Archaeological Research in Asia最新文献

Archaeological evidence indicates that millet and rice spread into southwestern China successively from the Ganqing Region and the Yangtze River Valley by approximately 5000 BP. After that, southwestern China showed a diverse pattern of mixed millet–rice cultivation. As a cultural intersection, the Liangshan region was influenced by many different areas, including the Zangyi Corridor, the Chengdu Plain, and the northern Yun-Gui Plateau. Due to poor preservation conditions, little isotopic research on the human palaeodietary pattern has been conducted in the Neolithic Liangshan area. This article presents an isotopic analysis of human skeletal remains from the Houzidong site, located in the southern part of the Liangshan region, to investigate the human subsistence strategy of the site. A total of 35 isotopic data were successfully obtained from the 89 samples of this experiment, with a wide range of δ¹³C values (−17.4‰ to −11.5‰; −13.6 ± 1.4‰) and δ¹⁵N values (+8.6‰ to +12.0‰; +9.5 ± 0.7‰). The analysis showed that the human diet at the Houzidong site included both C₃ and C₄ foods, and there were diverse human subsistence strategies, based on the fact that millet would have made a significant contribution to the human diet at this site (including both millet and millet-based animals). It is hypothesized that millet agriculture in the Liangshan region may have been the result of interaction between the natural environment and the local population represented by the archaeological culture.

About 70 years ago, C. S. Coon reported the sudden presence of domesticated animal species following a gap between the Mesolithic/Epi-Paleolithic and the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN), based on data from excavations of the Hotu and Kamarband (Belt) Caves in the southeastern littoral of the Caspian Sea. Then, the first scientific step towards Neolithization studies in the region was taken by proposing a hypothesis that emphasized the import of Neolithic culture and domestication packages from the eastern wing of the Fertile Crescent, within the framework of diffusion theory. More recently, another hypothesis has been proposed that Neolithization in eastern Mazandaran is due to endogenous factors. These hypotheses were proposed despite serious weaknesses in both field studies and analyses. Lack of reliable evidence of domesticated species, inconsistency of paleo-climatology chronologies and data with archaeological periods, lack of subsistence and settlement data, problems of Mesolithic/Epi-Paleolithic to Neolithic chronology, and weaknesses in processing and analyses of archaeological data, are some of the problems in Neolithization studies in the region. The present paper intends to provide a proper analysis of the Neolithization studies in this region, and proposes the theory of low-level food production as a key component.

Here we present three stelae found on the surface of the Early Iron Age burial mound Tunnug 1 in Tuva Republic, Southern Siberia. An abstract pattern of arcs and lines and the focus on one side of the standing stone makes these stelae substantially different from other known cultural traditions of the Late Bronze Age steppe region. Traceological, petrographic, and geochemical analyses of the material were carried out. The comparison with standing stones of the Deer Stone Khirigsuur complex and the Slab Grave culture do not indicate a direct affiliation with either tradition. The deliberate placement of the stelae on the burial mound and their stratigraphic position indicate a role in funerary ritual activities of the Early Iron Age (9th c. BCE).

This paper reports and discusses a new collection of pictographs situated in a rock shelter called Chel-Dokhtaroon in the southern Zagros Mountains in Jahrom, Fars province in southern Iran. Chel-Dokhtaroon contains one of the largest collections of pictographs identified in this part of the country so far. The use of Dstretch application recovered the faded depictions, which were not visible to the naked eye. The rock paintings of Chel-Dokhtaroon show stylistic similarities to some other pictographs previously identified in the southern Zagros Mountains. It is proposed that the Chel-Dokhtaroon and Abdozu pictographs show the highest degree of stylistic similarity together compared to the other sites in the area. Relative dating methods have been attempted to reach a primary understanding of the relative age of the pictographs. Using a semiotic approach, the paper discusses that some representations may show social spaces occupied by anthropomorphic depictions.

Polished stone axes have long been recognized as essential tools directly related to logging and wood processing in sedentary societies, playing a crucial role in prehistoric people's survival and social production. Their evolution as production tools has been a driving force behind the advancement of society's productive capacities. In this article, information and data on stone axes from the middle Yellow River region are systematically compiled, presenting a typology based on 640 stone axes from 153 sites spanning the Middle Neolithic to the Bronze Age. The main conclusions derived from the study are as follows: (1) Typological study reveals that stone axes can be classified into 7 types. By examining the evolution of these types and their combinations, four distinct phases in the development of stone axes are identified, reaching its peak during the middle stage of Phase 4. (2) The flourishing of the stone axe types originated in the Yangshao period in the Guanzhong Plain. With the development of social complexity and the establishment of the Xia and Shang dynasties after the Longshan period, the center of gravity of stone axe types and assemblages gradually shifted to the Central Plains and the Fen River Valley. Finally, the genealogy spread to the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains and declined. (3) The types of stone axes from the late Yangshao period and the middle and late Longshan periods exhibit a clear shift, highlighting their functional differentiation during these periods. (4) The production of stone axes can be categorized into two modes based on the raw stone material used: (a) and (b). The metallization of tools, even during the so-called Bronze Age, experienced significant delays, and it was only during the Yinxu era that bronze axes began to replace some of the stone axes produced in mode (b). (5) The functional differentiation of axes and the transformation of the mode of production have played a role in inducing the emergence of social complexity and expediting its development to some extent.

