Pub Date : 2026-02-11DOI: 10.1016/j.ara.2026.100691
Guowen Zhang , Xiaogang Hou , Bing Yi
This article presents the excavation and analysis of the Qianjing cemetery, located near the Royal Deer Park of Pingcheng (modern Datong city), the capital of the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 CE). The site comprises 16 tombs, including vertical shaft pit, earthen cave, and brick chamber tomb types. Typological analysis of the tombs and associated artifacts dates the cemetery from the early to the late phase of the Pingcheng era (398–493 CE). The study identifies strong Tuoba Xianbei nomadic traditions in the Qianjing cemetery, which are reflected in westward orientation, trapezoidal coffins, and animal sacrifices. Furthermore, agricultural and Buddhist cultural factors have also been observed in this cemetery. This study reveals a complex cultural interaction in the royal garden area, demonstrating that funerary customs here were distinct from those of other contemporary cemeteries in Datong, with a notably predominant nomadic character. This excavation provides significant new insights into the funerary practices and cultural dynamics of the Northern Wei capital.
{"title":"Funerary practices in the Royal Garden Area of the northern Wei capital: An analysis of the Qianjing cemetery in Datong, China","authors":"Guowen Zhang , Xiaogang Hou , Bing Yi","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2026.100691","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2026.100691","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article presents the excavation and analysis of the Qianjing cemetery, located near the Royal Deer Park of Pingcheng (modern Datong city), the capital of the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 CE). The site comprises 16 tombs, including vertical shaft pit, earthen cave, and brick chamber tomb types. Typological analysis of the tombs and associated artifacts dates the cemetery from the early to the late phase of the Pingcheng era (398–493 CE). The study identifies strong Tuoba Xianbei nomadic traditions in the Qianjing cemetery, which are reflected in westward orientation, trapezoidal coffins, and animal sacrifices. Furthermore, agricultural and Buddhist cultural factors have also been observed in this cemetery. This study reveals a complex cultural interaction in the royal garden area, demonstrating that funerary customs here were distinct from those of other contemporary cemeteries in Datong, with a notably predominant nomadic character. This excavation provides significant new insights into the funerary practices and cultural dynamics of the Northern Wei capital.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"46 ","pages":"Article 100691"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146154147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-29DOI: 10.1016/j.ara.2026.100689
Esther Jacobson-Tepfer
The roots of Mongolia's horse culture are usually located in the Late Bronze Age and associated with the appearance of horse-drawn wheeled vehicles from regions to the west. The earliest evidence in Mongolia for both horse and vehicle is not material but rather pictorial: it is detailed in hundreds of images pecked into the boulders and bedrock of the Altai Mountains. The second indication of an emerging horse culture is offered by ritual horse-head burials associated with Late Bronze Age khirgisuur, as well as with the related deer stones. Within that same period appears the earliest material evidence of the equestrianism that became the Mongolian engine of conquest over the following millennia. In all three cases, the horses in question were domesticated, Equus caballus, rather than one of the Asian wild horses, Equus przewalski and Equus ovodovi. From that has followed the assumption that Mongolia's horse culture is predicated upon the appearance of the domesticated horse in the Late Bronze Age.
This paper interrogates these assumptions regarding the roots of equine significance within Mongolian prehistory. Using the pictorial documentation available in Altai Mountain rock art, it locates the roots of Mongolia's horse culture in a much earlier period and associated not with E. caballus but rather with the wild Przewalski's horse.
