki, Nagasaki and Hokkaido to investigate local archaeology and meet previously un-met colleagues. From 20 April-10 May, she was commissioned by the World Bank, together with Dr. Gerry Wait as part of a 2-person Cambridge team, to assess the archaeological activities at the Niuheliang site of the Hongshan culture in Liaoning, China. She will be spending July and August in the States, working on a book growing out of the conference presentations on protohistoric iron armour she has organised during the last year. She will be reachable from June 27-August 15 at:
3240 6th St., Boulder CO 80302 USA Tel. +1-303-443-9871

Emma C. BUNKER (Denver Art Museum) is busy researching and writing the catalogue of the Bronze artifacts of the East Asian grasslands in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, supported by the estate of Arthur M. Sackler. She has a:
new FAX number: +1-307-322-9223.

CAO Yin (Pre- & proto-historic Chinese archaeology)
Archaeology Department
Beijing University
Beijing 100871 PRChina
Work 250-1667
FAX 256-4095
Prof Cao is the Assistant Director of the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology at Beijing University. He has spent the last year visiting the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University.

CHEN Kwang-tzuu (East Asian archaeology, history & history of science)
Anthropology Department
Peabody Museum
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
Home 617-354-2079
Kwang-tzuu is researching Southeast Asian archaeology for his Ph.D. at Harvard. He previously took a B.S. and M.S. in geology at National Taiwan University and has taken the National Examination for Professional Applied Geologist there. He is proficient in Petrographic analyses, electron microprobe, x-ray diffraction and x-ray fluorescence techniques.

Chun CHEN is moving into Toronto; his new address is:
3792 Bathurst St., Apt. 6
North York, Ontario
M3H 3M9 Canada

David Joel COHEN (Prehistoric - early historic Chinese & Japanese archaeology)
Dept of Anthropology
Peabody Museum, 5th fl.
Harvard University
Home 617-868-8784
Work 617-495-2246
FAX 617-496-8041
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA Email: [...]

Youn-sik CHOO (Cambridge Univ) has returned to Korea and is lecturing for Hanyang University in Seoul. In the spring term, he taught Ethnoarchaeology. In the autumn, he will be teaching for the Archaeology departments at Seoul National University and Ch'ungnam National University (Taejon). Youn can be reached at:
101-tong, 1102-ho
Hanbo Mido Apt, 511, Taechi-2-dong
Kangnam-ku, Seoul 135-282 South Korea

Erika E.S. EVASDOTTIR (Harvard Univ) is back at Harvard after 14 months in Taiwan (on what was originally a 2-month stay). She can be reached at:
Department of Anthropology
Peabody Museum, 5th fl.
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
Work 617-496-2387

Lothar von FALKENHAUSEN (Univ California, Los Angeles) sends his new numbers:
Art History Department
Dickson Hall, UCLA
Los Angeles, CA 90024-1417 USA
Home 310-859-1689
Work 310-825-6046
FAX 310-206-1903

Wayne FARRIS (Univ Tennesee) has finished a rough draft of his book on Japanese historical archaeology. He presented the contents of one chapter on Korean sources for 5th-century Japanese crafts at the Joint East Asian Studies Conference in Leeds, England, 6-8 April 1994.

Bill FITZHUGH reports on the Frobisher Bay excavations. In 1992-93, "A wealth of data was gathered from full excavation of three bilobed Frobisher-period sod houses at Kamaiyuk; an 18-19th c. sod house at Kuyait, a 19th c. Qarmat at Kuyait [all on Kamaiyuk Island]; and three 19-20th c. Qarmats at Kussejeerarkjuan [Kodlunarn Island]. In addition, we excavated Dorset sites in Cyrus Field Bay, Willows Island, and Newell Sound and located a large caribou hunting drive system in the hills north of Countess of Warwick Sound. Sadly, the summer's extreme ice conditions caused us to 'cliff' our survey and driftwood projects in Beare Sound and Loks Land...The 1993 project was devoted primarily to excavation of the Willows Island 4 Early Dorset site. This project, under the field management of Dan Odess, produced a large amount of artifacts dating to ca. 300 BC-AD 200, including well-preserved wood, iviory, and bone materials. The site appears to be a fall hunting camp with 8-10 midden mounds whose frozen deposits between 0.5-1.5m deep include Tyara sliced type harpoon heads, wood handles and shafts, boat and sled parts, artwork, snowknives, and other items rare or missing from previously excavated Early Dorset sites. Other results from 1993 include excavation of a second Late Dorset house in Newell Sound, and completion of our surveys in Beare Sound and Loks Land. In the latter area we located several new historic Inuit winter villages, the Cape True whaling station, and a candidate for Frobisher's 'lost' Beare Sound gold mine. The latter was pointed out to us by Inookie Nauklook, a most knowledgeable elder from the outer bay region." (Arctic Studies Center Newsletter 2: 1-2, Dec '93)

Simon HOLLEDGE (Tokyo) says: "My apologies for the inconvenience and frustration caused by the disruptions to the twics.co.jp service. The twics.com address has been tested and found reliable. Unfortunately proper internet access is not yet possible on a jp [Japan] address. It is very much to be hoped that all restrictions here in Japan on the free use of the network will be removed in the near future (I understand that this month's issue of Wired, the San Francisco network magazine has a relevant article on Japan's 'Internet Wars'). Meanwhile I can be reached at:
Simon Holledge,
1-8-3 Takada, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171 Japan
+81-3-3985-6317; FAX +81-3-3232-5278; Email: [...]

Mark HUDSON (ANU) is continuing his Ph.D. research on the Jomon-Yayoi transition and the ethnogenesis of the Japanese after having helped organise the very interesting panel on Japanese protohistory for last year's conference on "Stirrup, Sail and Plough" in Canberra. He will be making a short final field trip to Japan in late June/early July 1994, visiting Okinawa, Sapporo and places in between.

James GRAYSON (Sheffield Univ) now has a direct office line: +44-742-82-4390. He writes to say he is doing a comparative study of ancient Korean mythology with the mythology of Manchuria and eastern Siberia. "I would like to obtain any palaeo-zoological information about the distribution of ancient bear and tiger populations in Northeast Asia (especially the Amur Valley) between BC 1000-1000 AD." Can anyone help?

HWANG Ming-Chorng (Chinese proto- & early historic archaeology, history & fine arts)
119 Harvard St. #1
Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
Home 617-576-6584
Ming-Chorng is a Ph.D. candidate in East Asian Languages & Civilizations, Harvard University, working on Shanhaijing and the transformation of "religion" in early China.

Fumiko IKAWA-SMITH (McGill Univ) has a new email address: [...]

Juha JANHUNEN (Univ of Helsinki) is going to work as a Visiting Professor at the Japanese National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku) in Osaka and can be contacted there between October 1994 and September 1995:
Dr. Juha Janhunen
Kokuritsu Minzokugaku Hakubutsukan
Senri, Suita-shi, Osaka-fu, Japan

Prof. Tatsuo KOBAYASHI (Prehistoric East Asian archaeology)
Department of Archaeology
Kokugakuin University
4-10-28 Higashi
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150 Japan
Home +81-3-3442-5083
Work +81-3-5466-0247
FAX +81-3-5485-0153
Prof. Kobayashi is currently a Visiting Scholar to the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, where he is studying the subsistence, cultural complex, social structure and ideology of hunter-gatherers.

Yungti LI (Prehistoric - early historic Chinese archaeology)
Department of Anthropology
Peabody Museum
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
Home 617-497-3958
Email: [...]

Li LIU (Pre & Protohistoric Chinese archaeology)
Department of Anthropology
Peabody Museum
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
Home 617-489-6857
Li is in the final stages of Ph.D. thesis submission and examination; she hopes to finish this June. Her thesis topic is on the "Development of chiefdoms in Longshan culture: China settlement pattern in the Neolithic."

Dr. Morris F. LOW (Medieval-modern Japanese history)
Department of Japanese Studies
Monash University
Clayton, Victoria
3168 Australia
Work +61-3-905-2274
FAX +61-3-905-5437
Email: [...]
Morris, a Senior Lecturer at Monash, is interested in the history of science and any information archaeology can provide on that subject.

Akira MATSUI (Nabunken, Japan) has agreed to be co-ordinator for WARP (Wetland Archaeology Research Project) in Japan and adjacent regions. Any wetland archaeologists or other scientists who wish to join WARP or pay for WARP books can pay Akira in Japanese currency. Contact him at: CAO Nabunken, 2-9-1 Nijo-cho, Nara-shi 630 Japan.

Koji MIZOGUCHI (Kyushu Univ) has been hired as Associate Professor to teach social archaeology in a brand-new department-"the first of its kind founded in Japan in which researches with interdisciplinary/international interests and perspectives that can make unique contributions to the general progress of archaeology can be conducted." His new address is:
Graduate School of Social & Cultural Studies (SCS)
Kyushu University
4-2-1 Ropponmatsu, Chuo-ku
Fukuoka 810 Japan
Work 092-771-4161 x 358
FAX 092-731-8745

Dr. Yoshihiro NISHIAKI (Tokai Univ) is now Director of the Research Centre for Archaeological Studies at Tokai University and is in charge of rescue excavations on the university campus. He has been working on a series of reports concerning the Ojinodai site, a large stratified archaeological site covering the Palaeolithic to the modern periods. His new address is:
Department of Archaeology
Tokai University
Kitakaname 1117, Hiratsuka
Kanagawa 259-12 Japan
Work +81-463-58-1211 x 3107
FAX +81-463-58-9542

Yasushi NISHIMURA (Nabunken, Japan) has been instrumental in developing a new ground-penetrating radar which was used recently to investigate an American Indian burial mound in Spiro Mounds State Park, Oklahoma. According to the Smithsonian Institution Research Reports (spring 1994), Smithsonian anthropologist Daniel Rogers led the project in using the new radar device to search the mound-without disturbing it-for underlying architecture. Spiro Mounds are the remains of a cultural and economic centre inhabited between ca. 900 to 1400 AD.

Hyung-il PAI (Univ Calif, Davis) organised a panel on the reconstruction of 'Korean' culture and identity through myths, masks and music at the recent AAS meetings in Boston. Her own paper presented the theoretical and historical backgrounds to studies of Korean racial myths and legends, especially focussing on Tan'gun, who is considered to be the father of the Korean race. She presented mythological, art historical, and documental works by CHOI Nam-son, SIN ch'ae-ho, YI Ki-baek, YI Pyong-do, and KIM Chong-bae as well as North Korean scholars who have attempted to prove [Tangun's] veracity and antiquity during the past hundred years of scholarship. Archaeological excavations and physical anthropological evidence reveal that their interpretations are at best creative fictions in their attempts to refute earlier colonial Japanese scholarship that denied its historical nature.

Yangjin PAK (Prehistoric - early historic Chinese & Korean archaeology)
Dept of Anthropology Home 617-876-9594, Work 617-496-3796
Harvard University FAX 617-496-8041
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA Email: [...]
Yangjin is writing a Ph.D. dissertation on the Bronze Age mortuary practice of northeast China under K.C. Chang. He recently helped organised two panels of papers on East Asian archaeology given at the Early China and EAANetwork meetings in Boston (p PAPERS READ).

Prof. Forrest R. PITTS (Pre-early historic human & historical geography of Korea & Japan)
213 Arboleda Drive Home 707-578-5991
Santa Rosa CA 95401-5833 USA
"Woody" is retired from the University of Hawaii and now serves as a Research Associate in the Center for Korean Studies, University of California, Berkeley. He is now planning the rationale for a conference on "Korea in East Asian Perspective."

Dick PEARSON (Univ British Columbia) send in his new email address: [...]

Ken ROBINSON (Univ Hawaii) is currently conducting his dissertation research on early Choson-period foreign relations and trade at Seoul National University on a Korea Foundation Grant for March-August 1994.

Sally RODWELL (Rodwell Books, Cambridge) has a new FAX number: +44-223-837725

Mr. Filippo SALVIATI (East Asian archaeology, history & art history)
Vicolo del Bologna, 20 Home 06-581-8676
00153 Rome, Italy
Filippo is a Ph.D. student under Sarah Allan and Roderick Whitfield at SOAS, University of London, writing his thesis on "Jades of the Liangzhu culture."

Gideon SHELACH (Univ Pittsburgh) has received a Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship and an NSF grant to pursue his doctoral research on the Lower Xiajiadian culture of northeastern China, will be working in Israel during the summer and then spending next year in China. His contact addresses are:
May-Aug 1994:
Kibbutz Mishmar-Haemek
19236 Israel
Aug 94-Aug 95:
c/o Department of Archaeology
Beijing University
Beijing 100871 China

SHIM Jae-hoon (Early history of China and Korea)
Department of East Asian Languages & Civilizations
University of Chicago
1050 E. 59th St.
Chicago IL 60637
Mr. Shim is a Ph.D. student and Lecturer for Korean at the University of Chicago. His dissertation topic concerns the history of the Shanxi area (the state of Jin) in the Early and Middle Zhou periods.

John SCHOENFELDER (Pre & Protohistoric Japanese and Indonesian archaeology)
Dept of Anthropology, UCLA
405 Hilgard Ave.
Los Angeles CA 90024 USA
Home 310-824-1371
Email: [...]
John has just obtained an SSRC Dissertation Research Fellowship for "Archaeological investigation of Balinese irrigation systems." He hopes to be on Bali in Oct-Nov 1994 and April-Nov 1995. The project, inspired by Stephen Lansing's ethnographic and simulation work on "Water temple networks as complex adaptive systems,: will amount to an initial stab at investigating the relationships between the development of rice agriculture and irrigation, the development of cooperqtive water management groups and associated temples, and the evolution of negara polities.

Prof. Kyung-Cheol SHIN (Korean protohistoric archaeology)
Department of History
Kyung-sung University
110-1 Daeyeon-dong
Nam-ku, Pusan 608-736 Korea
Home +82-051-759-7491
Work +82-051-620-4284
Prof. Shin researches Korean 3 Kingdoms-period archaeology and has recently published Kaya and ancient East Asia, 287 pp. Tokyo: Shinjinbutsu Kaisha, 1993.

