[Wechselndes Banner]


Contents

backup

EAAN activities:

amEAANetwork meeting
As usual, we will hold our annual American meeting in conjunction with the Association for Asian Studies, this year in Boston. Our amEAAN meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March 26th, 11.30am-1.30pm in the Harvard Room (appropriate!). Bring a bag lunch! Harvard students will be giving several presentations and discussions on East Asian Archaeology as seen from Cambridge Mass:
Erika Evasdottir (Graduate student, Dept Anthropology) "Rise of social complexity: a comparison of Bronze Age North China and Central Asia"
Tracy Hoffman (Graduate student, Dept Anthropology) "Gender and mortuary practice in Bronze Age Thailand"
Ming-Chorng HWANG (Ph.D. candidate, Dept East Asian Languages & Civilizations) "Shan Hai Jing and early Chinese history"
Yang-jin PAK (Ph.D. candidate, Dept Anthropology) "Korean bronze culture and its northern connection"

From the editor......

backup

MEMBER NEWS (in alpha-order):

 

AHN Sung-mo has moved from the Seoul National Museum to Chŏnju. His new address:
Dr. Sung-mo AHN
Chŏnju National Museum
Hyoja-dong 2ga 900
Chŏnju560-240 Korea

An Deog-im has moved from ChŏnjuNational Museum to Chinju. Her new address is:
Dr. Deog-im AN
Chinju National Museum
171-1 Namsong-dong
Chinju-shi, Kyŏngsang-namdo
Home 0591-746-6842
Work 0591-42-5952
FAX 0591-745-7020
 

Mr. Charles AYLMER (Chinese archaeology and history)
Far Eastern Department
Cambridge University Library
West Road, Cambridge
CB3 9DR England
Work 0223-333038
FAX 0223-333160
email: [...]
Charles is Head of the Chinese Section at the UL and is currently working on a bibliography of Chinese archaeology. He is also editor of BEASL (Bulletin of the European Association of Sinological Librarians), available only to members of the Association.

Prof. Bruce L. BATTEN (Proto- and early historic Japanese history)
Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies
1-1-1 Minato Mirai
(Pacifico Yokohama, 5F)
Nishi-ku, Yokohama 220 Japan
Work 045-223-2002
FAX 045-223-2060
Prof. Batten is Director of the Inter-University Center and is avowedly "too busy to go to conferences anymore"! He is working on a book manuscript concerning boundaries and frontiers in early Japan as well as writing an article on Dazaifu for a Kyushu volume of the new Meicho Shuppan series, Kodai no ōken to kōryū [Imperial authority and communications in ancient times]. Several of his previous works are also in Japanese:
"Why was Dazaifu established?" Shin shiten: Nihon no rekishi 3, 1993.
"Frontiers of early Japan and the Dazaifu" Chihōshi Kenkyū Kyōgikai, ed. Ikoku to Kyōshu: Rekishi ni okeru kokusai kōryu to chiiki keisei, Yūzankaku, 1992.
"Is the Kōrokan site the right symbol for an 'International City' of Fukuoka?" Tofurō 10, 1992.
"The Dazaifu and Korean envoys in the Ancient period," Tofurō 1, 1986.
"Reception of Korean and Manchurian envoys under the Ritsuryō system," Kyushu shigaku 83, 1985.

Peter Bellwood (ANU) submits new contact numbers: +61-6-249-3120,
FAX +61-6-249-2711; email: [...]

Bob Borgen's (Univ California, Davis) book, Sugawara no Michizane and the Early Heian Court (Univ of Hawaii), winner of the 1990 American Historical Association's James Henry Breasted Prize, is now out in paperback. A reviewer called the book "Eclectically inspired and exceptionally well written." We know you're eclectic, Bob, because you are member of EAANetwork!

Al Dien (Stanford Univ) notifies us of changes in home telephone (415-323-1769) and email address ([...]). He will be spending the spring at the Sinology Institute, University of Leiden in The Netherlands.

Martina Deuchler (SOAS, Univ London) has been honored with the Chang Chi-yon Award for her book,The Confucian transformation of Korea (Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1992). The award is named after the prominent Korean journalist and scholar earlier this century and was presented jointly by the Korea Press Center and the Chang Chi-yon Commemorative Committee in Seoul. The book makes a thorough analysis of the effects of Confucian ideology on the society of the Chosŏn Dynasty (1392-1910), especially in family structure as the Koryŏ-period bilateral family system changed into the patriarchal system in the early Chosŏn dynasty.