{"title":"Enlivening the bones: The Mongolian horse before its sacrifice","authors":"Esther Jacobson-Tepfer","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2026.100689","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2026.100689","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The roots of Mongolia's horse culture are usually located in the Late Bronze Age and associated with the appearance of horse-drawn wheeled vehicles from regions to the west. The earliest evidence in Mongolia for both horse and vehicle is not material but rather pictorial: it is detailed in hundreds of images pecked into the boulders and bedrock of the Altai Mountains. The second indication of an emerging horse culture is offered by ritual horse-head burials associated with Late Bronze Age <em>khirgisuur</em>, as well as with the related deer stones. Within that same period appears the earliest material evidence of the equestrianism that became the Mongolian engine of conquest over the following millennia. In all three cases, the horses in question were domesticated, <em>Equus caballus</em>, rather than one of the Asian wild horses, <em>Equus przewalski</em> and <em>Equus ovodovi</em>. From that has followed the assumption that Mongolia's horse culture is predicated upon the appearance of the domesticated horse in the Late Bronze Age.</div><div>This paper interrogates these assumptions regarding the roots of equine significance within Mongolian prehistory. Using the pictorial documentation available in Altai Mountain rock art, it locates the roots of Mongolia's horse culture in a much earlier period and associated not with <em>E. caballus</em> but rather with the wild Przewalski's horse.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"45 ","pages":"Article 100689"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146077333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-23DOI: 10.1016/j.ara.2026.100686
Kseniya A. Kolobova , Artem S. Kozyrev , Ekaterina N. Bocharova , Dmitriy V. Kobylkin , Natalya V. Tsydenova , Sergei A. Kogai , Galina D. Pavlenok , Alexey M. Klementiev , Alexey V. Tetenkin , Andrey I. Krivoshapkin , Evgeny P. Rybin , Arina M. Khatsenovich
Recently, new data have been forthcoming on the Aurignacian sensu lato in the Lake Baikal region of southern Russia, based on the composition of the lithic assemblage from the Tuyana site (Berdnikov et al., 2023). There, artifacts were found in a redeposited stratigraphic context that includes MIS 3 and MIS 2 sediments and, possibly, Holocene soil admixture, while the published chronology constitutes a list of AMS dates falling exclusively within MIS 3. The geographically closest Aurignacian has been previously revealed in western Central Asia: the Kulbulakian technocomplex in Uzbekistan. This raises questions regarding the homogeneity of the so-called “Aurignacian assemblage” at the Tuyana site, similarities with the Kulbulakian technocomplex in western Central Asia, and such cultural definitions in general. The typological characteristics of the assemblage, including wedge-shaped cores, bifaces, core management elements and multifaceted burins, suggest rather that cultural and technological analogies for the Tuyana complex should be sought in a region geographically closer than the western Tian Shan Mountains, several thousand kilometers distant. Here, we propose a more parsimonious explanation for the Tuyana assemblage based on much closer analogues and supported by statistical analysis.
最近，基于图亚纳遗址的岩石组合组成，俄罗斯南部贝加尔湖地区的奥里尼亚期sensu lato有了新的数据（Berdnikov et al., 2023）。在那里，在重新沉积的地层环境中发现了人工制品，其中包括MIS 3和MIS 2沉积物，可能还有全新世土壤混合物，而公布的年表则构成了AMS日期列表，仅属于MIS 3。地理上距离最近的奥里尼亚系先前在中亚西部被发现：乌兹别克斯坦的Kulbulakian技术综合体。这就提出了关于图亚纳遗址所谓的“奥里尼亚组合”的同质性、与中亚西部的Kulbulakian技术综合体的相似性以及一般的文化定义等问题。该组合的类型特征，包括楔形岩芯、双面、岩芯管理元素和多面燃烧，表明应该在距离天山西部数千公里的地理上更近的地区寻找与图亚纳复合体相似的文化和技术。在此，我们基于更接近的类似物和统计分析的支持，对图亚那组合提出了一个更简洁的解释。
{"title":"Is there an Aurignacian in the Lake Baikal region of eastern Siberia? Deciphering mixed assemblages","authors":"Kseniya A. Kolobova , Artem S. Kozyrev , Ekaterina N. Bocharova , Dmitriy V. Kobylkin , Natalya V. Tsydenova , Sergei A. Kogai , Galina D. Pavlenok , Alexey M. Klementiev , Alexey V. Tetenkin , Andrey I. Krivoshapkin , Evgeny P. Rybin , Arina M. Khatsenovich","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2026.100686","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2026.100686","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recently, new data have been forthcoming on the Aurignacian sensu lato in the Lake Baikal region of southern Russia, based on the composition of the lithic assemblage from the Tuyana site (Berdnikov et al., 2023)<em>.