Prof. Emeritus Richard SHUTLER Jr. (Simon Fraser Univ) conducted excavations on island Foa, Ha'apai Group, Tonga in 1991 and 1992. In 1993, he worked with Geoffrey G. Pope conducting a survey of Lower Palaeolithic sites in southern Shanxi Province and the Nihewan Basin of Hebei Province, China. This summer he is returning to the Nihewan Basin to investigate several Lower Palaeolithic sites. Note his new FAX no.: 604-291-5666.
Publications: 1) Review of Matthew Spriggs, ed., Lapita, Design, Form & Composition in Asian Perspectives 32.2 (Fall) 1993. This volume, published as Occasional Papers in Prehistory No. 19 (1990), by the Department of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, is a record of the Lapita Design Workshop held in Canberra in December 1988. 2) With co-author W.R. Dickenson and D.V. Burley, "Impact of hydro-isostatic Holocene sea-level change on the geologic context of island archaeological sites, northern Ha'apai group, Kingdom of Tonga." Geoarchaeology 9.2: 85-111(1994).
Conference papers: 1) "Historical development of the Hoabinhian concept" The Hoabinhian 60 years after Medeleine Colani: anniversary conference, Hanoi, 28 Dec 93 - 3 Jan 94. 2) "AMS bone apatite C-14 dates from Wadjak, Indonesia," by Shutler, et al. Chiangmai, Thailand, 5-11 January 94.

Bruce W. SMITH (Early historic - Medieval Chinese history & numismatics)
PO Box 382266 Home 617-623-7981
Cambridge MA 02238 USA FAX 617-623-6043
Bruce maintains a "Bibliography on History of Money in China", which includes shell money of Shang-Early Zhou, metal coins of Zhou and later times, with 8,000 titles so far recorded. He specialises in the coinage and geography of Warring States China, but also has prepared an Encyclopedia/Research Guide on Money in China.

Kidder SMITH (Bowdoin College) co-organized the New England Symposium on Chinese Thought, held 11-13 June 1993. One of the sessions featured a reading and discussion of two recently published texts from the Mawangdui Tomb.

Prof. Yaoliang SONG (Prehistoric East Asian archaeology)
Department of EALC Email: [...]
Harvard University Home 617-876-7977
2 Divinity Avenue Work 617-495-3369
Cambridge MA 02138 USA FAX 617-495-7798
Prof. Song is Visiting Professor at the Harvard-Yenchging Institute where he is doing comparative research on human-face petroglyphs in Northeast Asia and Northwest America.

Dr. D.G. SUTTON (East Asian archaeology)
Department of Anthropology
University of Auckland
Private Bay, Auckland
92019 New Zeland
Doug is developing teaching materials on East Asian archaeology for 1994 between trips to Japan.
Home +64-9-6306643
Work +64-9-3737599
FAX +64-9-3737441
Email: [...]

D. Ann TRIEU (Pre- & Proto-historic archaeology of East Asia)
2604 SE 17th Home 503-232-0043
Portland, OR 97202 USA Work 503-224-6602
D. Ann is an undergraduate student at Portland State University writing on "Incipient Agriculture in East Asia" for her senior research project.

Don WAGNER (Needham Research Institute) became employed by the NRI as of 3 January 1994 to write the volume on ferrous metallurgy for Science and Civilisation in China, under a grant from the Leverhulme Foundation.

Wenjian WANG (Prehistoric - early historic Chinese archaeology)
315 Pearl St. Home 617-354-3086,
Cambridge MA 02139 USA
Work 617-495-2246
FAX 617-496-8041
Email: [...]
Wenjian is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University.

Mr. WU Jiaan (Chinese prehistoric Archaeology)
Institute of Archaeology, CASS
27 Wanfujing Dajie
Beijing, China
Mr. Wu is Head of the Anhui Provincial Archaeology Team fielded from the Institute. He spent the six months from Nov 93 through Mar 94 researching British Palaeolithic and Neolithic materials at the British Museum, under the auspices of a K.C. Wang Fellowship.

Prof. TSING Yuan (Chinese, Japanese, Central Asian & Siberian early historic archaeology)
History Department
Wright State University
Dayton, OH 45435
Work 513-873-3110
Tsing Yuan is Chair of the History Department, having taken his Ph.D. at Penn in 1969 on Ming-Qing history. He is now hoping to make a trip to Central Aisia and is also interested in the Xiong-nu, Liao, and Mongols
 

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ASIAN SCHOLARS ABROAD

Mr. SONG Pil Yoon (Cultural Properties Research Institute, Seoul) has spent 4 months visiting Nabunken in Nara, Nov 93 - Mar 94.

Prof. DO Dong Yeul (Dongeui Technical Junior College, Pusan) spent one year at Nabunken, Apr 93-Mar 94, participating in excavations.

Mr. CAO Yin (Sackler Museum, Beijing University) has spent the last year visiting the Department of Archaeology at Harvard University.

Dr. CHEN Xingcan (Institute of Archaeology, CASS) was a Harvard-Yenching Institute Visiting Scholar during 1993-1994 at Harvard University.

Prof. Yaoliang SONG (East China Normal Univ, Shanghai) was a Visiting Fellow at Harvard-Yenching Institute July 1993-May 1994.

Mr. LIU Xinyuan (Jingdezhen Research Institute for Ceramic Antiquities) will be hosted in the autumn of 1994 by the Department of Asian Art, Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit MI 48202 USA.
 

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REVIEWS & REPORTS:

For articles to appear in this section, they should be limited to 500 words and submitted to the Editor by the issue deadlines stated on the front cover of EAANnouncements: mid-January for the Winter issue, mid-May for the Summer issue, and mid-September for the Autumn issue. The editor reserves the right to edit or decline to print. Please report research here!!
 

Japanese wetland archaeology, March 1994
  by John Coles

Bryony Coles, Director of WARP (Wetland Archaeology Research Project), and myself as Editor of NewsWARP were the guests of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) for March 1994. The host scientist was Akira MATSUI of the Nara National Cultural Properties Research Institute.
On the weekend of March 5th, a Symposium on Wetland Archaeology was held in Nara and attracted about 100 Japanese archaeologists as well as several Korean and British visitors. Three lectures were given on Japanese wet sites: a late historic site on Hokkaido where Ainu records helped the interpretation; 2) a site on Kyushu, and 3) Awazu site on Lake Biwa. Other lectures were on UK-Japan comparisons, on world wetlands, and one the Somerset levels in Britain. Lengthy question periods followed the sessions, and Akira Matsui, who had organised the event, demonstrated his sieving and flotation machines and technique.
During our month-long visit, we were guests in a number of research institutions in central and western Japan, met many archaeologists and other scientists, and observed some on-going wet site excavations. The sites ranged in date from ca. 12,000BP to recent times, and a number were of the Jomon and Yayoi cultures. The scale of excavation was very substantial, with developer-funding allowing full examination of sites, extensive post-excavation analyses and publication of the data. Armies of workers could be seen both outside and inside, and we were shown many of the procedures leading from the thousands of plastic boxes with finds.
A few general comments can be made here:
1) The dendrochronological record for Japan now extends to ca. 700 BC and much more work is now possible through the major wet-site excavations in hand; the number of dendro specialists was small.
2) Sampling of sites for economic and environmental evidence is widely-practised, although at different levels of intensity.
3) Almost every prefecture, museum, or research institute has a conservation laboratory for wet wood, using PEG 4000; most of these labs were larger than anything we have seen anywhere else in the world. The results of the 9-12 month process of PEGging seemed to be good. At Nara, freeze-drying was also used with both small and large (ca. 8m long) chambers.
4) The Director of WARP noticed that very few senior archaeologists in Japan were female. The Editor noticed that most of the actual excavation work was done by females, while male supervisors watched, and supervised. The post-excavation work force was mainly female and almost all of the senior management in museums and research institutes was male. Yet university students were evenly divided, and it was pleasant to speak to a number of graduates and undergraduates.
The excavations we visited included Minamikata in Okayama, a middle Yayoi (ca. 2000 BP) occupation site with a wooden dam built for rice field irrigation, midden debris and a settlement on the edge of the small valley. The excavation tools included hand hoes and wooden spatulae, with muslin coverings for all wood exposed, and plastic sheeting over the entire site at the end of work. A team of ca. 20 was at work, for 20 months, prior to the erection of a building of 100 m height on the site. The material culture exposed for us to see was vast in quantity and included wooden hafts, armour plates of wood, baskets, fish bones, rice husks, unending potsherds, and various fine wooden objects including a highly decorative piece probably from a stringed musical instrument.
After a visit to a relatively dry Yayoi settlement at Numa, Okayama, where various houses have been reconstructed on the actual site, we went on to Hyakkengawa-Sawada site, Okayama, with a series of late Jomon and Yayoi occupations along a river valley. Again, conditions of preservation were excellent; a series of rice fields of the Yayoi period were sealed and preserved by flooding silts, with, in places, the individual rice plants planted 2000 years ago still visible in the fields. Bone, shell, wood, pottery and stone artefacts abounded. This site has been under excavation for 18 years with a team of from 5-20 persons; only another 15 years remain before the developer can complete its own work along the valley!
In Fukuoka prefecture, we were shown a video of the excavations of the Sa Sai site, late Jomon (2400 BP), at the edge of the airport-6 year's work. A late Yayoi settlement was also investigated with the oak wall-shoes and post imprints surviving, a wet midden with wooden box fragments and body armour among the 100,000 relics from the site. Here were pleased to see another large conservation lab for wet wood, with a 5-year backlog of finds all vacuum-packed awaiting treatment. (abridged from NewsWARP 15, April 1994 with permission)

Fursdon Mill Cottage, Thorverton, Devon, EX5 5JS, England

 

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CHINA ROUND-UP

Compiled and edited by Francis Allard, University of Pittsburgh
 

Excavation at Bancun in Henan Province
  by Simon Holledge

Last year, I took part in the autumn excavation season at the Neolithic site of Bancun (Mianchi county, Henan province) led by the Archaeology Department of the National Museum of Chinese History (Beijing). One objective of this three-year project is to gather together talented young Chinese field archaeologists and foreigners to discuss field methods. My own personal interest was to look closely at the way the site was being excavated and make suggestions as to how data could be computerized. By way of discussion, I created a relational database from available spreadsheet files entered by my colleagues from the Museum, and we considered how such a database might be used in conjunction with a possible geographical information system.
Bancun is located on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Yellow River, on a flat, eroding, sheer-sided terrace some 25 meters above and overlooking the water. The full extent of the Neolithic settlement is not known but the site evidently extends through the adjacent village. Man-made pits, houses and burials have been discovered and are associated with the early, middle and late Neolithic as well as a series of historical periods.
Excavation methods are based on the official Tianye Kaogu Gongzuo Guicheng (Field Archaeology Regulations) published in 1988. Impressively thorough records are kept in nine separate files. Four of these deal with the excavation work itself: a general work diary, a season by season record and two detailed area by area records. Two files are kept of feature records and there are three artifact registers. The pot shard records are particularly detailed, with a classification system which distinguishes between 40 types. Digging has proceeded as follows. A cross-shaped, one-metre wide test trench was first cut the length and breadth of the site. The site was then divided into 10 x 10 metre squares. Individual squares were chosen for excavation on the basis of the results from the trenches. There is no grid as such and only a theoretical datum point is used. Features are mostly sectioned and drawn in the usual way, although levels are not normally surveyed. The positions of features are determined by measuring two corners of each one in relation to the square as a whole. Stratigraphy is carefully recorded, though the interpretation is sometimes disputed.
With regard to the social aspects of the work, I noted a very clear preference for consensus group decision making. There is very little division of labour. The archaeologists are given different areas to dig, not different jobs to do. There is a strong feeling that the archaeologist is employed to organize and take part in digging. Other work (particularly off-site work) must take second place and is done in the evening or on bad-weather days. Cigarette smoking is ubiquitous, both on and off site.

Institute of Archaeology, University College, London
 

Visit to the site of Zaojiaoshu in Henan Province
  by Simon Holledge

On November 14th 1993, the Luoyang Number 1 Archaeological Team invited me to visit the early Bronze Age (Erlitou periods 2,3 and 4) site of Zaojiaoshu, located between the Luo and Yi rivers on the outskirts of Luoyang city. The land was previously agricultural but a company plans to build on the site and is funding a one-year excavation at a total cost of 320,000 rmb (approx. US$ 40,000). The excavation began in August 1993. At the time of my visit, 10 archaeologists were working at the site, with 40 excavators contracted from the People's Liberation Army and a few archaeology students from Sichuan also participating.
The total site covers about 10,000 square metres. Because it is too large to excavate in its entirety, it is being surveyed with the use of the 'Luoyang spade probing implement'. If something interesting is found, a 5 x 5 metre square is dug. Features are generally deep, two or three metres below the surface. At the time of my visit, the team had located 143 man-made pits and 10 pit houses, as well as a large rectangular well (roughly 3 metres long by 2 metres wide by 10 metres deep). One storage pit has apparently yielded the earliest wheat (xiaomai) ever found in China (then as yet unpublished), rice and red bean. The bank of a river that had existed down until the Tang period has also been discovered.