Walt Edwards (Tenri Univ) has new email addresses:
Internet: [...]

Magnus Fisko reports that he had a wonderful 'work-study' summer in Japan, first in Akita, where he spent 3 weeks on an Early Jomon stone-tool manufacturing site, a rescue excavation by the Akita Prefectural Buried Cultural Properties Center, and then 5 weeks with a team of archaeology graduate and undergraduate students from various universities in Japan working for Mr. Nishitani, of the Archaeology Department of Rekihaku (National Museum of Japanese History), on his excavation on the island of Takarajima south of Kyushu.

Mr. Shin'ichiro FUJIO (Prehistoric East Asian archaeology)
National Museum of Japanese History Home 043-442-3369
117 Jonai-cho, Sakura-shi Work 043-486-0123
Chiba-ken, Japan 285 FAX 043-4814-5034
Shin'ichiro is an Assistant Curator in the Archaeology Department at Rekihaku. His special research interests are the beginning of food-production in Japan (5th c BC-AD 3rd c) and early Japanese lifestyles and technology (5th c BC-AD 8th c). At present he is spending the year as a Visiting Scholar to the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, where he is studying about changes from a food-gathering to a food-producing society in western Europe. He is also editing a 2,000 page work in two volumes on early iron production in Japan; these will appear as volumes 57 and 58 of the Rekihaku series, Bulletin of the National Museum of Japanese History.

Enno GIELE (Early East Asian history)
Nollendorfstr. 10
10777 Berlin
Germany
Home 030-216-8235
FAX 030-217-2332
Enno is a 5th year undergraduate at the Freie Universität Berline in the East Asian Seminar, producing a Master's dissertation on China's foreign relations (especially with northeastern and eastern countries from Qin through the Han and Sanguo dynasties) by describing and evaluating NISHIJIMA Sadao's sakuho taisei theory.

Mr. David GOODE (Korean & Japanese prehistoric to early historic archaeology)
22A Station Road
Ely, Cambridgeshire 
CB7 4BS England
Home 0353-663356
FAX 0353-663371
A former student of Gary Crawford's at the University of Toronto, David is now a Ph.D. student at the Institute of Archaeology, London, researching environmental reconstruction in southeastern England for the Iron Age. He is, nevertheless, doing a seminar presention this term at the University of Cambridge on "Lipids and Tohoku crops".

Janet Goodwin has been further traced to the University of Aizu-Wakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, where she is a professor of cultural studies. Her new book, Alms and vagabonds: Buddhist temples and popular patronage in Medieval Japan, is published by the University of Hawaii Press (1994).

Prof. Keiji IMAMURA (Chinese & Japanese prehistoric archaeology)
Department of Archaeology
Faculty of Letters
University of Tokyo
Home 03-5729-3790
Work 03-3812-2111x3794,3793
Prof. Imamura has successfully completed his Sabbatical at the Institute of Archaeology, London where his lecture series (LECTURES, Nounc 11) was topped off with a well-attended reception. He has now returned to Tokyo to take up direction of the Department of Archaeology.

Juha Jahunen (Univ Helsinki) is not female, as I erronously reported in the last MEMBERS' NEWS! He has corrected me and provided me with an excuse at the same time: the -a ending of his name is a common ending for Indo-European females, but not in his case. Many apologies, Juha!

Yun-kuen LEE (Wayne State Univ) has finished his dissertation on Chinese Neolithic settlement organization (DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS) and has been teaching for the last two years at Wayne State University. He says he has been extremely busy with all kinds of archaeology courses, being the only archaeologist in his department available to teach the subject.
Dr. Yun-kuen LEE
Department of Anthropology 137
Manoogian Hall
Wayne State University
Detroit MI 48202 USA
Work313-577-2935
BITNET: [...], INTERNET: [...]

Thomas MELDGAARD (Chinese proto-historic and early historic archaeology, art & culture)
Rektorparken 1, 503
DK-2450 Copenhagen SV
Denmark
Home 33279228
Thomas is a graduate of the University of Copenhagen who has just completed a year's study of Chinese and Japanese art at the University of Heidelberg. He is currently working on the Buddhist art of the Nan-Zhao kingdom in Yunnan, studying for an examination on the cultural interaction between China and her neighbors, and translating a Chinese text into Danish. In future he hopes to concentrate on southwestern China, possibly in an archaeological framework.