</em> There, artifacts were found in a redeposited stratigraphic context that includes MIS 3 and MIS 2 sediments and, possibly, Holocene soil admixture, while the published chronology constitutes a list of AMS dates falling exclusively within MIS 3. The geographically closest Aurignacian has been previously revealed in western Central Asia: the Kulbulakian technocomplex in Uzbekistan. This raises questions regarding the homogeneity of the so-called “Aurignacian assemblage” at the Tuyana site, similarities with the Kulbulakian technocomplex in western Central Asia, and such cultural definitions in general. The typological characteristics of the assemblage, including wedge-shaped cores, bifaces, core management elements and multifaceted burins, suggest rather that cultural and technological analogies for the Tuyana complex should be sought in a region geographically closer than the western Tian Shan Mountains, several thousand kilometers distant. Here, we propose a more parsimonious explanation for the Tuyana assemblage based on much closer analogues and supported by statistical analysis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"45 ","pages":"Article 100686"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146037172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-22DOI: 10.1016/j.ara.2026.100687
Evgeny V. Vodyasov, Olga V. Zaitceva, Mikhail V. Vavulin
The article focuses on the Vladimirovka mine (Altai, Afanasievo culture) dated back to the middle of 4th millennium BCE. New AMS dates allow us to call this site the earliest mine in Central and East Asia and reveal that bronze metallurgy in Altai predates the classical Yamnaya culture, often seen as a source of large migrations of early metalworkers to Altai. The article examines possible reasons for early dating and discusses the problem of the origin of the Altai metallurgy. Our pXRF analyses revealed high concentrations of copper, lead, and zinc in oxides on the bone mining tool, which may support the hypothesis of sulfide ore extraction. The published earlier chemical composition of the Afanasievo metals shows a remarkably high percentage of arsenical copper, unique to the Early Bronze Age in Asia and distinct from all neighboring regions, including the Yamnaya metallurgy of the Volga-Ural area. The absence of arsenic bronzes in the eastern Yamnaya culture, along with earlier dates for Altai metallurgy, challenges the traditional narrative of Yamnaya migrations from the Volga-Ural region.
{"title":"Why so early? Radiocarbon dating of the Vladimirovka mine and the emergence of metallurgy in the Altai Mountains","authors":"Evgeny V. Vodyasov, Olga V. Zaitceva, Mikhail V. Vavulin","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2026.100687","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2026.100687","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The article focuses on the Vladimirovka mine (Altai, Afanasievo culture) dated back to the middle of 4th millennium BCE. New AMS dates allow us to call this site the earliest mine in Central and East Asia and reveal that bronze metallurgy in Altai predates the classical Yamnaya culture, often seen as a source of large migrations of early metalworkers to Altai. The article examines possible reasons for early dating and discusses the problem of the origin of the Altai metallurgy. Our pXRF analyses revealed high concentrations of copper, lead, and zinc in oxides on the bone mining tool, which may support the hypothesis of sulfide ore extraction. The published earlier chemical composition of the Afanasievo metals shows a remarkably high percentage of arsenical copper, unique to the Early Bronze Age in Asia and distinct from all neighboring regions, including the Yamnaya metallurgy of the Volga-Ural area. The absence of arsenic bronzes in the eastern Yamnaya culture, along with earlier dates for Altai metallurgy, challenges the traditional narrative of Yamnaya migrations from the Volga-Ural region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"45 ","pages":"Article 100687"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146037171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-20DOI: 10.1016/j.ara.2025.100685
Semra Gül, Korkmaz Meral
Hatay, one of the oldest settlements in Anatolia with a history dating back to 100,000 BCE, has served as a gateway opening Anatolia to the Near East. In such a region with a rich cultural heritage, terracotta figurines form one of the most influential traces of this rich cultural background. The subject of this study, the Persian Horse Rider Figurines, is significant in terms of reflecting the cultural identity and sacred meanings they carry, as well as being one of the pivotal points in the history of the Middle East, namely, the Persian Empire, which bore the cultural and political structure of the region up to the present day. The Hatay Archaeology Museum has acquired Persian horse rider figurines by donation and purchase, which provide important information about the area's social structure and religious system. Utilizing a sample of eighteen figurines, this study investigates their production processes and distribution regions. It also addresses the discrepancies in the literature regarding these figurines, the materials used, and/what they represent from a historical and artistic perspective. The analysis focuses on figurines dated to the Persian/Achaemenid Period (6th–4th century BCE), evaluating their role in conveying cultural identity and sacred meaning, and interpreting these elements using different academic approaches. Furthermore, the limited number of studies on this topic in the literature has been a decisive factor in the subject selection.