Institute of Archaeology, University College, London
 

A report on collaborative archaeological research in the Nihewan Basin in Hebei Province
  by Kathy Schick

In 1989, a collaborative archaeological project funded by the Henry Luce Foundation was initiated by Chinese and American researchers to investigate Early Palaeolithic archaeological localities in the Nihewan Basin (Hebei Province). These sites represent some of the earliest good archaeological evidence of hominid occupation in Eastern Asia, being provisionally dated to approximately 1 million years ago on paleomagnetic and stratigraphic grounds. Well-known for decades as a rich paleontological locality, the Nihewan Basin has now yielded a number of well documented archaeological sites, with large assemblages of artifacts and animal bones in discrete horizons found primarily in stratified alluvial deposits of silts and fine sands. The overall aim of this joint project has been to establish a coordinated multi-disciplinary investigation of these archaeological localities, including carrying out controlled excavations to enable us to make behavioral inferences, establish the stratigraphic relationships among the various sites, and gain a better understanding of the paleoenvironmental and depositional context of these occurrences.
The Chinese members of the joint team include WEI Qi of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing and XIE Fei, Director of the Hebei Institute of Cultural relics, as well as more than a dozen other scientists (archaeologists, geologists, palynologists, paleontologists) from these institutions and other archaeological units. The U.S. team includes the archaeologists J. Desmond Clark of U.C. Berkeley, Nicholas Toth and Kathy Schick of Indiana University, graduate students from Indiana University and U.C. Berkeley, and Frank Brown of the University of Utah carrying out geological research.
Our field investigations have included survey, initiation of a landscape archaeology project, geological reconnaissance of the region (including stratigraphic and paleomagnetic studies), palynological research, and two consecutive years of archaeological excavation by the joint team (in 1991 and 1992) at the site of Donggutuo. At this site, we retrieved over 2000 artifacts made primarily of local chert but also including some materials exotic to the site locale, as well as hundreds of faunal remains, all from a major horizon within an excavation area approximately 20 square metres. During the past year, we have been completing the laboratory analysis of the excavated materials, including technological, typological, refitting, and microscopic usewear analysis; faunal analysis and taphonomic studies of the excavated animal bones; and laboratory determinations on the paleomagnetic, stratigraphic and sedimentological studies. We are currently preparing a monograph and research articles on the results of this research.
We would like to extend our very sincere thanks to the Henry Luce Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences' Visiting Scholars Exchange Program, Professor JIA Lanpo of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, and the Hebei Province Cultural Relics Bureau for the support, assistance and cooperation they have provided to allow and facilitate this collaborative project.

Craft Research Center, Indiana University, Bloomington IN, USA
 

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JOBS & GRANTS

NORDIC INSTITUTE OF ASIAN STUDIES (NIAS)
Two post-doctoral research fellowships are available at the University of Copenhagen from 1 January 1995, one for China and one for Japan. Applications will be entertained for projects relating to 1) the role of political and cultural institutions in development; 2) resource management and social change, or 3) comparative perspectives on Asian societies in change. Each fellowship is for 3 years with the possibility for renewal for a second 3 years. Successful candidates are expected to live in Copenhagen and carry out their research at theNIAS. Fellows will also be required to take part in the planning and organizing of research and other scholarly activities at the Institute and contribute to the maintenance and development of the Institute's Nordic and international networks. The basic salary ranges between DKK 23,000-27,000/month depending on qualifications and seniority. For non-Danish residents, there is an expatriate's allowance of DKK 4,000/month. In the event that a successful applicant needs to relocate their household to Copenhagen, actual reasonable expenses for moving of household effects will be reimbursed. Applications should contain: a research project proposal, a curriculum vitae including a full list of publications; a single copy of those publications judged by the applicant as most important (max. five); and name, addresses, telephone/fax/e-mail numbers of two referees. Deadline is 15 September 1994. Send applications to: Senior Positions, Board of NIAS, Njalsgade 84, DK 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark. Decisions will be made in late October 1994. Further information is available from NIAS Director T. Svensson, +45-31 54 88 44; FAX +45-32 96 25 30; email: sec@nias-ku.dk

SHIGAKU ZASSHI TRANSLATORS
Traditionally, the journal Early China has been providing English translations of the bibliography of Japanese scholarship on Prehsitoric through Han China which is published every year in the May issue of Shigaku Zasshi. Recently, however, there has been a lapse in coverage between 1986-1992. As it is felt that the English-speaking scholarly community would still benefit by having these commented bibliographies translated, the Society for the Study of Early China has decided to publish translations of the bibliographies for the missing years in a supplement volume to Early China. We are now looking for volunteers, who will be paid a symbolic honorarium, to participate in this project. One may take on either a year's worth of material, or material pertaining to specific periods. Please contact: Prof. Lothar von Falkenhausen, Art History Department, Dickson Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles CA 90024 USA.

CONTRIBUTIONS WANTED
Are you interested in contributing to writing projects on 1) guides to archaeological sites in East Asian countries, 2) a Japanese archaeology handbook? If you have ideas on what to include in either of these publications and if you would be willing to write contributions, please contact Dr. G.L. Barnes, St John's College, Cambridge CB2 1TP, UK. Depending on negotiations with the publishers, either flat fees or royalty percentages might be had in compensation.

HEINZ KAEMPFER FUND 1994 ESSAY CONTEST
The Heinz Kaempfer Fund is pleased to announce its second international essay contest on Japanese arts and crafts. The Fund is associated with the Society for Japanese Arts established in The Netherlands. It aims at promoting Japanese arts and crafts and the publication of those studies. The awards for 1st prize will be ca. US$1500, 2nd prize $1000, 3rd prize $500. The essay must be received by 30 September 1994 at: Heinz Kaempfer Fund 1994 essay contest, Vreewijkstraat 10, 2311 XH Leiden, The Netherlands.

CHIANG CHING-KUO FOUNDATION
Grant applications from Americans for work in China and for support for Chinese studies support are next due on 15 October 1994. Information about the various research, conference, publication and other grants is available upon request. Contact the Foundation's new address at 8361 B Greensboro Drive, McLean, VA 22103 USA.

GRANTS IN ARCHITECTURE
Grants of up to US$10,000 support endeavors in educational areas directly concerned with architecture (primarily at an advanced level) and with other arts that are immediately contributive to architecture. Individuals and institutions are eligible to apply. Grants are primarily for early stages of a project. Deadline: 1 December 1994. Contact: Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in Fine Arts, 4 West Burton Place, Chicago IL 60610. 312-787-4071.

SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL
Research planning grants are available in order to identify topics that the Joint Committee on Korean Studies considers to be of interest and significant, concerning Korea, in the social sciences and humanities. Support will be given to organize relatively large-scale projects involving several collaborators on Korea-related topics, including workshops or conferences, travel for collaborators to meet or efforts by individuals to develop major research projects. There are no citizenship requirements; grants are available to scholars with either a Ph.D. or equivalent research experience. Send a 10-15 page proposal describing the substantive problem, the theoretical and methodological approaches to be taken, budget, CV and list of scholars involved in the project to the sponsor. Deadline: 1 November 1994. Contact: JCKS, SSRC, 605 Third Avenue, New York NY 10158 USA. 212-661-0280.

KOREA FOUNDATION
Fellowships are offered in Korean studies to provide scholars and other qualified professionals overseas with an opportunity to carry out in-depth research in Korea for a period of two to ten months. Two copies of the application form and research proposals are due by 31 July 1994; successful applicants will be notified at the end of January 1995. Contact: Personnel Exchange Department, CPO Box 2147, Seoul, Korea. +82-2-753-6553

NEH REFERENCE MATERIALS AWARDS
The National Endowment for the Humanities (USA) supports projects to prepare reference works that will improve access to information and resources. Support is available for the creation of dictionaries, historical or linguistic atlases, encyclopedias, concordances, reference grammars, data bases, text bases, and other projects that will provide essential scholarly tools for the advancement of research or for general reference purposes. Grants also may support projects that will assist scholars and researchers to locate information about humanities documentation. Such projects result in scholarly guides that allow researchers to determine the usefulness or relevance of specific materials for their work. Eligible for support are such projects as bibliographies, bibliographic data bases, catalogues raisonnes, other descriptive catalogs, indexes, union lists, and other guides to materials in the humanities. In both areas, support is also available for projects that address important issues related to the design or accessibility of reference works. The application deadline is September 15th of each year for projects beginning after July 1st of the following year. For further information, write to Reference Materials, Room 318, NEH, Washington DC 20506 USA.

STANFORD UNIVERSITY EXTERNAL FACULTY FELLOWSHIPS
In-residence faculty fellowships support research for scholars concerned with humanistic issues including archaeology. Fellowships are intended primarily for those currently teaching or affiliated with an academic institution but others may apply. Deadline: 15 November 1994. Contact: Stanford Humanities Center, Mariposa House, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA; 415-723-3052; FAX 415-723-1895.

CENTER FOR FIELD RESEARCH RESEARCH GRANTS
Funding and volunteer support are arranged for field research projects in the sciences and humanities. Research teams must include qualified members of EARTHWATCH. Eligible applicants are advanced postdoctoral scholars and occasionally, graduate students. The sponsor is a screening and coordinating agency that arranges both funding and volunteer support for field research projects anywhere in the world. Support is given to any field research in the sciences and humanities that directly addresses natural, cultural, and occasionally, archival primary sources. Recent support has been provided in the area of art and archaeology-including archaeoastronomy, architecture, textiles, folklore, ethnomusicology and art history. Applicants should submit a preliminary proposal by telephone or fax, or in a 2-page letter. Upon favorable review of the preproposal, formal proposals will be invited. Proposal guidelines and application forms are provided. Deadline: Open. Contact: Attn. Executive Director, Center for Field Research, 680 Mount Auburn Street, P.O. Box 403, Watertown MA 02272 USA. 617-926-8200; FAX 617-926-8532. Email: cfr@earthwatch.org

THE J. PAUL GETTY TRUST
Grant programmes include:
Scholarships in the History of Art and the Humanities
Postdoctoral Fellowships
Library and Photo Archive Projects at Centers for Advanced Research in History of Art
Archival Projects
Corpora and Other Art Historical Reference Tools
Publications
Conservation
Conservation training
Conservation libraries
Surveys of the conservation needs of art museums
Conservation of major works of art
Publications
National and International Service Organizations
Publication Grants
Contact: Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, POBox 642 (16 John Street), Princeton, NJ 08542-3736 USA. 609-924-4714. Deadline: Open.

ACADEMY OF KOREAN STUDIES VISITING SCHOLARSHIP
The Academy, located near Seoul, has a post of Visiting Scholar for an initial one-year appointment with the possibility of being renewed. The successful candidate will be required to assist the Office of Research Cooperation, particularly with regard to international cooperation; they will also be entitled to use the research facilities of the Academy [which has staff Archaeologists]. Salary will be commensurate with experience & qualifications (min. US$12,000/yr). Accommodation will be provided for single persons at the Academy. Qualifications include 1) PhD in area related to Korean Studies or enrollment in such a PhD program, 2) fluency in Korean, including the ability to translate academic material and correspondence into English. For information, contact Dr. Chun Taeck-soon, Director, Office of Research Cooperation, 50 Unjung-dong, Pundang-ku, Songnam-si, Kyonggi-do 463-791 Korea. +82-342-47-6593, FAX +82-342-44-9945.

CSCC SCHOLARLY EXCHANGE WITH CHINA
The Committee on Scholarly Communication with China announces grants for social scientists and humanists in Graduate study/dissertation research, post-doctoral research, fellowships for archaeological research (personal or joint), and fellowships for Chinese scholars. American citizens and permanent USA residents are elgible to apply for the first three categories, deadline 15 October 1994; Chinese scholars must have an American institution apply on their behalf for the visiting fellowships, deadline 5 November 1994. For information on application procedures, specify which category above (in the case of archaeology whether it is joint or personal) and contact: CSCC, Suite 2013, 1055 Thomas Jefferson St, Washington DC 20007 USA.
 

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EXHIBITIONS & MUSEUM NEWS

This section may include overlaps with Newsletter, EAAA listings; for fuller information about art historical showings, subscribe to Newsletter, East Asian Art & Archaeology, Dept. Art History, Univ. Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mi 48109-1357 USA.

The Cleveland Museum of Art has accessioned a Chinese Buddhist stele (c. 550-577 AD); the marble sculpture stele (h. 119 cm) is an almost free-standing image of the Buddha, flanked by its chief disciples and bodhisattvas, and on the reverse is a pensive seated figure. It is in extraordinary condition, retaining much of its original paint from the mid-6th c.

Selected Chinese ceramics (Neolithic-Qing) from the Meiyintang Collections will be on view at the British Museum in London from June to September 1994. A two-volume catalogue by Regina Krahl with 688 pages and 957 colour illustrations is availabe from British Museum Publications.

An exhibition entitled, "Horse breeders of ancient Asia: the origins of horse husbandry on the Kazakh Steppe" was mounted in the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology from May 20-8 July. The materials were loaned by the Department of Archaeology, Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences, Petropavlovsk.

The British Museum in London is sponsoring a conference on Imaging the Past: electronic imaging and computer graphics in museums and archaeology, 3-5 November 1994 (p CONFERENCE CALENDAR for details).

At the Itazuke site, Fukuoka Prefecture Japan, a previously excavated rice field system and Yayoi settlement are being restored for public display-the entire settlement reconstructed in situ and paddy fields re-made. The small museum was designed especially for children, with many hands-on exhibits.

The Fukuoka Museum, Japan, is new and inspiring with many exhibits of wet site archaeology, models and videos, and an early Jomon logboat of ca. 7000 BP.

"Islamic Glass from China" is an exhibition showing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 17 May-31 Dec, 1994. It includes ten pieces recently excavated in China but probably produced in Nishapur (NE Iran) between the 9th and early 11th c. These are complemented by 15-20 pieces, many excavated from Nishapur, in the Museum's own collection. An illustrated catalogue is available.
 