Koji MIZOGUCHI (Univ Cambridge) organized a panel on "Giddens' theory of structuration and archaeology: time, space, practices and meanings in understanding the constitution of past societies" for the TAG Conference in Durham last December. His own paper for the panel he chaired was entitled "Intended and unintended consequences: act, consciousness and the material world in structuration". Koji is currently back in Japan and can be reached through his parents' address:
1-21-10-204 Ibori, Kokura
Kita-ku, Kita Kyushu, Fukuoka 803 Japan

NISHIMURA Yasushi (Nabunken) organised a symposium on "Archaeo-prospecting technology: investigating sites by instrument" in Tokyo, 12 Feb 1994. Sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education, the symposium was open to the public. Last summer, Yasushi travelled to the United States for field surveys in Illinois, Oklahoma and Missouri; these were conducted jointly with the Smithsonian Institution and others. He will be reporting the results of this work at the Anaheim meetings of the Society for American Archaeology this coming April. Finally he sends notice of a dedicated fax number for the Center for Archaeological Operations (CAO) at Nabunken: FAX +81-742-35-1358.

Masaaki OKITA (Tenri Univ) has been made head of the Faculty of Literature.
Congratulations!

Jessica Rawson (British Museum) is currently on teaching leave at the University of Chicago.

Tim Reynolds (Cambridgeshire County Archaeology Unit) has published a new article on "Problems in the Stone Age of South-east Asia." Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 59: 1-15, 1993.

Song Nai RHEE (NW Christian College) spent the month of July '93 in Korea; he visited Young Nam University's excavations of a large settlement site of the early Silla period in the Taegu area. He says that some archaeologists think it represents the earliest form of town planning found in South Korea. From 29 Oct-8 Nov, Song Nai was again in Korea to attend the Korean Archaeological Society annual meeting which was held at the new Puyo National Museum. The theme of the conference was "Samhan Society and Archaeology." While in Korea, he gave a special lecture at Mokp'o University on the origins and evolution of fortification systems in the ancient Levant.

Laura Rivkin (Great Britain-China Centre, London) has assumed the editorship of the EACS Newsletter (European Association of Chinese Studies). It is hoped that this will become a font of information on Chinese studies throughout Europe. The Great Britain-China Centre is also compiling a database for research on China being carried out in Britain.

Barbara Seyock (Trier Univ) has finished her M.A. at Bochum (DISS ABSTRACTS), which formed the paper she presented at a recent Erasmus workshop at the University of Leiden (PAPERS READ). She is now working on her Ph.D. dissertation topic, "Interrelation between the south Korean coast regions and north Kyushu in the Early and Middle Yayoi periods." She has applied for a DAAD grant and hopes to study at Kyushu University next year under Mr. Tadashi NISHITANI. Meanwhile, her new address is:
Regerstr. 26
45529 Hattingen, Germany
02324-80581
FAX 02324-23275

Anthony Sinclair (Daiwa Fellow) spent his fellowship year affiliated with Prof. Masao ANBIRU at Meiji University in Tokyo (REVIEWS & REPORTS). He has now returned from Japan and is working on an edited volume with Prof. Anbiru on current problems and future perspectives in Japanese Palaeolithic archaeology. He can be reached at the following address for the forseeable future:
Flat 29, 50 Mariner Ave.
Edgbaston, Birmingham
B16 9DT, England
021-452-2030

Kidder Smith (Bowdoin College, Maine) has since 1985 provided a forum for the exchange of information in I-ching (yijing) studies in the form of an annual newsletter, the Zhouyi Network.

Stephanie Souhaite (Nat Taiwan Univ) reports that she attended the Hoabinhian conference in Hanoi last December (PAPERS READ), where she gave one of the opening addresses-on "Madeleine Colani: une biographie". Stephanie is now established in Taipei for research abroad and sends us her new email address: [...]

Ms. Miho TANIHATA (Japanese protohistoric archaeology)
28 Nishi-tojigawara-chō
Ichijō-ji, Sakyō-ku
Kyoto 606 Japan
Miho has completed a year's study abroad at Sheffield and Bradford Universities in England and is now back in Japan. She studied osteology, especially methods of conserving human skeletal remains.