{"title":"Persian rider figurines from the Hatay Archaeology Museum: The relationship between cultural identity and sacredness","authors":"Semra Gül, Korkmaz Meral","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100685","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100685","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hatay, one of the oldest settlements in Anatolia with a history dating back to 100,000 BCE, has served as a gateway opening Anatolia to the Near East. In such a region with a rich cultural heritage, terracotta figurines form one of the most influential traces of this rich cultural background. The subject of this study, the Persian Horse Rider Figurines, is significant in terms of reflecting the cultural identity and sacred meanings they carry, as well as being one of the pivotal points in the history of the Middle East, namely, the Persian Empire, which bore the cultural and political structure of the region up to the present day. The Hatay Archaeology Museum has acquired Persian horse rider figurines by donation and purchase, which provide important information about the area's social structure and religious system. Utilizing a sample of eighteen figurines, this study investigates their production processes and distribution regions. It also addresses the discrepancies in the literature regarding these figurines, the materials used, and/what they represent from a historical and artistic perspective. The analysis focuses on figurines dated to the Persian/Achaemenid Period (6th–4th century BCE), evaluating their role in conveying cultural identity and sacred meaning, and interpreting these elements using different academic approaches. Furthermore, the limited number of studies on this topic in the literature has been a decisive factor in the subject selection.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"45 ","pages":"Article 100685"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146037170","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-18DOI: 10.1016/j.ara.2025.100666
L.M. Rouse , J.K. Mirzaakhmedov , S. Stark , S.J. Mirzaakhmedov , H. Rakhmanov , S. Ammerman , A. Bechter , N. Bayani , N.L. Erb-Satullo , A.F. Haruda , J.W.I. Ho , E.T. Hubbard , S.A. Hunter , E. Luneau , S. Pourmomeni , F. Schreiber , Z.W. Silvia , G. Specia
Archaeological fieldwork at Kimirek-Kum 1 (KK1), located in a former alluvial plain of the lower Zerafshan River in south-central Uzbekistan, was conducted during two major seasons in 2024, following the excavations and surveys in 2022 and 2023 reported in previous publications. In 2024, further excavations in seven trenches were combined with subsurface investigations and extensive landscape survey aimed to investigate site organization, settlement and architectural patterns, site formation processes, and evidence of metallurgical activity during the late 2nd millennium BCE. Excavations revealed stratified deposits including compacted occupation surfaces with domestic features, along with refuse and production waste. Excavation revealed architectural elements such as adobe brick constructions and ditches that appear to have formed KK1's signature circular enclosure feature. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey confirmed the extent of features in the western and possibly also the northern areas of the site, while also identifying buried surfaces and former palaeochannel morphologies to be investigated in future seasons. Intensive pedestrian survey clarified the full extent of the KK1 site (c. 130 ha) and identified 15 previously undocumented sites in the surrounding landscape. Preliminary metallurgical analysis of over 300 artifacts suggests the use of copper alloys, lead, and precious metals, with production debris indicative of local smelting and casting. Faunal remains confirm the presence of domestic and wild species, a pattern also preliminarily noted in the charred macrobotanical remains. Together, these results suggest KK1 was as a multifunctional settlement making use of dynamic hydrological, ecological, and technological networks. Ongoing analyses will clarify the site's socio-economic organization and its position within broader cultural and environmental systems of Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in Central Asia.