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LECTURES

East Asian Archaeology Seminar, Harvard University
6 Mar 92 "Shanrong and other Bronze Age sites in Northeast China," Yangjin PAK
13 Mar 93 "Informal discussion of current issues in Chinese archaeology," MA Shichang
14 Oct 92 "Settlement pattern of Longshan culture on the regional level in Central Plains of China," Li LIU
4 Nov 92 "Population groups in ancient China," PAN Qifeng
2 Dec 92 "Discussion of Liangzhu jades," FU Xianguo
9 Dec 92 "Archaeological and historical evidence of Ming Tang," Ming-chorng HWANG
17 Feb 93 "Ancient glass of China," AN Jiayao
3 Mar 93 "Anyang and other archaeological sites in North China," David Cohen
10 Mar 93 "Practice of radiocarbon dating at Beijing University," CHEN Tiemei
17 Mar 93 "Ritual practice in prehistoric China," Li LIU
24 Mar 93 "Mortuary practice of Neolithic China: the case of Dawenkou culture," Chris FUNG
7 Apr 93 "An analysis of Shan Hai Jing," Kyung-ho SUH
14 Apr 93 "Current research on the origin of Chinese civilization: the case of Chahai and Niuheliang in Northeast China," Yangjin PAK
21 Apr 93 "Ancient Chinese folk religion," POO Mu-chou
1 Oct 93 "The word 'shaman' in early Chinese documents," Ming-chorng HWANG
8 Oct 93 "Excavation of Bronze Age cemetery at Nong Nor in central Thailand," Tracy Hoffman
15 Oct 93 "Art, myth, history and memory: the monumentality of Si Mu Wu Ding," Lan-ying TSENG
22 Oct 93 "The castle system in the Sichuan area during the southern Song-Mongol War," ZOU Chonghua
29 Oct 93 "Longshan mortuary practice in the formation of a chiefdom society in China," Li LIU
5 Nov 93 "Excavation of Xiantongling Neolithic site in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China," Xingcan CHEN
12 Nov 93 "Dai pottery-making in the Yunnan province of China: an ethnoarchaeological perspective," Yung-ti LI
19 Nov 93 "Doors and gates in ancient China," LIU Tsen-kuei
3 Dec 93 "A comparative study: human face petroglyphs of eastern China and northwest America," Yaoliang SONG
10 Dec 93 "Five old Chinese words," Paul R. Goldin
18 Feb 94 "Excavation of the Chengtoushan Neolithic site in Hunan, China," Wenjian WANG
25 Feb 94 "Wuxing cosmology and the transformation of political structure in early China," Aihe WANG
4 Mar 94 "Rock arts of China," Yaoliang SONG
11 Mar 93 "An explanation of the animal masks of the Liangzhu jade," Xingcan CHEN
2 Apr 94 "Is there such a thing as East Asian archaeology," Gina Barnes

Department of Art & Archaeology, SOAS, University of London
17 Mar 94 "The Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng," LI Feng

Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge University
12 May 94 "Ethel John Lindgren, anthropologist among the Reindeer Evenki (Tungus) of northernmost China," by Ian Whitaker

Arctic Studies Center, Harvard
13 May 94 "Prehistoric human face petroglyphs: a comparison of northeast Asian and Northwest American relics," by SONG Yaoliang.
Oriental Institute, Oxford University
10 June 94 "Arabic inscriptions and cemetery architecture in China," CHEN Dasheng

Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, SOAS, University of London
12 July 94 "An introduction to the Museum of East Asian Art, Bath," Ming Wilson
 

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NOTEWORTHIES

Notes in the current issue are referred to as NOTEWORTHIES No. 00, while those in a previous issue will be referred to as NOTEWORTHIES 00-00, with the issue number before the dash and the note number after the dash.

 

1. JAPAN : KYUSHU-DAYORI
   Harunotsuji site: a new double-moated site has been excavated on Iki Island (Nagasaki-ken) in the Korea Straits. It rivals Yoshinogari in scope and is said to match the description for Iki-no-kuni as mentioned in the Chinese dynastic histories. The site has been investigated several times from the early part of this century and dwellings, a cemetery and shellmound are also known there.
   Oracle bones: Nara-period (7-8th c AD) tortoise shell divination bones (kiboku) have been excavated on Iki Island, Nagasaki Pref. Tortoise was used only from the Kofun period; earlier materials were deer and boar divination bones (bokkotsu). The Iki divination bones were specially prepared by removing the inner shell lining to expose the porous interior shell. Rectangular depressions were then carved into the shell on a gridded plan with baulks left between (yes, they look like an old-style box-excavation site!). The divination bones have no inscriptions on them, but their discovery confirms documentation in the 10th-century Engi Shiki, which discusses the gathering of divination specialists from Tsushima (10 persons), Iki (5), and Izu (5) to work at the Nara court.
    
2. INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE INTEGRATION OF CHINESE ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY
   EAANmember Yu-mei CHEN has sent EAANetwork a full set of the papers given at the above symposium at the Institute of History & Philology, Academia Sinica, 4-8 January 1994. The schedule of papers was listed in EAANnouncements 12; using the authors and titles given there, copies of the papers may be available through inter-library loan in the autumn. Contact: Charles Aylmer, Far Eastern Department, University Library, West Rd., Cambridge, UK.
    
3. AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS OBSERVE EXCAVATION AT BANCUN
   In June 1993, Professors Robert Thorp and Patty Jo Watson of Washington University and Melvin Aikens of Oregon State University returned to the Bancun excavation site in Henan Province to observe the work of archaeologists from the National Museum of Chinese History and discuss excavation methods.
   The excavation is a multidisciplinary investigation of ancient environment and human populations north of Bancun village in Mianchi county. The three professors have served as advisors to the excavation team since 1991, when they became the first group of North American scholars to participate in the planning of a new excavation in China. The visits were sponsored by the Archaeology Committee, formed in 1989, under the Committee on Scholarly Communication with China. (p FIELD REPORTS)
   A methodological workshop on survey and regional studies will be held at Bancun 1-14 June 1994. Instructors Melvin Aikens and David Wilson of Southern Methodist University will lead the workshop, which will combine classroom and outdoor components. Plans are being discussed for a similar workshop in Xi'an in 1995. (from China Exchange News 21.3/4: 27, 1993)
    
4. CSCC GRANTS FOR CHINESE PUBLICATIONS
   In 1993, the Archaeology Committee of the Committee on Scholarly Communication with China has also provided publications subventions to various Chinese institutions. Funds have been granted to the National Museum of Chinese history to publish findings of the survey of a Shang-period walled site at Gucheng, Yuanchu county, Shanxi. A subvention was also granted to Peking University's Institute of Archaeology to publish site reports of excavations. (from China Exchange News 21.3/4: 27, 1993)
    
5. GEMS GRASSLAND PUBLICATION
   A joint volume is planned from the November GEMS research conference which will focus on a defined region of eastern Inner Mongolia and the adjacent area of Mongolia. Entitled "Continuity and Change on the Mongolian Steppe: the implications for land use," it will include individual papers in five units: terrestrial systems (soil, flora, and fauna), climate-ecosystem interactions, data collection and analysis, history, and human factors at both micro (household and community) and macro (region and nation) levels. A five-member editorial team will oversee the integration of papers within each unit and write introductory essays that identify unifying themes and issues for future research. The larger purpose of GEMS is to establish a model for the interdisciplinary study of environmental problems. (from China Exchange News 21.3/4: 27, 1993)
    
6. ANOTHER GOLD SEAL PRESENTED TO A LOCAL KING
   A gold seal presented by the Chinese emperor to a local leader in southern China-similar to that reportedly given Himiko, 'queen' of the Japanese political federation called Yamatai as recorded in the "People of Wa" [Japan] section of the Wei zhi, a 3rd-century chronical of Wei China-has been unearthed in Hunan Province, as confirmed by the Research Center for Silk Roadology in Nara. On the seal side of this snake-handled seal, 2.3 cm wide and 2 cm high, are inscribed four characters indicating a local tribe head, who was given the seal as a symbol of obedience and tribute. It was displayed at a recent special exhibition at the Shanghai Museum. (from the Japan Foundation Newsletter 22.5: 10, 1993).
    
7. CHINESE ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY NEWSLETTER & NETWORK
   The above Newsletter, to be published in both English and Chinese, will serve as a means for scholars working on East Asian environmental history to share information and ideas. It will publish both 'notice-board' items (news of upcoming conferences, publications, etc.) and mini-articles, queries, 'reflections', etc. The second issue (Fall 1994) will include a directory of subscribers. E-mail subscriptions will be free; the newsletter will also be available in hard copy for a small annual payment. It is hoped that, besides the twice-yearly newsletters, a network will be created through which communications can be sent at other times. 'Environmental history' will be interpreted quite broadly, and contributions on current research on the environmental history of neighboring regions will be most welcome. Those wishing to subscribe should send name, address, E-mail address, a brief but precise statement of research interests, and (if desired) telephone and fax numbers to Helen Dunstan, Department of History, Indiana State University, Terre Haute IN 47809 USA. Copy for the newsletter should be sent to the same address. (from Asian Studies Newsletter 39.1: 22, Jan '94)
    
8. INTERNET RESOURCES FOR HERITAGE CONSERVATION, HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND ARCHAEOLOGY
   Peter H. Stott, of the Heritage Conservation, ICOMOS, has put together an on-line description of several kinds of computer resources on the above topics accessible on Internet. These resources include Gopher collections, WWW-based information servers, Electronic journals, Listservs, Usenet newsgroups, Full text, Images, Indexes and databases, Selected library catalogs, FTP sites, government agencies online, FAQs and other subject guides, and Fee-based services. If you are interested in obtaining Ver. 1.1 of his description, contact him at pstott@jade.tufts.edu or by snailmail at Urban & Environmental Policy, Tufts University, 97 Talbot Avenue, Medford MA 02155 USA.
    
9. OUTSTANDING ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES IN CHINA, 1993
   See Early China News 6 (Fall 1993) for detailed descriptions.
   1. Paleolithic site of Dadong, Panxian, Guizhou: noted for the 10 useage rate of prepared platform technique, which is "unique among Paleolithic stone working technologies from South China and rare elsewhere, but which has characteristics comparable to contemporaneous stone working technology in the West."
   2. The Neolithic site at Longzhazhuang, Gaoyou, Jiangsu: much Neolithic material dating 7000-5000 BP is forcing a renewed look at the Qinlian'gang culture. Also, on pot sherds, "inscribed markings resembling characters [are] a find of great importance to the study of the origins of Chinese writing."
   3. Large-scale building foundation of the Late Neolithic Liangzhu culture at Mojiaoshan, Zhejiang: a rammed-earth structure of 30,000 m2 in area (3 ha) supports pits and postholes. The structure "is situated at the center of a group of Liangzhu culture sites, being surrounded by the large scale burials and sacrificial altars at Fanshan, Yaoshan, Huiguanshan, etc., in addition to the remains of smaller scale dwelling sites and burial grounds."
   4. The tombs of Marquis of Jin, Bang Fu and his wife; Beizhao Village, Shanxi: "This is the sole unplundered assemblage of large tombs of Jin rulers [mid-8th c. BC] excavated to date which also contains inscription-bearing bronzes. The tomb's occupants wore jade suits and pendants "of more than 40 jade huang strung together."
   5. The Western Han chambered tomb of the King of Changsha, Gufenyuan, Hunan: more splendid than Mawangdui Tomb #1 and despite being repeatedly robbed in the past, this tomb has yielded "more than 2,000 gold, silver, lacquer, and jade artifacts [as well as] three lacquer guitars zhu, the first in China of the actual musical instrument." [The 'guitar' in question might be a 5-stringed lute, accd. to character #1375, Matthew's Chinese-English Dictionary.]
    
10. SHANG ORACLE BONE INDEX
    An Index of Reduplicated and Rejoined Shang Oracle Bones and Shells is available on computer disk gratis to all students of the Shang. It covers 81 publications of collections of these materials and uses 1.5 MB. The index is a thorough revision of the series of 14 articles which appeared in Chinese Culture several years ago. For copies, please specify whether you use 5.25 or 3.5 inch disks and whether you prefer ASCII or WordPerfect format. Contact Dr. Stan Mickel, Wittenberg University, Springfield OH 45501 USA.
     
11. ZHOUKOUDIAN RESEARCH
    Beginning in mid-1994, Dr. Sari Miller-Antonio of California State University, Stanislaus will coordinate a field survey of extant localities at ZKD to determine the nature and extent of remnant deposits. An accurate accounting will also be made of those fossil, archaeological, and archival resources that remain to be analyzed. During the more than seven decades that investigations have been conducted at ZKD, a vast amount of specimens, field notes, and unpublished manuscripts has accumulated that may now be assembled for proper analysis. These baseline data provide the necessary foundation upon which subsequent excavation strategies will be formulated.
    In 1987, UNESCO inscribed Zhoukoudian on its World Heritage List, confirming its "...exceptional and universal value...for all humanity." While UNESCO has pledged support to the Chinese government to help preserve the integrity of the ZKD localities, a multidisciplinary research plan that will integrate the fossil, cultural, and other site materials into a modern paleoanthropological interpretive framework is also being developed.
    The Zhoukoudian research center is conceived as an explicitly multinational endeavor. Scholars from all countries with an interest in developing collaborative ties with Chinese colleagues focusing on the analysis of fossil, archaeological, and other materials from ZKD are encouraged to contact: Dr. John W. Olsen, Co-Director Zhoukoudian International Palaeoanthropological Research Center at FAX (USA) 602-621-2088 or Email: jolsen@ccit.arizona.edu; or Sari Miller-Antonio (USA) 209-667-3604 or Email: sarima@koko.csustan.edu; or XU Qinqi (IVPP) at FAX (China) 86-1-831-2683.
     
12. INDEX TO CONTENTS OF CHINESE ACADEMIC JOURNALS
    A new publication of the above name is being launched by the Center for Materials of Chinese Studies, Seoul. Produced as a quarterly journal, each issue of ca. 200 pages will index 200+ recent Chinese journals of humanities and social sciences in the original language [including many archaeological journals and University xuebao] plus provide an author-keyword index to the contents. Initially, mainland China journals will be indexed ,with coverage extended later to academic journals published in Taiwan and Japan as well as in Western countries. There will also appear occasional indexes to outdated journals of scholarly importance. For the list of journals and subscription forms, contact; CMCS, Kwanak PO Box 167, Seoul 151-600 KOREA.
     
13. BOOKLIST ON EARLY CHINA
    SINOBIBLIA, a mail order bookshop, has produced a catalogue of 629 entries on books dealing with early China from prehistory to the end of the Han dynasty. For a copy, contact: SINOBIBLIA, 15 Durham Road, Harrow, Middlesex HA1 4PG, UK; 081-863-0892, FAX 081-424-0336
     
14. SOUTHERN SIBERIAN EXCAVATIONS OF XIONGNU SITES
    Dr. Sergei S. Minjaev of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of the History of Material Culture is looking for sponsors interested in participating in some way in archaeological excavations in southern Siberia. Dr. Minjaev has been director for many years of Xiongnu excavations in the Transbaikal area and would like to open his work to foreign colleagues and students interested in participating in excavation work, at their own expense or with funding from their institutions. Work would be carried out under Dr. Minjaev's supervision. For information, please contact: or:
    Dr. Sergei S. Minjaev Dr. Sophia-Karin Psarras
    Institute of History of Material Culture 1016 West Commercial Street
    Dvortzovaja nab. 18 Appleton, Wisconsin 54914 USA
    191065 St. Petersburg, Russia
    FAX (7-812) 3122136 D-499
     
15. HAMADA KOSAKU IN LONDON
    For those of you interested in the impact of British archaeology on Hamada's developing of the archaeological discipline in Japan, Eddie Field shares with us some of his investigations. Hamada was registered at University College London (not the Institute of Archaeology) for one term only: autumn 1914. One of his lecturers was indeed Flinders-Petrie.
     