Prof. Peter THOMPSON (Chinese archaeology)
Chao Xi Luo B307
Shenzen University
Shenzen, Guangdong 518060 PRC
Prof. Thompson is a Chartered Designer acting as a Senior Advisor to the Chinese Bureau of Exports and attached to Shenzen University. His work takes him to Guangxi, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hunan, Hubei and tribal regions where he is interested primarily in the history, habits, origins, etc., of China's numerous cultural roots. He feels a need for convergent technologies, which are missing in the mainstream educational and social systems. All his work is concerned with connections and purposes and innovation as stemming from cultural origins and enriching present-day cultural livelihoods.His interest in early cultures has led him to do salvage work in the face of bulldozers in the Shenzen Special Economic Zone. An unpublished paper with photos and maps of finds in the Xili Lake basin area of Nantou Prefecture documents this work [copy lodged with EAANetwork]. This work has caused some controversy; REVIEWS & REPORTS for details.

Helen WANG (British Museum) was busy last year helping organized a two-day colloquium on Silk Road Coins and Culture (PAPERS READ) and is now editing the papers for publication in volume 4 of Silk Road Art and Archaeology, to be published by the Institute of Silk Road Studies (Kamakura, Japan) in 1994.

Kazuaki YOSHIMURA (Kashiwara Archaeological Museum) informs us of new contact numbers, including dedicated fax facilities:
Archaeological Museum: +81-7442-4-1185
FAX +81-7442-4-1355
Archaeological Institute: +81-7442-4-1101
FAX +81-7442-4-6747

Bettina Zorn (Albert Ludwig Universität, Germany) has won a CCK Post-Doctoral Fellowship for research in China. Her project concentrates on "The social meaning of rock painting in southern China: an anthropological analysis." In order to date the paintings, she will undertake comparisons with rock art of other ages (Palaeolithic, Neolithic, 'Metal' ages) and comparisons with historic and ethnological materials. A classification of paintings will allow different analyses: geometric, figurative geometric, figurative synthetic, and figurative analytic. Different subject groups are summarized-anthropomorphic figures, men in action, men in the environment-in order to discern local differences which might hint at local peculiarities still noticeable in some tribes in southern China. Finally, rock paintings are messages which can be seen as the logical forerunners of writing with pictographs, pictographic chains, and mythography. At least until next summer, Bettina's address is:
Dr. Bettina Zorn
Sudetenstr. 11
82110 Gemering, Germany
 

backup

ASIAN SCHOLARS ABROAD

Prof. Tatsuo KOBAYASHI (Kokugakuin Univ, Tokyo) will spend one year as Visiting Scholar to the Department of Archaeology, Cambridge University, from 31 March 1994.

Prof. Takao UNO (Toyama Univ) will by Visiting Scholar to the Department of Archaeology, Cambridge University from 1 April 1994; he plans a survey of the medieval village of Swavesey as part of his historical archaeological research.

Mr. WU Jiaan (Inst Archaeology, Beijing) is currently visiting the Prehistoric Department of the British Museum on a stay from Oct 93-Apr 94.

Emeritus Prof. ISHIDA Ichiro (Tohoku Univ) will be a Japan Foundation Visiting Professor at the Shanghai International Studies University, giving an intensive series of lectures on the "History of Japanese Culture", Mar-Apr 1994.

Prof. Akira ONO (Niigata Univ) will be travelling to Germany in June 1994 where he has been invited to deliver the Rudorf Virchow Vorlesung Memorial Lecture at the Roman-German Central Museum of Pre and Proto History. He plans to speak on the Japanese and East Asian Palaeolithic cultures.
 

backup

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!!
 