{"title":"Archaeological investigations at the late 2nd millennium BCE site of Kimirek-Kum 1, Uzbekistan: Fieldwork seasons in spring and autumn 2024 (third preliminary report)","authors":"L.M. Rouse , J.K. Mirzaakhmedov , S. Stark , S.J. Mirzaakhmedov , H. Rakhmanov , S. Ammerman , A. Bechter , N. Bayani , N.L. Erb-Satullo , A.F. Haruda , J.W.I. Ho , E.T. Hubbard , S.A. Hunter , E. Luneau , S. Pourmomeni , F. Schreiber , Z.W. Silvia , G. Specia","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100666","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100666","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Archaeological fieldwork at Kimirek-Kum 1 (KK1), located in a former alluvial plain of the lower Zerafshan River in south-central Uzbekistan, was conducted during two major seasons in 2024, following the excavations and surveys in 2022 and 2023 reported in previous publications. In 2024, further excavations in seven trenches were combined with subsurface investigations and extensive landscape survey aimed to investigate site organization, settlement and architectural patterns, site formation processes, and evidence of metallurgical activity during the late 2nd millennium BCE. Excavations revealed stratified deposits including compacted occupation surfaces with domestic features, along with refuse and production waste. Excavation revealed architectural elements such as adobe brick constructions and ditches that appear to have formed KK1's signature circular enclosure feature. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey confirmed the extent of features in the western and possibly also the northern areas of the site, while also identifying buried surfaces and former palaeochannel morphologies to be investigated in future seasons. Intensive pedestrian survey clarified the full extent of the KK1 site (c. 130 ha) and identified 15 previously undocumented sites in the surrounding landscape. Preliminary metallurgical analysis of over 300 artifacts suggests the use of copper alloys, lead, and precious metals, with production debris indicative of local smelting and casting. Faunal remains confirm the presence of domestic and wild species, a pattern also preliminarily noted in the charred macrobotanical remains. Together, these results suggest KK1 was as a multifunctional settlement making use of dynamic hydrological, ecological, and technological networks. Ongoing analyses will clarify the site's socio-economic organization and its position within broader cultural and environmental systems of Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in Central Asia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"45 ","pages":"Article 100666"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145797489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-18DOI: 10.1016/j.ara.2025.100662
Maria Khayutina
The “Seima-Turbino trans-cultural phenomenon” is defined by the widespread adoption of socketed implements, such as axes (celts) and spearheads, often accompanied by knives or daggers, by Bronze Age communities across Eurasia. Most scholars agree that, originating in southern Western Siberia around 2200 BCE, this weapon- and tool-making tradition spread relatively quickly westwards, reaching Eastern Europe, and has been selectively adopted as far southeast as the Yellow River basin in China through several contact events, —around 1700 and, apparently, after a gap, —around 1300 BCE. Based on an analysis of weapons and tools from Zhengzhou, the early capital of the Shang dynasty (ca. 1600–1046 BCE), and Panlongcheng, a walled city in the middle Yangzi valley, flourishing around 1600–1230 BCE, I argue that Seima-Turbino had impact on Zhengzhou and, even more, on Panlongcheng, reaching it by 1400 BCE. Integrating typological analysis with geographical data and relative chronology, I propose that while the technology for making socketed celts may have arrived to Panlongcheng via Zhengzhou, the impetuses for spears, pikes, daggers, and knives likely came from northern and northwestern regions of China, where Seima-Turbino weapons and tools were longer known, channeled by contemporaneous Siwa and Lijiaya culture groups and by Shang affiliates, such as Laoniupo, across the Qinling Mountains through the Western Han River valley and Shangluo Corridor. Panlongcheng itself probably mediated some technologies and styles down the Yangzi valley to Wucheng. Although technological transfers not necessarily involve physical movement of people, the association of Seima-Turbino-style artefacts with cremation burials or cenotaphs at Panlongcheng reflects northern cultural traditions and may suggest presence of non-local individuals. This study underscores the Middle Yangzi region's participation in transregional Eurasian networks during the third quarter of the 2nd millennium BCE and challenges the dualistic view of Panlongcheng as a Shang “colony,” composed of Shang elites and controlled indigenes, revealing a more complex cultural and sociopolitical landscape. Lastly, it offers new references for the correlative dating of Seima-Turbino's southward spread.