This article presents and discusses the results obtained by X-ray fluorescence and KAr methods regarding pumice pieces found at two archaeological sites: Ust’-Karenga XVI (9000–8000 cal BP) and Kovrizhka III (∼13,000 cal BP) (Vitim River, Transbaikalia, Russia). KAr dating and geochemical characteristics of pumice from the Kovrizhka and Ust’-Karenga sites indicate that they are a product of the eruptions of the Udokan volcanic field, and not the Vitim volcanic field, which are two volcanic regions of Transbaikalia. Ancient people residing at both sites were aware of the same resources within the territories, despite the fact that they lived at different times; this is evidenced by the fact that the archaeological material found in the ritual pit of Ust’-Karenga XVI is similar in terms of cultural remains to the archaeological finds of the Kovrizhka group of sites of the age range from ∼6700 to 13,000 cal BP. In this work, we assume that ancient people used not only stone resources but also thermal springs of the territory of the Udokan volcanic field. Based on the paleogeographical data of the region, we reconstruct the possible routes used by ancient humans to deliver and/or exchange raw materials necessary for economic purposes. Our new data in combination with previously published data for Transbaikalia and other regions of Siberia suggest that the connection between the ancient populations living in these areas often persisted at distances >1000 km.

The production and use of shell tools has been reported from the Neolithic (c. 6500–3300 BCE) to the Late Bronze Age (c. 1600–1300 BCE) – or the Early Iron Age c. 1300–1000 BCE) – along the eastern shores of the Arabian Peninsula. The latter are described as large bivalve shells whose ventral margin has been retouched. However, to date, no functional analysis has been performed to understand the use of these unusual tools, despite the recognised importance of marine resources in the cultural development of Protohistoric societies in this region. This paper, therefore, aims to present the findings of a large number of worked shell valves collected from excavations at Neolithic sites in the Umm al-Quwain area in the Northern United Arab Emirates, over the past 20 years. It introduces the first functional study of shell tools in the Arabian Peninsula and contributes to the knowledge of techno-cultural processes among the Neolithic coastal communities of this area.

Comparisons with experimental specimens have allowed us to highlight the use of shell tools for various activities, including butchering and woodworking tasks, and the processing of animal skins in-line with the production and use of ochre. Most of the specimens studied evidenced use-wear resulting from the processing of vegetal fibres, suggesting basketry or rope production. Although further work is required on material retrieved from other sites in the region, the results from the Umm al-Quwain area already constitute a huge step forward in reconstructing past productive activities during the Neolithic, opening a new area of research for the Archaeology of Eastern Arabia.

Shuangdun Culture, spanning from about 7300 to 6800 BP, was primarily distributed along the middle Huai River valley. This study aimed to elucidate the domestic pig husbandry strategy of Shuangdun Culture using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes on animal bones from the Yuhuicun site. The results revealed that most of the Sus, displaying δ¹³C values from −20.5 to −17.1‰, had diets based on C₃ plants, comparable to the diets of large and middle-sized deer whose δ¹³C values ranged from −20.7 to −18.1‰. Previous zooarchaeological investigations have suggested that domestic pigs were predominant among the faunal assemblage of the Yuhuicun site, with few wild boars and feral pigs present. However, the present study found no significant differences regarding the diet among the Sus population. Domestic pigs at Yuhuicun were inferred to be reared loosely and fed with wild plants, given that the human inhabitants primarily relied on gathering, with rice cultivation being small in scale. A comparison of pig husbandry strategies among the Yuhuicun, Houjiazhai, and Shuangdun sites revealed that most Sus from these three archaeological sites had similar diets. However, three Sus individuals with mixed diets of C₃ and C₄ plants were identified from the Shuangdun site, which may have been introduced from an outside area where millets were widely planted. The Shuangdun site is a central settlement in the middle Huai River valley, and its inhabitants likely had access to introduced food sources. This differentiation in the diet of domestic pigs is indicative of varying settlement patterns during this time period.

For nearly a century, questions have remained as to the purpose and age of the Plain of Jars in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Scholars have generally argued that these megaliths served a mortuary function, either as symbolic monuments or receptacles for the dead. However, due to a paucity of mortuary evidence associated with the jars, it has been difficult to conclusively argue either way. Aside from small amounts of cremated human bone fragments found within a limited number of jars, to date no substantive human burials have been found inside a stone jar across this vast megalithic landscape. Additionally, the stone jars are thought to date to the Southeast Asian Iron Age, between ca. 500 BCE-500 CE, with ritual activity continuing into the 13th century CE. This paper provides the first substantial evidence that the jars were used to contain the deceased for either primary or secondary burials during the 9th to 12th century CE.

In China, Neolithic sites are routinely attributed to “archaeological cultures” through typological comparisons of complete pottery vessels. However, ceramic datasets have the potential to reveal more than a chrono-cultural attribution. Taking into account not only all the complete vessels but also all the sherds excavated from a site makes it possible to use quantitative analysis as well as morpho-stylistic and petrographic approaches to measure the heterogeneity of the ensemble and ask why and how it was formed. The Wutaishan site in Nong'an, Jilin province, located at the centre of Northeast China, was chosen to implement this methodology. The ceramology research on the complete pottery dataset excavated at this site sheds light on the long- and short-distance exchanges networks in Northeast China at the turn of the 4th millennium BCE, provides a new understanding of inter-site relations in the Yitong River valley, and opens perspectives on the interpretation of the functional spatial layout within the site itself.