The IIAS Workshop on the Origin and Past of Homo sapiens sapiens as viewed from DNA
  by Colin Renfrew

The recently opened International Institute for Advanced Studies, located at the new research and science park between Kyoto and Nara, was host to an interdisciplinary seminar from 14th to 17th December 1993, which brought together distinguished Japanese scholars with others from a number of countries. After the opening address by the Director, Professor Michio OKAMOTO, the Seminar was introduced by its co-organisers, Sydney Brenner of the University of Cambridge and Kazuro HANIHARA of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies.
Various aspects of the origins and dispersals of our species were discussed from the standpoint of molecular genetics. Undoubtedly the central theme, however, was the problem of the 'Out of Africa' view of sapiens origins as against the multiregional hypothesis.
The general trend of thinking among molecular geneticists inclined towards the 'Out of Africa' view, which would harmonise well with the date of initial divergence of c. 200,000 years ago, as it emerges from molecular evolutionary trees based upon data from mitochondrial DNA. But Takeshi SETOGUCHI of Kyoto University argued against a constant molecular clock, and Naoyuki TAKAHATA of the National Institute of Genetics discussed some of the complexities involved in estimating evolutionary rates, while Charles Oxnard of the University of Western Australia-through modelling species diversity-indicated the importance of extinctions in forming a coherent picture. Mark Stoneking of the University of Pennsylvania robustly supported the African origin view.
On the other hand, there were several well-argued contributions which, on morphological grounds, supported the multiregional hypothesis. Xinzhi WU, of Academia Sinica, stressed the regional aspects of the fossil evidence from eastern Asia, while Christy Turner II of Arizona State University used dental evidence towards the same conclusion. And Phillip Tobias, of the Witwatersrand Medical School, S. Africa), in a wide-ranging survey of the fossil evidence came to the same position. It is clear that there is as yet no consensus on this issue.
Other points of great interest emerged. Masatoshi NEI, of Pennsylvania State University, took issue with the evolutionary tree constructed by Luca Cavalli-Sforza and his colleagues at Stanford (represented at this meeting by Andres Ruiz-Linares) on the sequence of secondary and tertiary branchings in the human evolutionary tree after the first primary split of Africa versus the rest, on which they were basically agreed. In his paper he also questioned the validity of the 'dual structure' theory for Japanese origins previously set out by Prof. Hanihara. A lively discussion ensued on the origins of Japanese (and Ainu) genetic variability and linguistic variability. Here the observations by Satoshio HORAI of the National Institute of Genetics of Japan were of great interest, since they added to the discussion observations based upon DNA material from ancient (Jomon) samples. At first sight they seemed, with their Austronesian affinities, to give support to the dual structure theory, with the Altaic (or Korean) element of the Japanese language and population being seen as a later contribution.
It is not possible here to do justice to the points of more regional interest emerging from the studies of Alberto Piazza (University of Turin) for Europe, Keiichi OMOTO (International Research Center for Japanese Studies) on eastern Asia, and Douglas Wallace (Emory University, Arizona) on the early population of the Americas on the basis of mitochondrial DNA studies. It is sufficient to remark that the potential for DNA studies in this field still remains very great indeed. Moreover, since various classes of data are now being brought to bear on the 'Out of Africa' versus 'multiregional evolution' for sapiens origins, it must be likely that this central problem will undergo definitive resolution before many years have elapsed. This is a fast growing field, and one of the great values of this seminar, in addition to bringing together Japanese and overseas colleagues, has been to keep open and under close review several of the problems whose resolution will be necessary before further questions can effectively be addressed.

