This week's Science magazine has a treat for anybody who, like me, is completely fascinated by the archaeology of China.
There are generally only two archaeological pieces of China that the world is familiar with: the Great Wall, begun during the Warring States period, and the Qin Dynasty Terracotta Soldiers. But in a long article, or rather several little articles in a special news section of Science for August 21, 2009, Andrew Lawler describes several recent findings in China.
Lawler's articles cover a range of topics. "Beyond the Yellow River: How China Became China" embraces the historical and archaeological evidence for the origins of China, particularly with respect to the site of Liangzhu on the Yangtze River. "Erlitou: Founding Dynasty or Myth", describes the difficulty with connecting—or rather disconnecting—the historical and archaeological versions about Xia and Shang dynasties with respect to the contested site of Erlitou. "Archaeologists Raise the Old with the New" discusses the impact of cultural resource management movement on Chinese archaeology. "Landing the Looters" faces the troubles China has with this universally sticky subject. "Go East Young Archaeologist" is a profile of archaeologist Zhijun Zhao; "Bridging East and West" discusses new discoveries about the Silk Road; and "Millet on the Move" touches on the latest information about the domestication of millet.
In other words, Lawler's article is a big, fat, tasty update on current archaeological news about China, dressed up with a timeline. I confess to being a fan of Chinese archaeology, and I confess I'm still working on various parts (in fact, I'm reading up on the Zhou Dynasty as I write this, as suggested by a fellow Twitterer). So, to celebrate, I snagged a few photographs from Getty Images of some of the components touched upon by Lawler, and made them into the first photo essay of the 2009 school season. Enjoy!
Sources and Further Information
- Archaeology of China: A Photo Essay
- Terracotta Soldiers of Emperor Qin, Another Photo Essay
- Great Wall
- Zhou Dynasty (in progress)
- Erlitou
- Silk Road
Lawler, Andrew. 2009. Beyond the Yellow River: How China Became China. Science 325:930-943. Podcast available for free.
Yang, Xiaoneng. 2004. Chinese Archaeology in the Twentieth Century: New Perspectives on China's Past. Yale University Press, New Haven.
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