16. MONGOLNEWS FROM THE AMS
    "The Anglo-Mongolian Society exists to provide information on the contemporary state, its society and culture, to encourage links between the two countries and promote understanding between the Mongol and British peoples. Our newsletter of the above title brings you regular information on contemporary affairs and daily life, Mongol-British relations, new publications, details of exhibitions and performances in Britain, tips for travellers and short articles on Mongolia and Mongolian culture. We can also offer advice on many Mongol-related topics and put members in touch with others who have common specific interests. Whether your interest in Mongolia is professioinal or personal we have something for you." For membership details, contact: Dr. Judith Nordby, Sec'y AMS, Department of East Asian Studies, The University, Leeds LLS2 9JT, UK.
     
17. THE ANCIENT INDIA AND IRAN TRUST
    Set up in Cambridge, England, as an independent educational charity in 1978, the Trust's object is to promote public interest and education in the study of the cultural heritages of ancient India and Iran [which is defined to include "Chinese Turkestan"], as represented by prehistory, archaeology, art history and earlier history, and by the history of the Indo-Iranian languages. The Trust has aimed to pursue its objectives in two principal ways: by sponsoring research and travel in the regions it covers, and appropriate educational and cultural activities in Britain; and by establishing a centre including a library and collection of photographs and documents based upon the libraries and photographic collections of the Trustees. The personal libraries of the trustees, including photograph and slide collections, form the nucleus of the research library. Collections have been donated by Sir Harold Bailey, and late Professor Joan van Lohuizen [which includes many publications on Buddhist archaeology], and the Allchin collection of offprints (to be followed by the rest of the Allchin library in due course), as well as other donations. The Library is at present being catalogued on computer and is linked to the Cambridge University Union Catalogue. Applications for grants and all enquiries should be addressed to the Secretary, Ancient India and Iran Trust, Brooklands House, 23 Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge CB2 2BG, UK.
     
18. ELECTRONIC HRAF
    The Human Relations Area File (HRAF) is now available electronically. It is a full-text database that provides primarily descriptive information on the cultures of the word; the first installment will be issued on CD-ROM in December 1994 and subsequent installments will be issued on an annual basis. The subscription costs are too expensive for individuals (US$3200-5000), so convince your institution to get it for you. Contact: HRAF Member Services, PO Box 2054 Y.S., New Haven CT 06520 USA. 203-777-2334; FAX 203-777-2337; Email: HRAFSIR@YALEVM.CIS.YALE.EDU
     
19. ANTHROPOLOGICAL NETWORKING
    Allen H. Lutins has compiled a list of network resources of interest to anthropologists on listserv, ftp, telnet, gopher, and World Wide Web. Contact: AL2032@THOR.ALBANY.EDU
     
20. SLIDES OF CHINESE ARCHAEOLOGY
    "The University of Michigan-Dearborn slide collection has begun accessioning slides of Chinese archaeology. The focus of the slide collection is art history and these slides do not fit in with the classification system that is used here (the Fogg/University of Michigan system). We have recently received slides of radiocarbon dating, tree-ring dating, sediments, erosion and changing patterns of settlement. I am wondering if anyone deals with slides for archaeology and has any ideas for me on how to classify these slides. Please reply to me directly":
    Marlene Gordon, Sr. Assoc. Curator mgordon@ab-f1.umd.umich.edu
    Univ. Michigan-Dearborn
    Dearborn, Michigan USA
     
21. THE "BREAKER JUNK"
    For one month during 1991, the National Museum of the Philippines excavated a shipwreck located 8 miles off the coast on Breaker's Reef in 5 metres of water. No wood remained, but lead and iron ingots, an anchor-shaped stone slab, and many ceramic vessels were recovered. The majority of the pottery dated to the end of the 12th century at the end of Northern Song; included were ewers, bowls, hexagonal pedestaled cups, lidded jars, and flare-rim jars.
     
22. TRAVELLING EXHIBITION ON AINU CULTURE AND HISTORY
    For the past 4 years, a team of Japanese Ainu specialists has inventoried and catalogued Ainu materials in North American museums and private collections dating to the Meiji era, 1868-1912. In addition to informing American curators and museum officials about the importance of their little-known and largely ignored Ainu materials, the team has stimulated American curatorial interest and has resulted in upgrading storage, documentation, and conservation of these collections. As the documentation project approaches completion, a joint Japanese and American curatorial team has been assembled to conduct archival research and to prepare collections and collection histories.
    A team of Japanese and American curators from the Smithsonian Institution, American Museum of Natural History, Brooklyn Museum, and University Museum (Univ Pennsylvania) now propose a travelling exhibiton on Ainu culture and history. The exhibition will be prepared from a corpus of 3000 Ainu specimens, photographs, films, and other documentation recently re-discovered in North American museums. Better documented and earlier than Japanese Ainu collections, they are an important new resource for Ainu people and Ainu scholars.
    Planning Drafts of the exhibition are available from Dr. William Fitzhugh, Department of Anthropology, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560 USA.
     
23. JESUP II RESEARCH INITIATIVE
    The Smithsonian Institution, in association with other museums and universities, is planning a long-term study of cultures, peoples, and environments of the greater North Pacific and Beringian region. Named after the pioneering Jesup North Pacific Expedition (JNPE) of 1897-1903 led by Franz Boas of the American Museum of Natural History, a new North Pacific study, tentatively called "Jessup II," will seek integration of social and natural sciences in a region where scholarly communication has been blocked by political hostility and confrontation for most of the 20th century. Studies of this region are particularly important today because of the recent opening of US-Russian borders across Bering Strait and recognition of the importance of the greater North Pacific Region in historical and contemporary arenas.
    As part of the Jessup II project, the Arctic Studies Center is also publishing a newsletter called Jesup II Newsbrief. Persons wanting copies should write to the Director, Dr. William Fitzhugh, Arctic Studies Center, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. 20560 USA.
     
24. ARCTIC STUDIES CENTER ALASKAN OFFICE
    The Smithsonian Institution's Arctic Studies Center, based in Washington D.C., opened its first permanent field office in Alaska in April 1994, housed within the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. Aron Crowell will be staffing the office in 1994-95. The purpose of the office is to facilitate Alaskan access to Smithsonian collections and resources, to aid in the development of research programs and projects in Russia and the Far East, and to help in the repatriation of Native American materials.
     
25. NAKAYAMA OTSUKA TOMB EXCAVATION
    Between July 93 and March 94, Researchers from the Nara Prefectural Kashihara Archaeological Institute (Kashikoken) investigated the round portion of Nakayama Otsuka Tomb, a 120-m keyhole-shaped mound in the southeastern Nara basin. It belongs to a tomb cluster though to be associated with the earliest state-like polity established in Japan. Largest among this cluster are several tombs under the care of the Impreial Household Agency and thus inaccessible to direct examination; it was hoped that the current investigation would help determine the age of the group as a whole, and by implication, of the political system these materials represent.
    Excavators uncovered a large vertical pit-style stone chamber, the first such facility examined in Nara in over 30 years. Pit-style chambers are typical of early tombs, and the one at Nakayama Otsuka shows architecturally primitive features which suggest that it is perhaps one of the earliest examples known. But the tomb had been plundered extensively by grave robbers, and materials which could provide a more precise dating were not recovered. Opinions divide on whether this tomb, and the other early members of its group, belong to the late 3rd c. or the early part of the 4th c. Further excavations, of the mound's rectangular portion and at several points around its base, are planned to begin this fall.
     

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CONFERENCES:

CONFERENCE CALENDAR

Titles new to this issue are emboldened and those dealing specifically with East Asia are starred
 

May 4-8 '94: International Conference on Tree Rings, Environment and Humanity: relationships and processes,Tuscon, Arizona. Contact: Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ 85721 USA 602-621-2191; FAX 602-621-8229.

May 23-27 '94: American Geophysical Union, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Session on "Geophysics and Archaeology". Contact: Rob Sternberg, Dept of Geosciences, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster PA 17604-3003 USA.

May 30-June 4 '94: International Rock Art Conference, Flagstaff, Arizona. Contact: American Rock Art Research Association, PO Box 65, San Miguel CA 93451-0065 USA. 805-467-3704; FAX 805-467-2532.

May 31 '94: Archaeological Textiles, Gothenburg University, Sveahuset, Västra Hamngatan 3, Gothenburg, Sweden.

June 4-5 '94: Archaeological Surface Survey: advances in theory & practice, 2nd annual conference, Durham, UK. Papers should focus on issues of application or interpretation rather than simple presentation of survey data or chronological sequences. Contact: Dr. J.L. Bintliff, Archaeology Department, Durham University, 46 Saddler St., Durham DH1 3NU, UK.

*June 11-12 '94: 11th Meeting of the Japanese Scientific Cultural Properties Society (Nihon Bunkazai Kagakukai), Showa Women's College, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo.

Jul 4-6 '94: Gender & Material Culture: from prehistory to the present, Univ Exeter. Contact: Dr. Moira Donald, Dept of History & Archaeology, Univ of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QH, UK. 0392-264318.

Aug 15-19 '94: 15th International Radiocarbon Conference, Glasgow, Scotland. Contact: Mrs. M. Smith, Dept of Statistics, Univ of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QW, UK. +44-41-339-8855ext5024; FAX +44-41-330-4814; Email: MariaN@STATISTICS.GLASGOW.AC.UK

*Aug 15-20 '94: International Conference on Pre-Qin History and Ba-Shu Culture, Deyang City, Sichuan. Topics for discussion: 1) Hua-Xia culture and ancient cultures of East Asia; 2) Relations between cultures of the central plains and surrounding regions; 3) Special characteristics of Ba-Shu culture, its origins and historical status; 4) Pre-Qin period government, religious systems and social conditions; 5) Others. Contact: SU Hemei or PENG Bangben, Dept of History, Sichuan Univ, Chengdu, Sichuan 610064 PRC.

Aug 22-26 '94: JAWS meeting on 'Material Culture', Copenhagen, in conjunction with the 8th Triannual Conference of the European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS).The focus of the theme will be on 'consumption'. Contact: Arne Kalland, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 84 Njalsgade, DK-2300, Copenhagen S., Denmark. +45-31 54 88 44; FAX +45-32 96 25 30.

Aug 25-Sept 2 '94: 45th Arctic Science Conference, Anchorage, Alaska (25-27 Aug) and Vladivostok, Russia (29 Aug-2 Sept). Themes inclue "Natural resources and environmental changes", "Recent discoveries about Beringia", "Development and adaptation of people and culture", and "Communication and information exchange." A series of anthropological programs will include culture exchange and contact in the North Pacific; contemporary issues in social, economic, and political development; Native perspectives; and ethnology, linguistics, folklore, physical anthropology, and archaeology. Contact: Dr. Gunter Weller, Geophysical Institute, Univ Alaska, Fairbanks AK 99775 USA. FAX 907-474-7290.

*Aug 29-1 Sept '94: The 10th EACS Conference, Prague. European Association for Chinese Studies, general conference theme "Genius Loci: place, region and Chinese regionalism." Contact: EACS, PO Box 234, 110 01 Praha 01, Czech Republic.

Sept 9-10 '94: International Conference: artefacts from wrecks, National Museum of Wales. The archaeology of material culture from shipwrecks of the late Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution. Contact; Dr. M. Redknap, Dept of Archaeology & Numismatics, National Museum of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF1 3NP, UK. FAX +44-222-667320.

Sept 21-24 '94: Seasonality, Amsterdam. Annual Conference of the Association for Environmental Archaeology. Sessions on seasonality of crops and livestock, growth patterns, periodicity, food convervation and storage, seasonality of archaeological deposits, agrarian and urban economies. Contact: van Haaster, Pals & van Wijngaarden-Bakker, Department of Environmental Archaeology, Institute for Pre- & Proto-historic Archaeology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130, 1018 VZ Amsterdam. +312-20-525-5172, 7394, 5839; Email: HVH@ivip.frw.uva.nl (internet)

*Oct 7-9 '94: Asian Ceramics: potters, users and collectors, Chicago. Contact: Dr. Chuimei HO, Anthropology Dept, Field Museum, Roosevelt at Lake Shore, Chicago IL 60605 USA. 312-922-9410x308/569; FAX 312-427-7269.

Oct 10-15'94 4th Global Congress "Sense of Identity, Sense of Place", Barcelona. Contact: Heritage Interpretation International, PO Box 6116, Station 'C', Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5B 4K5.

Oct 11-15 '94: Archaeological Remains. In situ Preservation, Montreal. Organized by the ICOMOS International Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management. Contact: ICAHM Montreal 1994, Ville de Montreal, Service de l'habitation et du developpement urbain, 303 rue Notre-Dame Est, 5th floor, Montreal, Quebec H2Y 3Y8 Canada. FAX 514-872-0024.

*Oct 17-22 '94: Kyoto Conference on Japanese Studies, sponsored by Nichibunken (International Research Center for Japanese Studies) and the Japan Foundation.

*Oct 18-22 '94: Rewriting the Pacific: Culture, Frontiers and the Migration of Metaphors, Davis, California. Contact: Kay Flavell, Critical Theory, University of California, Davis CA 95616 USA. FAX 916-752-8630.

*Oct 24-28 '94: 5th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, Paris. Contact: Dr. Pierre-Yves Manguin, EFEO/EurASEAA, POBox 981/KBY, Jl. Mampang Prapatan VIII/R5, Jakarta 12001 Indonesia, FAX 62-21-799-1784.