{"title":"Bronze weapons and tools from Panlongcheng and the Seima-Turbino trans-cultural phenomenon*","authors":"Maria Khayutina","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100662","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100662","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The “Seima-Turbino trans-cultural phenomenon” is defined by the widespread adoption of socketed implements, such as axes (celts) and spearheads, often accompanied by knives or daggers, by Bronze Age communities across Eurasia. Most scholars agree that, originating in southern Western Siberia around 2200 BCE, this weapon- and tool-making tradition spread relatively quickly westwards, reaching Eastern Europe, and has been selectively adopted as far southeast as the Yellow River basin in China through several contact events, —around 1700 and, apparently, after a gap, —around 1300 BCE. Based on an analysis of weapons and tools from Zhengzhou, the early capital of the Shang dynasty (ca. 1600–1046 BCE), and Panlongcheng, a walled city in the middle Yangzi valley, flourishing around 1600–1230 BCE, I argue that Seima-Turbino had impact on Zhengzhou and, even more, on Panlongcheng, reaching it by 1400 BCE. Integrating typological analysis with geographical data and relative chronology, I propose that while the technology for making socketed celts may have arrived to Panlongcheng via Zhengzhou, the impetuses for spears, pikes, daggers, and knives likely came from northern and northwestern regions of China, where Seima-Turbino weapons and tools were longer known, channeled by contemporaneous Siwa and Lijiaya culture groups and by Shang affiliates, such as Laoniupo, across the Qinling Mountains through the Western Han River valley and Shangluo Corridor. Panlongcheng itself probably mediated some technologies and styles down the Yangzi valley to Wucheng. Although technological transfers not necessarily involve physical movement of people, the association of Seima-Turbino-style artefacts with cremation burials or cenotaphs at Panlongcheng reflects northern cultural traditions and may suggest presence of non-local individuals. This study underscores the Middle Yangzi region's participation in transregional Eurasian networks during the third quarter of the 2nd millennium BCE and challenges the dualistic view of Panlongcheng as a Shang “colony,” composed of Shang elites and controlled indigenes, revealing a more complex cultural and sociopolitical landscape. Lastly, it offers new references for the correlative dating of Seima-Turbino's southward spread.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"45 ","pages":"Article 100662"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145797490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Neolithic settlement of Makhvilauri, located in Ajara (Georgia), lies within the valley of the Chorokhi River. The stone tools discovered at the site are primarily made of flint and obsidian. A significant category is also represented by cobble stones, most of which are fishing net sinkers. Their abundance, as well as the variety of forms, sizes, and weights, provides grounds to suggest that fishing constituted one of the principal subsistence activities of the inhabitants of the settlement.
During the 2023–2025 archaeological fieldwork, samples collected by palynologists from neolithc layers (7th–6th millennia BCE) confirmed the presence of a temperate and warm climate during the corresponding period. Of particular importance is the discovery of flax and hemp fibers at the site, which indicates their active use by the humans lived there.
{"title":"On the principal human activity (fishing) and preliminary environmental data from the Neolithic Chorokhi Valley (Georgia)","authors":"Guram Chkhatarashvili , Giorgi Tavamaishvili , Nargiz Surmanidze , Maia Chichinadze , Eliso Kvavadze","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100684","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100684","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Neolithic settlement of Makhvilauri, located in Ajara (Georgia), lies within the valley of the Chorokhi River. The stone tools discovered at the site are primarily made of flint and obsidian. A significant category is also represented by cobble stones, most of which are fishing net sinkers. Their abundance, as well as the variety of forms, sizes, and weights, provides grounds to suggest that fishing constituted one of the principal subsistence activities of the inhabitants of the settlement.</div><div>During the 2023–2025 archaeological fieldwork, samples collected by palynologists from neolithc layers (7th–6th millennia BCE) confirmed the presence of a temperate and warm climate during the corresponding period. Of particular importance is the discovery of flax and hemp fibers at the site, which indicates their active use by the humans lived there.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"45 ","pages":"Article 100684"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145797488","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-15DOI: 10.1016/j.ara.2025.100681
Wei Gong , Yu Dong , Junfeng Guo , Zhen Fang , Yingliang Yang , YiHsien Lin , Xiaohong Wu , Xuexiang Chen
The Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BCE) in China was marked by pronounced social hierarchy, and stable isotope studies from the core area of the capital have revealed strong correlations between diet, social status, and sex. Yet how these relationships were expressed outside the political core, particularly in the eastern territories under Shang influence, remains unclear. This study addresses this question through stable isotope analysis of the Liujiazhuang (LJZ) site, a Late Shang settlement in northern Shandong. Carbon and nitrogen isotope results from humans (δ13C = −7.5 ± 0.5 ‰; δ15N = 9.7 ± 0.8 ‰; n = 57), fauna (n = 38), and plants (n = 19) indicate a C₄-based diet dominated by foxtail and broomcorn millet, supplemented by limited C₃ resources (e.g., wheat) and animal protein mainly from pigs and cattle. Livestock management involved both pen-feeding and free-range grazing, resembling husbandry practices in the Central Plains. Despite variation in burial architecture and grave goods, dietary differences among ranks were minimal, except for one high-ranking individual (M122) who consumed more C₃ foods and animal protein. Sex-based distinctions were modest, with males showing slightly higher δ13C and greater δ15N variability than females. Compared with the pronounced status- or sex-based dietary stratification observed at Shang capitals, LJZ reveals a relatively homogeneous, self-sufficient subsistence system. These findings shed new light on the subsistence economy and social organization of the eastern territories under Shang control, providing a crucial regional perspective on the broader development of sociopolitical complexity during the Shang period.