Disney Professor, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
 

backup

Comment on the ESR dating of Tangun's bones
  by L.P. Zhou

An electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR, also known as electron spin resonance, ESR) dating of archaeological bones was reported in The Pyongyang Times (9 Oct 1993) and summarized in EAANnouncements 11 (NOTEWORTHIES 11-22). The newspaper reported that 86 pieces of bones were unearthed from a stone-chambered tomb in Kangdong County near P'yongyang and were identified as the remains of one man and one woman. Between 24 and 30 measurements were made at two research institutes by means of EPR to determine the age of the male bones excavated. These EPR measurements were said to have provided scientific proof "that the bones date back [to] 5011 years." Thus, "the bones are the remains of none other than Tangun", the legendary founder of the Korean peoples and state. While the validity of the latter statement will be tested in future studies by more Korean archaeologists, here I would like to comment on the EPR dating of the excavated bones.
The EPR method relies on the magnetic properties of unpaired electrons in minerals. These unpaired electrons are produced by ionising radiations, and their population is a function of the strength of the radioactivity (annual environmental dose) surrounding a sample and the time during which the sample has been subject to radiation. Therefore, to date a sample by EPR, one needs to measure accumulated EPR signal and to determine the annual environmental dose (also known as dose rate), which involves measurements of uranium, thorium and potassium contents of the sediments and uranium concentration of the sample itself.
Currently there are uncertainties in EPR dating of fossil bones (for details, see R. Grün & H. Schwarcz (1987), Ancient TL 5: 1-9), the most outstanding of which concerns substantial postmortem changes during the burial, possibly including mineralisation and recrystallisation. Such structural changes will 1) affect the acquisition of EPR signal, leading to an unpredictable continuous variation in EPR sensitivity to radiation, and 2) affect uranium uptake by the bones, giving rise to uncertainty in dose rate estimation. In such a case where no accumulated EPR signal and the dose rate can be accurately determined, one will not expect to obtain a correct EPR age. Obviously, the degree to which the EPR dating of bones is affected by such malign effects will vary between burial environments and depends on the age of the sample.
In the Korean EPR dating mentioned above, the dated bones "show signs of petrifaction" which was due to the fact that "the soil in the limestone stratum is rich in water-soluble mineral matters formed of molten limestone". It is not clear if the petrifaction process has been taken into account in the interpretation of EPR measurements. As no dose rate data were mentioned in this report (it is fair not to expect such information in a newspaper), one may ask: How could this limestone tomb have such a high radioactivity that has generated apparently measurable EPR signal within 5000 years? These queries may be resolved when a full scientific account of the EPR study becomes available.

McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research,
Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
 

backup

The World Heritage Convention in the Far East
  by Henry Cleere

The UNESCO Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972 is often criticized as being largely dominated by Europe, and there is some justification for this accusation. Analysis of the some 300 cultural sites and monuments on the World Heritage List shows that about half are European. In the rest of the world, only India has a significant number of World Heritage sites: 16, which compares with the 19 each in France and Spain, 12 in Germany, and 11 in the United Kingdom.
The first Far Eastern country to ratify the Convention was the People's Republic of China, in 1985. The Chinese were quick off the mark: Mount Taishan, the Great Wall, the Imperial Palace in Beijing, the Mogao Caves, the Qin Mausoleum, and Zhoukoudian were all put on the List in 1987, followed by Mount Huangshan in 1990. The two sacred mountains were also inscribed on the List under both cultural and natural criteria. In this respect they may be considered to be precursors of the new category of "associative cultural landscape" that is now recignized by the World Heritage Committee: the first of these, the mountains of Tongariro (New Zealand), which are sacred to the Maori, was accepted for the List at the meeting of the Committee at Cartagena (Colombia) in December 1993.
Five new Chinese nominations are to be considered by the Committee at its 1994 meeting, which will be held in Bangkok in December. These are the Ming Dynasty building complex in the Wudang Mountains, the ruins of the ancient city of Jiaohe in Xinjiang, the structures associated with Confucius in Qufu, the Qing Dynasty mountain resort with its temples in Chengde City, and the Potala Palace in Lhasa. These are to be evaluated during the year by ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites), who are the professional advisers to the World Heritage Committee and UNESCO on cultural nominations. The role of ICOMOS is to determine the "outstanding universal significance" (to quote the Convention) of these sites, and also to comment on their authenticity, state of conservation, and management.
The nomination of the Potala Palace is a controversial one. It is to be anticipated that it will raise a political storm, since supporters of the Dalai Lama have been assiduous in their campaign of protest against the destruction and degradation of Buddhist buildings in Tibet. It remains to be seen if this will rival the scenes in the World Heritage Committee that accompanied the nomination by Jordan of the Old City of Jerusalem in 1981, at a time when the entire city was already an integral part of Israel.
The Republic of Korea ratified the Convention in 1991, but has so far not made any nominations to the World Heritage List. Japan, by contrast, which did not ratify the Convention until 1992, has characteristically approached the subject in a systematic manner. Two successful nominations were made in 1993: the Buddhist monuments of Horyū-ji and Himeji-jō (the 17th-century Castle of the White Heron). The documentation provided by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunka-chō) was outstanding in every way. Two ICOMOS missions in 1993 visited both these two sites and others on the Japanese tentative list of properties being considered for nomination. These include the temples of Nara and Nikkō, the castles of Okinawa, the Shinto shrine at Itsukashima, the gassho wooden houses of Shirakawa, the castle of Hikone-jō, and a group of temples, shrines, gardens, and other monuments (including the palace of Nijō-jō) at Kyoto. The Kyoto nomination has been presented for consideration this year in Bangkok.

