Archaeological Research in Asia最新文献

The Longshan-Erlitou periods (ca. 2300–1520 BCE) witnessed a reconfiguration of China's political-economic landscape. With the collapse of Neolithic societies in the many regions of China, the emergence of Erlitou (ca. 1800–1520 BCE) marked the advent of the Chinese Bronze Age. During the process of repeated political collapse and regeneration, the Luoyang Basin became the center of the political-economic landscape during the Erlitou period and inherited the knowledge systems transmitted in the Longshan interaction network. The Shangluo Corridor provides a good lens to look at this process. Based on the landscape, historical geography and GIS simulation, the Shangluo corridor served as one of the most important gateways connecting the communities located in the highland regions and the Middle Yangzi River valley. Based on archaeological information from communities along the Shangluo Corridor, I discuss the structure of cultural interactions along the Shangluo Corridor during the Longshan and Erlitou periods. By integrating these analyses, I suggest that the formation of exchange networks along the Shangluo Corridor resulted from the participation of multiple cultural groups during the Longshan period. With the regeneration of Erlitou in the Luoyang Basin and its participation in the interaction network, diverse types of knowledge converged into the Luoyang Basin, laying the foundation for the formation of a Central Plains-centered political-economic landscape.

Systematic analysis of flake tool assemblages during MIS 3 in North China indicates that in this period, local lithic technology inherits the “small-sized tool tradition” which is prevalent in Northern China during the Pleistocene. However, differences in core reductional methods could also be observed compared with earlier sites in this region. Differences in raw material selections and toolkit variants imply the diversity of regional cultures and various adaptive behavior of ancient humans. Meanwhile, some new cultural traits, including personal ornament, ochre, formal bone tool, grinding tool, and end-scraper, emerged in North China from ca. 41 ka cal BP gradually and sporadically, indicating the limited but repeated cultural transmission and human interaction at the rimland between two technological systems of blade and flake tool industries, which was possibly triggered by the near-simultaneous population growth of both groups.

The emergence of many late-Neolithic and early Bronze-Age walled sites on China's Central Plains coincided with some prominent Holocene climate events. Recent excavation and geoarchaeological investigation at one of the largest walled sites of Guchengzhai provide important data to examine some of the questions concerning the long-term relationship between the formation of aquatic landscape and social evolution in late prehistoric Central Plains. We collected fine-grained paleo-environmental and archaeological evidence from a range of on- and off-site contexts to reconstruct the late-Holocene paleo-environment surrounding the walled site, and examine the construction, maintenance and abandonment processes of its large-size moat. Our results show that there existed many small-to-large-sized waterbodies during the late Holocene, which, together with local rivers, were the main source of water to the site. The Guchengzhai population was drawn to the low-lying land near the river and other waterbodies with an optimal hydrological condition. During its use, the moat might have been linked to the nearby wetlands and/or rivers. The hydrological regime was dominated by gentle but relatively sediment-laden flow, being punctuated by several high-energy flood events. The sedimentation of light yellowish silt and sand with some anthropogenic inclusions during the use of the moat gave way to a quick siltation with the deposition of rich organic matter when the moat ceased to function as a main channel for water flow, although other land-use activities such as fire (land clearance?) continued to occur in the vicinity. The reconstructed ‘life-history’ of the moat demonstrates the increasingly acute challenge facing the growing population living at Guchengzhai as the climate was becoming drier. The construction and operation of the moat signified technological innovations and intensified water management at Guchengzhai, which led to the formation of distinctive aquatic landscape that featured large-scale hydraulic infrastructures in a hydrologically optimal environment. We contend that such was a common characteristic or trend shared by many contemporary or later-period walled sites on the Central Plains.