{"title":"Diet, sex and social status during the late Shang period (1250–1046 BCE) in eastern China: Isotopic analysis of the Liujiazhuang site, Jinan, China","authors":"Wei Gong , Yu Dong , Junfeng Guo , Zhen Fang , Yingliang Yang , YiHsien Lin , Xiaohong Wu , Xuexiang Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100681","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100681","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BCE) in China was marked by pronounced social hierarchy, and stable isotope studies from the core area of the capital have revealed strong correlations between diet, social status, and sex. Yet how these relationships were expressed outside the political core, particularly in the eastern territories under Shang influence, remains unclear. This study addresses this question through stable isotope analysis of the Liujiazhuang (LJZ) site, a Late Shang settlement in northern Shandong. Carbon and nitrogen isotope results from humans (<em>δ</em><sup>13</sup>C = −7.5 ± 0.5 ‰; <em>δ</em><sup>15</sup>N = 9.7 ± 0.8 ‰; <em>n</em> = 57), fauna (<em>n</em> = 38), and plants (<em>n</em> = 19) indicate a C₄-based diet dominated by foxtail and broomcorn millet, supplemented by limited C₃ resources (e.g., wheat) and animal protein mainly from pigs and cattle. Livestock management involved both pen-feeding and free-range grazing, resembling husbandry practices in the Central Plains. Despite variation in burial architecture and grave goods, dietary differences among ranks were minimal, except for one high-ranking individual (M122) who consumed more C₃ foods and animal protein. Sex-based distinctions were modest, with males showing slightly higher <em>δ</em><sup>13</sup>C and greater <em>δ</em><sup>15</sup>N variability than females. Compared with the pronounced status- or sex-based dietary stratification observed at Shang capitals, LJZ reveals a relatively homogeneous, self-sufficient subsistence system. These findings shed new light on the subsistence economy and social organization of the eastern territories under Shang control, providing a crucial regional perspective on the broader development of sociopolitical complexity during the Shang period.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"45 ","pages":"Article 100681"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145797487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-12DOI: 10.1016/j.ara.2025.100683
Xinyi Ouyang
The study of chronology for early Chinese dynastic periods of the Bronze Age is an important and distinctive issue in Chinese archaeology. In recent decades, the introduction of radiocarbon dating and the growing body of radiocarbon-based chronological knowledge have brought this topic to the forefront of interdisciplinary discussion. This paper reviews recent developments in radiocarbon-based chronological research on this period. Previous chronological studies, including site selection, sample collection, and Bayesian modeling, have largely been conducted within the traditional culture-historical framework, with the primary aim of constructing dynastic timelines. However, through a reassessment of published radiocarbon data from both the Central Plains and surrounding regions, this study highlights the non-uniform pace of material culture change and the significant regional variation. It argues that the study of Bronze Age chronology should shift from a narrow focus on dynastic narratives and refined cultural periodization toward a more dynamic investigation of historical processes, enabling a deeper understanding of local societies and regional interaction in Bronze Age China.
{"title":"Dating the early dynasties: Radiocarbon chronology in Bronze Age China","authors":"Xinyi Ouyang","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100683","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100683","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The study of chronology for early Chinese dynastic periods of the Bronze Age is an important and distinctive issue in Chinese archaeology. In recent decades, the introduction of radiocarbon dating and the growing body of radiocarbon-based chronological knowledge have brought this topic to the forefront of interdisciplinary discussion. This paper reviews recent developments in radiocarbon-based chronological research on this period. Previous chronological studies, including site selection, sample collection, and Bayesian modeling, have largely been conducted within the traditional culture-historical framework, with the primary aim of constructing dynastic timelines. However, through a reassessment of published radiocarbon data from both the Central Plains and surrounding regions, this study highlights the non-uniform pace of material culture change and the significant regional variation. It argues that the study of Bronze Age chronology should shift from a narrow focus on dynastic narratives and refined cultural periodization toward a more dynamic investigation of historical processes, enabling a deeper understanding of local societies and regional interaction in Bronze Age China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"45 ","pages":"Article 100683"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145748448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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