World Heritage Coordinator, ICOMOS, 75, rue du Temple, 75003 Paris
 

backup

Troubles in Shenzhen Economic Zone archaeology
  by Peter Thompson

Fieldwork in the Shenzhen Economic Zone was undertaken with JIU Shen Jiang and countryside helpers. Our site area is loosely covered by site 4 in the Xili Lake Basin of Nantou prefecture, Guangdong as it is listed in the book of Major Archaeological Finds (p. 138-47); but in fact it consists of 17 sites now identified by finds of jewelry, stone tools, pottery spindle whorls, anvils for forming coiled pottery, and small and large jars and urns as mapped on the surface. While doing this salvage work, time and again we were told if we had visited this or that place earlier, hundreds of artefacts were to be seen undamaged. No one has told the citizens what to look for or how to report finds such as these. Only last year, a superb site of mainly Zhou-period remains with some earlier neolithic tools was bulldozed away to make a road entrance for a new zoo and entertainment complex. This year we've found two more adjacent sites on two hillsides across a small valley. The finds of one reflect Warring States time and the arrival of Chu bronze artefacts: dagger, axe, axe fragment and part of a knife or shaving tool. Among the potsherds were Spring & Autumn and Warring States forms. The opposite site is all of late Neolithic (with Tang fragments) including an embossed earthenware beaker with painted abstract iron oxide pattern, unique it seems. We believe the valley carries an ancient trackway North to South.
Our finds, in addition to being written up into an unpublished paper with maps and photographs, were related at a conference where they were described as 'magnificent' and the work said to have contributed as a 'tremendous result' to the 'explosive increase' of new discoveries. During the fieldwork we reported annually to several ministries and the Department of Experts to which JIU and I are accredited. We also have photographic proof and a video tape of myself presenting the first finds to Shenzen Museum as shown on public television. Dispite this accolade, when our work was incorporated into the Archaeological Finds from the Pearl Delta in Guangdong China, compiled by Shenzen Museum et al. (Chinese University Press, Hong Kong, ISBN 962-201-524-7), it was not credited as had been promised under the intellectual property laws. Some efforts were made to prevent our complaint about this by denouncing me as a 'foreign spy' and smuggler to the local Public Security Office. We were ordered to desist from our field studies, but in November 1993 I was informed from Beijing that our work was legitimate.