Nov '94: International Symposium on Pleistocene/Holocene Boundary, Mendoza, Argentina. Contact: Marcelo Zarate, Centro de Geologia de Costas y del Cuaternario-UNMP, Castilla de Correo, 722 Correo Central, 7600 Mar del Plata, Argentina.

Nov 3-5 '94: Imaging the Past: electronic imaging and computer graphics in museums and archaeology, British Museum, London. Contact: Dr. Peter Main or Mr. Tony Higgins, Department of Scientific Research, The British Museum, Great Russell St., London WC1B 3DG, UK. +44-71-323-8959/8953; FAX +44-71-323-8276; Email: ezbmplm@ulcc.ac.uk

Dec 4-11 '94: World Archaeological Congress, New Delhi. Contact: Dr. Makkhan Lal, WAC, PO Box 112 H.P.O., Aligarh 2020001 INDIA. 571-29143 or 25546.

*Jan 3-7 '95: 4th International Conference on the Evolution of the East Asian Environment, Hong Kong. Papers on all aspects of the Cainozoic environment of East Asia are invited, but contributions dealing with the following topics are particularly welcomed: Recent advances in chronology, Marine/terrestrial correlation, Correlation between east Asia and elsewhere, Biogeography and environmental change, New discoveries pertaining to the origin and movements of early humans, Palaeoceanography and global change, Paleomonsoon, Palaeosols and landscape evolution, Loess stratigraphy, Humans and environmental change in the Quaternary, Quaternary coastal evolution, Historical floods and droughts, Glaciers and glaciations. Contact, Secretariat, 4th ICEEAE, Centre of Asian Studies, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong FAX 852-559-5884; Email: CASLIB@HKUCC.BITNET

*Apr 6-9 '95: Association for Asian Studies Meetings, Washington DC.

Apr/May '95: Hidden Dimensions: the cultural significance of wetland archaeology, Vancouver, Canada. A 3-day event to be held in conjunction with an exhibition about wet-site archaeology in SW British Columbia will include a public component, a scientific component, workshops, and tours. Contact: Ann Stevenson, UBC Museum of Anthropology, 6393 NW Marine Dr., Vancouver BC V6T 1Z2 Canada 604-822-6530, FAX 604-822-2974, Email: stevenso@unixg.ubc.ca

May 3-7 '95: Society for American Archaeology Meetings, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Paper proposals due by September 23rd; contact Program Chair Dr. Paul Minnis, Dept Anthropology, Univ of Oklahoma.

June/July '95: 2nd Regional Seminar on Southeast Asian Prehistory and Archaeology, Philippines. Contact: W.P. Ronquillo, National Museum of the Philippines, Manila, The Philippines.

*Sept 4-8 '95: From the Jomon to Star Carr: hunter-gatherers of east and west temperate Asia, Universities of Cambridge and Durham, England. (p full-page advert, this issue).

*Oct 31-4 Nov '95: 1995 International Symposium on Ancient Ceramics (ISAC '95), Shanghai. Call for papers in the following areas: Scientific & technological insights; Archaeological discoveries; Arts & crafts; Kilns; International trade of ancient ceramics; Application of research achievement of ancient ceramics in modern industry; and other aspects. Contact: SUN Jing, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1295 Dingxi Road, Shanghai 200050. FAX +86-21-251-3903.
 

PAPERS READ

For copies of the papers listed here, please contact either the symposium or panel organizer if the author is unknown to you
 

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON BRONZES FROM THE WU-YUE AREA,
21-23 August 1992. Shanghai. Lothar von Falkenhausen has written a conference report giving summaries of the following papers (see citation at the end of this section).

Peng, Shifan: Discussion of several problems concerning the large Shang-period tomb at Xin'gan
Ma, Chengyuan: Studies on Wu and Yue bronzes and their relation to the bronzes excavated at Dayangzhou
Bagley, Robert W.: Shang bronzes from the Yangzi Region
Rawson, Jessica: Contact between southern China and Henan during the Shang period
Falkenhausen, Lothar von: Bronze ritual vessels unearthed in the far southern region of China
Tao, Zhenggang: Bronzes from the Wu-Yue area unearthed in Shanxi and their study
Zhang, Changshou: On the bronzes unearthed at Tunxi
Li, Guoliang: The date of the eight tombs at Tunxi as seen through the bronze weapons
Zhou, Ya: Some problems in the study of bronzes from the mounded tombs in the Wu-Yue area
Xiao, Menglong: Preliminary remarks on the dating and periodization of Wu and Yue bronzes
Li, Chaoyuan: The dating of the bronzes from the Yandunshan Tomb, and other considerations
Ma, Jinhong: The bronzes excavated from the mounded tomb at Guanxiang, Anji, Zhejiang
Shang, Zhitan: A preliminary discussion of the characteristics of bronzes from the Zhejiang area
Cheung, Kwong-yue: A newly discovered sword of King Fuchai of Wu, and a preliminary explanation of the dagger-ax, spearhead, and sword of King Zhizhe of Yue
Cao, Jinyan: An exegesis of the inscription of the spearhead of the Royal Crown Prince of Yue
Chen, Fangmei: The dagger-axes from Cai and the swords of the King of Yue in the collection of the National Palace Museum and their relation to the problem of the development of bird script and insect script of Cai and Yue
Mou, Yongkang: Brief remarks on [the Barbarians] 'cutting their hair and tattooing their bodies'-the results of a study of human representations in bronze
Zou, Houben: On the bronze 'pigeon-headed staffs'
Lawton, Thomas: Reflections on a bronze he in the Shanghai Museum
Chen, Peifen: Some problems concerning the bronze zheng bells of the Yue culture
Gao, Zhixi: The dates and characteristics of some bronzes of the Yue peoples newly excavated in Hunan
Wang, Shimin: Abbreviated remarks on Late Spring and Autumn period ritual bronzes from the Wu area
So, Jenny: Bronzes from the southeast in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections and related questions
Liu, Binhui: A comparison of the Eastern Zhou bronzes from the Wu Yue area with the bronzes of Xu and Chu
Chen, Gongrou: The decoration, shapes, and other aspects of Xu vessels
Li, Xueqin: A characteristic feature of southern bronze inscriptions
Tan, Derui & Huang, Long: Investigation report on the bronze casting technology of bronzes from the Yue and Wu cultures (part 1)
Allan, Sarah: On a group of incised bronze vessels from the Han Dynasty
 

WORLD HISTORY ASSOCIATION 2ND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, 24-27 June 1993, Honolulu.

Robinson, Ken: Trade networks of the Inner Sea of East Asia in the late 14th and 15th centuries

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA (AIA) ANNUAL MEETING, 28 December 1993, New York. Panel on "Archaeology in China and Southeast Asia" organised by Jean James, University of Iowa

Bradford, Rosalind: Toward a typology of palace/temples in early China based on platform plans
Chiou-Peng, Tzehuey, The cist-grave culture of southwest China-a cultural crossroad
Chen, Shen: Early urbanization in the Eastern Zhou period-archaeological implications
Taylor, Nora A.: The archaeological evidence linking the Sa-huynh culture and the civilization of Champa in central Vietnam
White, Joyce C.: Implications of morturary variability for the development of prehistoric societies in Thailand
Knauer, Elfriede R.: The state of the Khmer monuments at Angkor, 1992
Schwarz, Shirley J.: Indigenous Javanese features of the Makara and Kalamakara
 

15TH CONGRESS OF THE INDO-PACIFIC PREHISTORY ASSOCIATION, 5-12 January 1994, Chiang Mai. Papers on East Asia listed below; see conference report below by Magnus Fiskesjö.

Blundell, David: Archaeology, cultural resource management and the Pacific: a look at the east coast of Taiwan
Pope, Geoffrey: The earliest Homo sapiens and latest Homo erectus from the Far East
Wu, Xinzhi: The mosiac evolution of humankind in China
Bakken, Deborah A.: Taphonomic parameters of Middle Pleistocene hominid sites in China
Ostlund, James: A reappraisal of discontinuous morphological features and their relevance to modern human origins in Asia
Walters, Ian: Meganthropus and the hominid taxa of Java
Grimaud-Hervé, Dominique: Evolution of the Asiatic fossil hominid brain
Kamminga, J.: The Mongoloid eyefold
Katayama, K.: Prehistoric human dispersals into the South Pacific
Huang, Weiwen: The evidence of archaeology for the first human migrations into East Asia
Keates, Susan: The current state of Palaeolithic research in the Far East
Li, Xiuguo: Prehistoric cave and shelter sites in southern China
Chen, Xingcan: Xiantouling and other Neolithic dune sites on the southern coast of China
Qiao, Xiaoqin: Neolithic fishermen on the southern coast of China
Li, Guo: A comparative study of the prehistoric sand bar sites in Hong Kong, Hainan and the coastal areas of Guangdong
Wu, Yaoli: Prehistoric agriculture of rice in the Yellow River Valley
Higham, Charles: Archaeology, language and the origins of rice cultivation
Lee, Yun-kuen: Interactions of Dian culture (Yunnan) and the state powers of the north
Nelson, Sarah: Hongshan-an early complex society in northern China
Pearson, Richard: Development of complex society in Okinawa-archaeological analysis and models
Reid, Lawrence: The current state of linguistic research on the relatedness of the language families of East and Southeast Asia
Meacham, William: Defining the "Hundred Yueh" of south China
Bayard, Donn: Linguistics, archaeologists, and Austronesian origins-comparative and sociolinguistic aspects of the Meacham-Bellwood debate
Pai, Hyung Il: The formation of Korean identity-colonialists, nationalists and archaeologists and the origins of Korean race and civilization
Kajale, Mukund: The domestication or rice (Oryza sativa) in parts of eastern India and its relevance to the theory of expansion of rice cultivation from China
Takamiya, Hiroto: Subsistence adaptation processes in the prehistory of Okinawa
Tsang, Cheng-hwa: Coastal adaptations as expansion phenomena in the prehistory of the southeast coast of China and Taiwan-implications for the problem of Austronesian expansion
Fiskesjö, Magnus: Excavations on the island of Takarajima, Japan, 1993
 

1994 COLLEGE ART ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE, 16-19 Feb 1994, New York
Fraser, Sarah: Peripherial visions-temple workshops in medieval and contemporary China
Liu, Cary: Chinese architectural history-'archaeological' and 'conceptual' constructs
 

ASSOCIATION FOR ASIAN STUDIES, 24-27 March 1994, Boston
Individual papers of interest:

Rawson, Jessica: A new Oriental gallery at the British Museum
Pai, Hyung Il: Tan'gun, dolmens, and tourism-foundation myths in the formation of Korean racial identity
Falkenhausen, Lothar von: The concept of wen in the ancient chinese ancestral cult
Ehrentraut, Adolf: The burden of heritage-the historic preservation of residential farmhouses in Japan

Roundtable: Mapping early Japan-circumscriptions and cultures from the 8th to 14th centuries, org. by Andrew Goble, Univ Oregon
Over the past decade Japanese...scholars have drawn attention to the multiple national and regional cultures that simultaneously co-existed in premodern times, and have brought into question the extent to which we can meaningfully talk about even 'Japan', or whether the dominant central-local paragidm any longer has intellectual validity. The unifying theme of the roundtable was that of the heretofore dominant definitions of Japan, culture, boundary and region that are in the process of being repudiated, redefined or recovered.

Panel: Chinese and Non-Chinese Networks-the archaeology of the Northeast, organised by Prof. Sarah M. Nelson, Dept Anthropology, Univ Denver, Denver CO, USA
Nelson, Sarah M.: Hongshan connections
Linduff, Katheryn M.: Early Bronze Age in the Northeast-Xiajiadian and its place in the network
Psarras, Sophia-Karin: Chinese bronzes in the Non-Chinese north
Steinhardt, Nancy S.: Liao burial practice-text, archaeology, and sources

Panel: Early Chinese Buddhist art and its secular environment, org. by Patricia E. Karetzky, Bard College
Bush, Susan: Motif and meaning-three specific research problems [Lady Yuan's epitaph AD 522, Dunhuang Cave 249, and the 12th-c. 'sacred tortoise' painting]
Karetzky, Patricia E.: New archaeological evidence of Tang esoteric art

Panel: Ritual in early imperial China, org. by Victor C. Xiong, Western Michigan University
Sukhu, Gopal: Ritual order and disorder during the Early Han
DeWoskin, K.J.: The passage of rites in Medieval China
Janousch, A.E.: The ritual reform of Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty (AD 502-549)
Xiong, V.C.: Changing aspects of Tang rituals

Panel: The Japanese and the Ainu: conflict, culture and representation, org. by David L. Howell, Princeton University
Friday, Karl F.: Pushing beyond the pale-the Yamato conquest of the emishi and northern Japan
Howell, David L.: Trade, dependency, and conflict in the formation of Ainu culture
Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko: Japanese representations of the Ainu-body aesthetics and inequality

Early China meeting, 25 March 94, Boston Marriott. Presentations on "Current research on ancient China at Harvard", moderated by Prof. Lothar von Falkenhausen, UCLA
Wang, Wenjian: Chengtoushan-the emergence of a walled town
Liu, Li: The development of chiefdoms in Late Neolithic north China from the perspective of settlement patterns
Pak, Yangjin: Mortuary practice of Bronze Age Northeast China-the case of the Yanqing burials
Wang, Aihe: Cosmology and power-wuxing cosmology in the political culture of early China

amEAANetwork meeting, 26 March 94, Boston Marriott "Presentations on East Asian archaeology as seen from Cambridge, Mass" (synopses by G. Barnes)

Hwang, Ming-Chorng: Shan Hai Jing and early Chinese history
Ming-Chorng Hwang spoke on the Shanghaijing , which is comprised of 4 books (the triad of Dahuanjing, Haiwaijing and Haineijing on cosmology, and the Wuzangshanjing as a geographical treatise). Hwang proposed that the first book originated in the Yinxu phase of the Shang period while the fourth book dates to the early Spring & Autumn period, though all thecurrent texts date to the Warring States period. He also proposed that the first two books were part of an early cosmological tradition, the Mingtang-Sifang, that comprised four stages: the Dahuangjing represents the first stage focussing on sixiong (four evils) and the Haiwaijing exemplifies the second-stage Zhaomu civilisation of Early Zhou. The last two stages, which were not dealt with in detail in this paper were the Four Seas Brothers and Bright Hall & Monthly Ordinances of the later Zhou periods. The shift in cosmology between the first two books reflects the different orientations of the Late Shang and the Early Zhou rulers. The dominant concept of sifang (the four quadrates) in the Dahuangjing relates to Shang attempts to link centre and periphery while treating peripheral states as hostile rivals. Whereas the ruling philosophy in the Haiwaijing treats the Zhou and their allies as one big happy family, working on the principle of inclusion rather than exclusion. Hwang also points to a shift in marriage systems that he identifies with the changing nature of alliance and integration: from the cross-cousin marriage of the Shang and use of the maternal surname xing to the patrilateral marriage of the Zhou using the paternal shi surname. This whole re-evaluation of the chronology and associations of theShanhaijing books provides heretofore unrecognised textual documentation for Late Shang and Early Zhou, allowing comparisons with the oracle bone texts and bronze inscriptions.