The Neolithic in Southern Arabia has always shown unique traits that followed an autonomous path, different from the Northern Arabian region and the Levant. Its chronological framework is still under construction, but the systematic research occurring in Oman unveils a complex picture of moving populations developing specific solutions to various environmental conditions. This paper shows the results of an intensive survey carried out on the coastal trait around the village of Sharbithat (Sharbithāt), which refines the cultural chronology of the vastly unexplored area at the turn of Al-Wusta/Dhofar Governorate in southern Oman. Characterised by 14 km of shoreline enclosed in a limestone massif, Sharbithat is dotted by vast mesas surrounded by wadi deltaic branches and abundant flint sources. Most terraces are inhabited today and covered up with flint scatters, dwellings, and cairns. A sequence of preliminary test trenches to assess the stratigraphy of Sharbithat SHA-10B indicated a precise chronological frame. Indeed, the sites on this mesa show a single period stratification sequence, a rich marine faunal composition and intense flintknapping activity. A peculiar lithic industry consisting of lunates, backed pieces, and tanged points characterise this Late Neolithic site (4th mill. BCE), in contrast with the Middle Neolithic sites (as SHA-4, 6th mill. BCE), which are fully dedicated to the production of bifacial foliates and trihedral projectile points. Based on the study of the technological processes that led to the manufacture of such artefacts, new hypotheses on coastal subsistence strategies and chronological issues have risen. With the present article, we introduce the first study of this area, the chrono-typological implications, and their relevance in the framework of South Arabian prehistory.

Gua Mandung is an inland prehistoric site in Gunung Sewu karst area of central Java, Indonesia. This area is rich in valleys and corridors which make up Gunung Sewu's distinct labyrinth-like landscape. For Java, Gunung Sewu is known to have a relatively harsh environment with limited access to permanent water sources and a short wet season. However, here we report evidence of occupation at the site of Gua Mandung since at least 11,073 cal BP. An abundance of terrestrial fauna remains alongside numerous bone tools with differing functionalities suggests that these early cave dwellers applied well-developed subsistence strategies to maximise the available resources. Gua Mandung records continuous exploitation of small to large terrestrial fauna including monkeys, porcupine, deer, pig, cattle, rat, snake, and monitor lizard. The site's proximity to nearby lakes and a ∼ 5 km walk to the coast also provided Gua Mandung's early inhabitants with secondary aquatic resources such as fish, freshwater shells, marine shells, barnacles, crab, and sea urchin. Based on our findings from the Gua Mandung excavation, and in comparison with surrounding archaeological sites, coastal resource exploitation appears to have been a common, albeit more minor, subsistence strategy employed by the early inland communities of the Gunung Sewu karst area.

This study examines a pottery assemblage from Makpan Cave, Alor, Indonesia dating from ∼3300 BP to historic times, constituting one of only a few documented ceramic studies from the Nusa Tenggara Timur archipelago. The assemblage is characterised by idiosyncratic decorative features along with a range of surface finishes not commonly emphasised in other research in the region. The Makpan pottery exhibits a notable consistency over time suggesting an enduring and stable pottery tradition, yet petrographic examination reveals a number of manufacturing locations with the possibility of offshore imports. The study also reports on the occurrence of baked clay, mostly concentrated in levels dating to around 11,500 BP. Finds of baked clay in Island Southeast Asia are little known with only one other major documented example and its use and purpose at Makpan is currently enigmatic.

A long history of inter-island communications and contact is highlighted as the key factor in bringing new technologies, including Neolithic pottery, to Makpan and throughout the region. Although Austronesian speakers are conventionally credited with introducing ceramics throughout ISEA, the Makpan case study indicates that a variety of peoples may have participated in the dispersal of pottery into southern Wallacea.

The investigation of Early Historic sites has often found a culturally rich “Kushan” accumulation in contrast to the scanty finds of later centuries. This discrepancy has led to a hypothesis of urban decline and associated changes in socio-economic structure. However, more recent research has suggested that the missing archaeological record has primarily resulted from the poor investigation of the late occupation and related artefacts. This article is a case study to further discuss the issue by reexamining the excavated data from Kausambi, one of the largest Early Historic cities in the upper Gangetic plain. The coin-based chronological sequence derived from the residential area near the Ashokan pillar suggests that the habitation ended in the early fourth century CE. However, an observation of the ceramic evidence from the last period illustrates that the site was not abandoned after the “Kushan” age but occupied throughout the first millennium CE. The absence of the “post-Kushan” period is more likely a consequence of uncritical dating criteria. By pooling and integrating the available archaeological materials from other fieldwork around the site, this article will suggest a prolonged settlement of this great city and characterise its temporal patterns in a new and refined chronological framework.