Hoffman, Tracy: Gender and mortuary practice in Bronze Age Thailand
In her paper on gender and mortuary practice in Thailand, Tracy Hoffman drew on three Bronze Age (2000/1500-500 BC) cemeteries. The outstanding pattern at Ban Na Di was burial of male-sexed burials with heads to the south but burial of female-sexed burials with heads to the north; these distinctions hold regardless of age group. At Non Nok Tha, both stone adzes and bronze axes seem to be buried with male-sexed individuals, with only one stone adze occurring with a female-sexed individual. The really interesting thing seems to be a transformation from stone to bronze possession among men between ages 33 and 35. At Khok Phanom Di, three age/sex categories are apparent: infants with bracelets made from fish vertebrae, females (age 6 mos. to 42 yrs.) with clay potter's anvils; and men with turtle shell chest ornaments (granted after puberty). Hoffman contrasts, among the cemeteries, the ages at which individuals are engendered with these different identities as marked by the material objects, noting that women's roles seem to be acquired at birth whereas men's roles are granted later. She hypothesizes that perhaps women's identities are determined by their gender but men's roles might be acquried through action or talent.

Evasdottir, Erika: Rise of social complexity-a comparison of Bronze Age North China and Central Asia
While avoiding the classificatory pigeonholeing required by social evolutionary theory, Erika Evasdottir attempts a comparative analysis of systems of power to explain the rise of social complexity in the Kopet Dag region and Erlitou in China. The complete collapse of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological complex in the former region, after a period of outstanding cultural homogeniety and expansion interpreted as guided by ridgid central control, spurs Evasdottir to postulate the competitive sharing of power as essential to survival of the system. When the system becomes completely dominated by only one interested party, then it is ripe for collapse under its own weight. Only when the system can be manipulated for power succession among different groups does it have internal viability.

Pak, Yang-jin: Korean bronze culture and its northern connection
In assessing the origins of the Korean Bronze Age, PAK Yangjin compares the bronze cultures of northeastern China and the Korean peninsula. He finds no indication that Lower Xiajiadian bronze culture (ca. 1st half of 2nd millennium BC) extended into the peninsula; instead he cites a calibrated C14 date of 920-815 BC associated with a clay bronze mould at Yanggu-ri, Kyonggi-do, as the earliest occurrence of bronze smelting on the peninsula. In contrast to earlier postulations that bronze age culture was introduced by cist-grave people, bronze goods are now found in dolmens and earthen pits as well as stone cist graves. Finally, he rejects Kim Won-yong's idea that the Korean Bronze Age was heavily influenced by Ordos or Mongolian bronze cultures, since bronze dagger types common to western Liaoning and Inner Mongolia are not found on the peninsula; only the eastern Liaoning type is distributed further south. In conclusion, Pak warns against treating northeast Asia in terms of one homogenous bronze culture, considering the variations across the region. Pak also cites influences from south China (rice) that were crucial to the formation of Korean Bronze Age society, emphasising the eclectic and selective nature of the resulting culture.
 

SECOND INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY
FOR RYUKYUAN STUDIES, 24 March 94, Reischauer Institute, Harvard University. Co-org. by Leon Serafim, Dept of Linguistics, Univ Hawaii.

Archaeologically relevant papers were:
Takara, Kurayoshi: King and priestess-spiritual and political power in ancient Ryukyu
Asato, Susumu: Analytical techniques of archaeology-tools for interpreting the history of early modern Ryukyu
Tokugawa, Yoshinobu: Lacquer technique and the status of Ryukyuan culture
Stinchecum, A.M.: Reading the text of cloth and clothing
Pitts, Forrest R.: The spatial and metaphoric extent of Ryukyu
Serafim, Leon: Linguistically, what is Ryukyuan?
Hanihara, Kazuro: Racial affinities of the Okinawan islanders
 

JOINT EAST ASIAN STUDIES CONFERENCE, 6-8 April 1994, Leeds UK

Panel on "Protohistoric sources of national identities" organised by G.L. Barnes
Farris, W.Wayne: The Korean origins of early Japan
Fujio, Shin'ichiro: The relationship between Kaya-Shilla and western Japan in terms of iron production from the 1st c. BC to the 6th c. AD
Yoshimura, Kazuaki: Organization of craftsmen specialized in iron armour in 5th c. Japan
Dien, A.E.: A survey of defensive armor across Asia
Shin, Kyong-ch'ol: Production of iron in protohistoric Korea
This panel was followed by a fieldtrip to see Roman bloomery sites in southeastern England as a comparison for protohistoric iron production on the Korean peninsula in the context of large empire-states.
 

3RD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE BEGINNING OF THE USE OF METALS AND ALLOYS (BUMA-3), 18-23 April 1994, Sanmenxia, China. Contact: HAN Rubin, Director, Institute of Historical Metallurgy, University of Science and Technology, Beijing. Abstract volume available; presentations on East Asia given below:
Papers:
Ko, T.: Archaeometallurgical studies in China
Varenov, Andrey: Northwest China and the sources of Shang metallurgy
Rothenberg, Beno: Was copper smelted in ancient temples? More about crucible smelting
Jiang, Tao: Recent excavation from tombs of Western Zhou at Sanmenxia
Meyers, Pieter: Two li-yu style ding-technical characteristics
Tan, Derui & Huang, Long: A study of Eastern Zhou clay mould
Ko, T. et al.: Iron making in Han Dynasty China
Taguchi, Isamu: Metallurgical studies of meteoritic iron sword
Yamanouchi, Tokio: The production method of ploughshare in Yangcheng, Shanxi Province
Wang, Jianbang: The investigation of cast iron yun pai of Mount Wutai in Shanxi
Han, Rubin & Luo, Feng: Early iron and steel in ancient China
Chang, Shih-hsien: Western Chou politico-social evolution and the development of Chinese copper-smelting technology
Cook, Constance: Artisans and the ritual role of metallurgy in ancient China
Linduff, Katheryn M.: Metallurgy at the starting gate-prehistoric roots for its trajectory in north Asia
Yoshida, Tomio: Early exchange of iron technology from north China or Amur land to Japan
Igaki, Kenzo: 14C dating study of ancient iron artifacts
Saito, Tsutomu: Development of new methods for isotope analysis on ancient metal objects
Gale, N.H.: The possible fractionation of lead isotopic compositions in metallurgical process
Chen, Tiemei: Provenance study on the first Chinese porcelain wares with the neutron activation analysis technique
Hara, Zenshiro: Technical transfer of crucible smelting process in China
Wang, Changsui, et al.: Structure and element analysis of the nanocrystalline SnO2 in the surface of ancient Chinese black mirrors
Sun, Shuyun: Study of copper artifacts of Siba culture in Gansu
Bunker, Emma et al.: The structure of tin plating in Chinese bronzes
Craddock, Paul T.: Zinc production in India and China-a study in local traditions in advanced technology
Northover, Peter: Exotic copper-based alloys in antiquity
Craddock, P.T. & Giumlia-Mair, A.: Black bronze from the East and the West
Higham, C.F.W.: The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia-its chronology, social contents and relation with the Bronze Age of China
Bunker, Emma C.: Under the microscope-metalsmithing techniques in Early China
Poster sessions:
Cai, Yunzhang: On the dates of tombs M2009 and M2001 of the Guo state
Han, Rubin et al.: Meteoritic and man-made iron artifacts of 9-8thc BCE, Sanmenxia, Henan
Li, Xiuhui & Sun, Jianguo: The composition of bronzes from Guo state tombs (9-8c BCE), Sanmenxia, Henan
Wu, Kunyi et al.: The foundry technique of the bronze artifacts from Guo state tombs, Sanmenxia, Henan
Li, Yanxiang & Han, Rubin: Copper smelting in Hongshan culture
Lu, Bin et al.: Excess iron content in ancient Chinese bronze wares from Tongling area
Su, Rongyu: Study on Wu-state bronze
Tang, Wenxing: Soldering in Eastern Zhou bronzes
Tao, Zhenggang: The casting technique of a ding unearthed in Pinglu, Shanxi (16c BCE)
Wan, Li: The investigation of making method of bronze decoration from jade pieces at 1001 tombs, Houjazhuang, Henan
Ye, Wansong: The structure of melting furnaces in Zhou dynasty
Zhang, Tongxin: Study of baking mould kiln of Yuwangchang, Shanxi
Zhang, Wanzhong: A study on the bronze farming implements from clay moulds unearthed in Houma site
Zhou, Weirong: A study on the development of brass for coinage in China
Dons, Quansheng & Liang, Yupo: Ancient mining and smelting ruins in Nanyang Prefecture
Huang, Wudi: A methological review of archaeo-ironmaking study in China
Li, Jinghua: Melting furnaces in ancient China
Liu, Xin & Li, Jinghua: Iron and steel making in a foundry marked 'Yang 1' in Nanyang Prefecture of the Han Dynasty
Miao, Changxing: Placer iron smelting in Xinyang, Henan Province
Wu, Kunyu & Miao, Changxing: The production of ploughshare in Yangcheng, Shanxi
Gale, Noel H. & Stos-Gale, Zofia: Provenancing metals by lead isotope analyses-a brief review
Cheng, Derun & Cheng, Bo: Environmental corrosion of metals
Tan, Derui & Lian, Haiping: A study on the technology of lozenge pattern on the bronze weapons in the Wu and Yue states
Wu, Laiming & Tan Derui: A preliminary study on the bright spot decoration of bronze weapons in Eastern Chou period
Xie, Su & Wang, Jinchao: The protection of bronze relics exposed to polluted atmosphere-corrosion inhibition and sealing protection for armillary sphere and abridged armilla
 

ART, INTERACTION AND COMMERCE: SOUTHEAST ASIA AND CHINA, 6-8 June 1994, London. 17th Percival David Foundation Colloquy on Art & Archaeology in Asia. The proceedings will be published in 1995; a copy of the programme is available from the Secretary/Librarian, PDF, 53 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PD, UK. FAX 071-383-5163.

Ishizawa, Yoshiaki: Chinese chronicles of 1st-5th century AD, Funan, southern Cambodia
Chen, Dasheng: Chinese Islamic influence on archaeological finds in Southeast Asia
Dewall, Magdalene von: Interaction in Late Bronze Age culture
Glover, Ian: Early glass technology in Southeast Asia and China
Miksic, John: 14th century Chinese glass finds in Singapore and the Riau archipelago
Guy, John: Yunnanese Buddhist bronzes and the Southeast Asian connection
Moore, Elizabeth: Myanmar art and Chinese style, 14-19th c. AD
Lee, Chor Lin: Textile exchanges between China and Southeast Asia from the Song to the Ming-a Chinese perspective
Jacques, Claude: Khmer epigraphy and the Chinese presence
Ray, Haraprasad: The Southeast Asian connection in Sino-Indian trade
Chin, Edmond: Straits Chinese culture: metalwork, textiles and beadwork
Ho, Chuimei: Ceramic technology-China and Southeast Asia
Scott, Rosemary: The southern Chinese provincial kilns and their importance in the transfer of technology and style
Rooney, Dawn: Khmer ceramics and Chinese influences
Dupoizat, Marie France: The significance in the China-Southeast Asian trade of the ceramic cargo of a Song-dynasty junk found in the Philippines
Beamish, Jane: The significance of Yuan blue and white porcelain imported into Southeast Asia
 

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CONFERENCE REPORTS

The 15th Congress of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association in Chiang Mai, Thailand, January 5-12 1994: a brief review by Magnus Fiskesjö

The IPPA congress, held every four years, is a major international forum for archaeolo-gical research in Asia and the Pacific. This time there were 180 papers, ranging from paleoanthropological studies to current cultural resource management issues (p PAPERS READ), divided on six themes and numerous topical sessions. No abstracts were produced, but 80 of the presenters allowed their papers to be photocopied and made available to participants in complete sets bought from the congress secretariat. IPPA will also, in due course, publish the papers. IPPA may be contacted through its Secretary: Professor Peter Bellwood, Dept. of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia.
Generally speaking, the best-represented areas were mainland and insular Southeast Asia, the Western Pacific, and South Asia. For East Asian archaeology, the area focus was also mostly southern. Only one paper dealt with Korea (by Hyung Il PAI, on the use of archaeology in the construction of Korean national identity), and while there were no papers on the archaeology of the main Japanese islands, several dealt with the southern islands: for example, Hiroto TAKAMIYA discussed subsistence adaptation processes in Okinawan prehistory, and Richard Pearson of the University of British Columbia presented exciting ongoing research on the development of complex society seen through the archaeology of Okinawan gusuku castles. Also, several Japanese, Southeast Asian or Pacific specialists contributed in those areas.
For China, the situation was the opposite: all eight scholars from mainland China presenting papers did so on Chinese topics. WU Xinzhi and HUANG Weiwen of the IVPP (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology) discussed human evolution in China, within the general theme of Pleistocene and early Holocene studies, which was richly represented at the congress. For example, Gudrun Corvinas presented groundbreaking work in Nepal: a wealth of previously unknown sites has been discovered, including Paleolithic handaxes and a new Mesolithic macrolithic industry which may be more closely related to SE Asian and Hoabinhian materials than to the Indian subcontinent. For the Chinese Paleolithic, morphology of hominid specimens was one focus of discussion in the debate on competing models of regional continuity and replacement, but it was also made clear that there is tremendous potential for paleoenvironment studies incorporating rigorous taphonomy concerns, such as that exemplified in presentations from Indonesia (e.g. by van den Bergh et al. on Homo erectus-related faunas on the island of Flores).
Other Chinese contributions concerned the later prehistory of southern China. ZHANG Chi from Beijing University discussed the current knowledge of evidence for early urban centers in the Yangtze river valley, and three papers, by QIAO Xiaoqin, LI Guo and CHEN Xingcan (all graduates of Guangzhou's Zhongshan University), dealt with various aspects of coastal sites in Guangdong, such as Xiantouling at Shenzhen. In a paper of related interest, TSANG Cheng-hwa of the Academia Sinica presented research on implications for human migration into the Pacific of evidence for coastal adaptation in Taiwan and southeast China, anticipating further research on the emergence there (starting in the middle Neolithic period) of communities specializing in maritime resources. Also, Yun Kuen LEE of Wayne State University, Michigan, USA, presented research on social ranking at mortuary sites of the Dian culture of Yunnan. There is clearly great potential in the study of early agriculture and growing social complexity in China's south, also in relation to Southeast Asia. In contrast with the past, mainland Chinese scholars are increasingly conversant with and engaging in scholarly debates internationally, and more exciting research news seem certain to emerge on these fronts.
Several congress sessions were devoted to archaeological correlates of socio-economic organization, such as for the Philippines, and for Thailand, from which there was a multidisciplinary series of reports by Vincent C. Pigott of the University of Pennsylvania and others on the large-scale prehistoric copper production-related sites from the mid-to-late 2nd millennium BC onwards in central Thailand investigated by the Thailand Archaeometallurgy Project. Chronological issues important for the understanding of Thai prehistory were debated in the special session contemplating 25 years of research in Northeast Thailand-esp. over the chronology of the Bronze Age Ban Chiang culture-but remained inconclusive, in part because AMS dates that could help solve the problems were not yet available. Several papers, including Nancy Tayles' (University of Otago) paper, on soon-to-be-published research on materials from the Thai site of Khok Phanom Di, explored the use of paleopathological data from human skeletal remains to address broad archaeological issues-a very important research topic which remains largely unexplored in the region, including in China.
In the session concerned with CRM issues, the congress heard a call from Dr. Pisit Charoenwongsa, senior Thai archaeologist and chairman of the congress organizing committee, to help find ways to protect archaeological and historical sites, e.g. by controlled exploitation of their potential value as objects of cultural tourism, and also by ways to expose looting and other destruction publicly as shameful activities. Denis Byrne of Sydney University presented research on different perceptions and uses of antiquities in Thailand, sparking interesting discussions about the need for archaeologists to understand the underlying background of those perceptions.
I cannot do justice to the many other sessions: rock art research from Laos to India and Australia; archaeology and holocene sea level changes including the work on the Andaman Islands by Zarine Cooper of Deccan College; on the problematic correlation of linguistic and archaeological evidence; a special session on the late prehistory of Indonesia; another on current extensive research in West New Britain, such as on obsidian use and trade; archaeobotany, with Jon Hather's fascinating paper "Cooking without pots: the archaeobotany of big leaves in Polynesia"; studies of early urbanism in India, Sri Lanka or Malaysia, or papers such as that of Nguyen Thi Kim Dung of the Institute of Archaeology in Hanoi on her very productive experimental work replicating manufacturing processes for nephrite bracelets, and other ancient jewellry.
The congress also offered one field trip, with a visit to a partly excavated rock shelter site, which gave participants valuable impressions of this part of Thailand (and where the now-famous Spirit Cave loomed behind the next mountain range ...).
The 16th IPPA congress will be held in Malaysia, probably in early 1998 (the exact venue to be announced later). Anyone with an interest in the prehistory and archaeology of South, Southeast and East Asia should plan to attend.

Dept of EALC, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 USA

 

Conference reports published elsewhere:

"International Symposium on Bronzes from the Wu-Yue Area, Shanghai, August 21-23, 1992," by Lothar von Falkenhausen. Early China News 6 (Fall 1993): 9-17.

"Three August Conferences in China," by Constance A. Cook. Early China News 6 (Fall 1993): 26-27. Includes the International Research Conference on the Shang City at Zhengzhou and on Shang Civilization, 12-16 Aug 93, and the Academic Conference on Southern Chinese Bronzes and Shang Civilization held 19-23 Aug 93.

"The Second International Conference on Chinese Paleography, October 28-30, 1993," by Constance A. Cook. Early China News 6 (Fall 1993): 27-28. The author gave a paper at this conference entitled, "Ritual feasting in ancient China: preliminary study 1".

"The Hoabinhian 60 years after Madeleine Colani: anniversary conference, Hanoi, 28 December 1993 to 3 January 1994," by Wilhelm G. Solheim II. Southeast Asian Archaeology International Newsletter 4 (Apr-May): 9-12, 1994.

"The Hoabinhian conference: view from afar," by Daniel Stiles. Southeast Asian Archaeology International Newsletter 4 (Apr-May): 12-13, 1994.

"15th Congress of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, Chiang Mai, Thailand, Junuary 5-12, 1994," by Wilhelm G. Solheim II, pp. 13-15; by Sandra Bowdler, pp. 15-17; by Matthew Spriggs, pp. 17. Southeast Asian Archaeology International Newsletter 4 (Apr-May), 1994.
 

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BOOK REVIEWS

Zhongguo wenwu kaogu cidian [Dictionary of Chinese Archaeology],
edited by HE Xianwu and WANG Qiuhua. Shenyang: Liaoning Kezue Jishu chubanshe, 1993, pp. 39+838, OSBN 7-5381-1661-7; price RMB 32.00.

This is an excellent, handy reference work for all those interested in Chinese archaeology. The 2,799 entries are divided into eleven categories: (1) General Archaeology of China, including illustrations of the typical artefacts of early cultures and entries for the most important archaeological sites, with plans; (2) Bronzes; (3) Numismatics; (4) Ceramics; (5) Ironware; (6) Architecture; (7) Calligraphy and Painting; (8) Mural and Rock Art, including petroglyphs; (9) Epigraphy; (10) Cave Temples; (11) Handicrafts, including jade, lacquer, gold and silver, wood, ivory and horn, costume and textiles. The articles, all written by experts in the respective fields, are concise and informative. A notable feature of the work is the extensive use of clear and helpful line drawings throughout. Appendices include a chronological table of Chinese history and a list of protected archaeological sites in China. An index in phonetic (pinyin) order is provided.

Charles Aylmer, University Library, Cambridge
 

Iron and steel in ancient China, by Donald B. Wagner.
Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1993. 573 pp., 318 illus., 18 tables, +abstract in Danish, translations of metallographic examinations, 68-page bibliography, index.

This is not a book for beginners! From the very start, it challenges the accepted cultural history of Zhou-period China without telling the reader what that history is. Thus, readers not already familiar with the periodisation sequence and historical issues will find themselves immediately lost. Wagner takes the tack that one has to look at the history through a critique of the surviving texts, a strategy he leaves to the reader to pronounce successful or not. Even as a non-beginner, I can say that it was eye-opening, not only for the highly qualified glimpses of Zhou-period society it offered but also for its demonstrations of the methods of textual criticism. The latter were exemplary and could be used at textbook case studies on how to vet sources before writing grand syntheses; in the process, he brands as unreliable some well-known syntheses and translations relied upon by many of us for the "history" of Zhou developments. Wagner also takes great pains to assess the archaeological dating of early iron finds. His evaluations are meticulous, his logic lucid and accurate, and his conclusions are clearly stated as working assumptions rather than fact. This reasoning process also stands as exemplary for those struggling to establish and justify "interpretations" of past remains. With Wagner, one always knows where the data, ideas and judgments are coming from and how they are arrived at.
The actual topic of this book, however, is not methodological but substantive: the origins of iron production in Zhou China. Wagner, through a skillful reading of the production and use patterns of bronze in protohistoric China, builds a case for postulating the southern state of Wu (ca. 585-473 BC) as the locus for the adoption of iron metallurgy. Bronze-manufacture was a crucial step in this process because iron and copper were present in the same ore bodies; because iron was smelted during the processing of the copper ore; and because iron oxides were recognised as a flux and used as such, which increased efficiency in bronze production. But technology alone was not enough to enable the switch from bronze to iron. He also invokes behavioural and cultural beliefs in explaining why iron working probably arose in the south rather than the north.
Wu, as a "barbarian" state outside the northern vessel-dominated bronze sphere, did not ascribe so wholly to bronze as a sacred metal as the original Zhou did. Bronze was used in the south for utilitarian tools as well as weapons; the area around Lake Tai in the lower Yangtze drainage is the only region where bronze was used for agricultural tools, as so effectively presented in the Shanghai Museum: bronze reapers, spade and hoe shoes, etc. The discovery, that with increased iron proportions bronze could be extended when in short supply, led the changeover to iron where the use of bronze was not reinforced by ritual concerns. This argument is very plausible, and Wagner attempts to demonstrate its veracity by citing the earliest iron finds as from the Wu region.
Discovering the earliest smelted iron products in China is not an easy task in the absence of direct absolute dating methods. The remains from tombs in an area without a detailed established ceramic or artefact chronology have to be assessed in terms of rare stratigraphical overlap of tombs or vague stylistic affinities of their contents. Wagner examines the material ruthlessly and narrows down the choice to a lump of iron and iron rod from Graves 1 & 2 respectively at Chengqiao, Jiangsu (figs. 2.1, 2.2), dating to ca. 500 BC.
Wagner graduates from a cultural historical discussion of iron in China to metallographic studies: what "microstructures of iron artefacts...can tell us about the technology of iron production in ancient China" (p. 267). As before with sites, objects and geography, no details are spared in discussing iron and steel metallurgy. Again, however, considerable knowledge of the processes is assumed, but those who are able to make their way through this dense section will have a far greater grasp of ferrous metallurgy than when they started.
All in all, this book presents a wealth of detailed data, carefully evaluated and arranged in strict problem-oriented manner. The content justifies its price, and whether Wagner's thesis stands or falls in the long run, the book will remain a goldmine of information on early Chinese iron metallurgy.

Gina L. Barnes, St John's College, Cambridge, England
 

Book Review Bibliography

Bibliography
 

 

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ASIAN-LANGUAGE PUBLICATIONS
 

Volumes received:

Jōmon doki no kenkyu [Research on Jomon pottery] by KOBAYASHI Tatsuo, 1994, Tokyo: Shogakkan. Rec'd from author. (in Japanese)
Kōkogaku kara mita Ryūkyūshi [Ryūkyu history as viewed from archaeology], by ASATO Susumu, 2 vols., 1990, Naha City: Okinawa Bunko. Rec'd from author. (in Japanese)
Kungnip minjok pangmulgwan [National Folk Museum], catalogue, Japanese edition, 1993, Seoul: National Folk Museum. rec'd from KIM Gwon-gu.
Shiseki Mori-Shogunzuka Kofun [Mori-Shogunzuka Tumulus, 4th c. keyhole-shaped burial mound in central highlands of Japan], Final Report, 2 vols. Koshoku Municipal Board of Education, Nagano-ken. Sent by Yoshi NISHIAKI and Prof. Kondo. (in Japanese)
Shiseki Mori-Shogunzuka Kofun [Mori-Shogunzuka Tumulus], Preliminary Report, 3 vols. Koshoku Municipal Board of Education, Nagano-ken. Sent by Yoshi NISHIAKI and Prof. Kondo. (in Japanese)
Bulletin of the Research Center for Archaeological Sites in Tokai University,
Vols 1-3 (in Japanese). Sent by Yoshi NISHIAKI, Director, Iseki Chosadan, Tokai Univ.

English -language descriptions of new books in Korean:

ANON (1992) "Notice of Han'guk sŏnsa kokogaksa [History of Korea's Prehistoric Archaeology], by Ch'oe Mong-nyong, et al." Korea Journal 32.2: 142.
ANON (1992) "Notice of Han'guk-ui chong [Korean bell], by Yom, Yong-ha." Korea Journal 32.1: 145.
ANON (1993) "Notice of Han'guk kodae munhwa-ui hurum [Streams in Korea's ancient culture], by Im, Hyo-Jai." Korea Journal 33.1: 116.
ANON (1993) "Notice of Han'guk-ui pult'ap [Korean Buddhist pagodas: 100 selections], by Hwang, Su-young and Chong, Yong-ho." Korea Journal 33.2: 130.
ANON (1993) "Notice of Ko chosonsa yon'gu [A history of Old Choson], by Yi, Chong-uk." Korea Journal 33.2: 128.
ANON (1993) "Notice of Paekchesa [The history of Paekche], by Shin, Hyong-shik." Korea Journal 33.1: 115.
ANON (1993) "Notice of Pulsari changom [The adornment of Buddha's relics]. Exhibition Catalogue by Kang, Woo-bang." Korea Journal 33.3: 129.
ANON (1993) "Notice of Shilla-soyok Kyoryusa [History of Shilla-Central Asia interchanges], by Muhammad Kansu." Korea Journal 33.1: 115-6.

 

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JOURNAL UPDATES
 

• ACRO UPDATE , April 1994
• Agricultural Archaeology, No. 3 (Serial Number 31), 1993
• Kaogo Yu Wenwu, No. 2, 1994
• Huaxia Kaogu (Huaxia Archaeology), No. 1, 1994
• Zhong Yuan Wenwu (Cultural relics from central plains), No. 1, 1994
• Acta Anthropologica Sinica, Vol. XIII, No.1
• Relics and Museology, Vol. 23, No. 2, 1994
• Studies in the History of Natural Sciences, Vol. 13, No.1, Jan. 1994
• Northern Cultural Relics, No. 4, 1993
• Quarterly of Archaeological Studies, Vol. 40, No.4, Mar. 1994

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