Shenzhen University, Chaoxi Building, Apt. B307, Guangdong Province 518060 PRC
 

backup

A year with the Japanese Palaeolithic
  by Anthony Sinclair

From September 1992 to August 1993, I had the oppurtunity to spend a year in Japan, studying Japanese and learning about Japanese Palaeolithic archaeology as a scholar with the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, affiliated as a Visiting Scholar in the Archaeological Institute & Museum at Meiji University, Tokyo. Meiji is one of the major private universities in Japan and has an important place in the history of Palaeolithic research. The excavation of the first proven site from the Pleistocene era, Iwajuku, was undertaken by teachers and students from Meiji. Later, during the excavation of the Sunagawa site, researchers from Meiji first utilised core and flake refitting for the study of site structure. This method has now become almost the standard method of Palaeolithic site excavation in Japan. Meiji is also associated with the excavation of the site cluster at Tsukimino, situated in the heart of Tokyo.
Before going to Japan, I was unsure of what to expect of Japanese universities or the study of archaeology in Japan. At Meiji, I was made to feel very much at home, participating in lectures, seminars and field trips. Japanese archaeology appears to be going through an interesting time at the moment. All the people I spoke to were very interested in what is happening in archaeology outside of Japan. I had thought that I might be spending most of my time talking about the Palaeolithic material of Europe; instead, it was my knowledge of theoretical developments in archaeology that was most called upon. There is a feeling that something is happening in Europe and America and they want to be a part of it. I was very impressed by the efforts of teachers and students alike to read their way into this literature, as it is not that easy to read even if English is your first language.
My own research intentions were two-fold: to find out what is currently happening in Japanese Palaeolithic studies, and to consider the potential of Japanese archaeological material for developing more complex interpretations of Palaeolithic gatherers and hunters. Within Palaeolithic archaeology itself, it is a period of great change. 1992 witnessed the opening of the museum of Palaeolithic archaeology at the site of Iwajuku in Gunma Prefecture [MUSEUM NEWS] and the publication of Hiroyuki SATO's The Structure and Development of the Japanese Palaeolithic. Sato argues that there is a need for change to a more socio-ecological approach, within an evolutionary context, which also takes account of structure and ideology. This owes much not only to Binford's theoretical writings and his work among the Nunamiut but also to Watanabe's study of the Ainu way of life. Examples of such an approach can be seen in the interpretation by both Sato and Tamura of a binary structure in the stone tool industries at the time of the introduction of the knife tool industries before the AT tuff (ca. 22,000 yrs bp).
Whilst current Japanese researchers are looking outside of Japan for inspiration, there is much to be gained by Palaeolithic scholars in looking the other way round. In Europe, we are at an interpretive impasse at the moment. Although the use of faunal remains provides some basic information on possible activities that were carried out at sites, interpreted as a site's function, they do not provide other information about non-subsistence activities. This is further exacerbated by the fact that most sites are cave sites where spatial resolution has either not been looked for or is difficult to get. In Japan though, whilst faunal data is almost non-existant, the presence of much data on site structure from open air sites of various sizes opens up new possibilities. The Japanese emphasis on the identification of activity areas, their hierarchy and relationships means that we can begin to look at contexts and consider the relationships between people within sites, and between sites as opposed to the simple identification of site function. It will make it more possible to consider how many people went to a site and how long they stayed. From this, we can begin to consider the structure of hunter-gatherer societies and nature of mobility at this time. Data on raw materials reveals patterns of resource exploitation and the changing nature of the relationships between different areas. Whilst studies of the techniques of stone tool working in concrete situations allow an analysis of the nature of structure and practice in technical cognition, it is the potential for these social and technological studies that I believe exists in the Japanese archaeological record that I shall be making the basis of my future research in Japan.
My initial period in Japan has convinced me of the richness of the data to be explored and I am looking forward to returning to continue this work.

Flat 29, 50 Mariner Ave., Edgbaston, Birmingham, Reference: B16 9DT England

Sato, Hiroyuki (1992) The structure and development of the Japanese Palaeolithic. Tokyo: Kashiwa Shōbō. (in Japanese)
 

backup

The Jindo logboat
  by MCI (Mokp'o Conservation Institute)

Between November 1991 and June 1992, the Mokp'o Conservation Institute of Maritime Archaeological Finds excavated a dug-out boat at the present shoreline of Jindo Island, off the southwestern corner of the Korean Peninsula. The wreckage was situated in a drainage canal cutting through reclaimed land. The bow of the boat had already decayed away and the upper part of the starboard side had been severely eroded by exposure to air. The remains of the logboat measure 16.85 m maximum length, 2.34 m maximum breadth, and 0.70 m deep at midsection. The thickness of the timber as hollowed out is between 10 and 23 cm.
The boat was basically hollowed from a hugh tree trunk, but it consisted of three parts: main body, stem and stern. Thus, it can be classified as a 3-piece logboat. The prow of the vessel is relatively narrower and lower compared to the stern. It is assumed that six bulkheads were installed in the interior and a sort of fender was attached to both exterior sides of the hull. The members were fastened with iron nails, and vestiges of putty were found in the crevices and joints. One mast seat exists at the front of the third bulkhead. The whole exterior of the hul lwas charred by fire.
The Jindo logboat is regarded as a Chinese vessel because it has some characteristics of typical Chinese boatbuilding techniques, such as the inclusion of bulkheads, mast seat, and the use of iron nails and putty. The existence of hollows into which coins could be inserted to ensure safe sailing suggests it was built in Fujian province on the southeastern coast of China. The timbers also came from trees which mainly grow in southern China: camphor (Cinnamomum camphora) and Chinese red-pine (Pinus massoniana). It is thus thought the boat was built in China.
Among the coins, the latest minted was a zheng-he-tong-bao dating between AD 1111-1117. The boat timbers and putty lime have been radiocarbon dated to AD 1260-1380. 226 sherds of pottery were found under the boat; the majority date to the Koryŏ Dynasty of Korea (11th-14th centuries). [extracted from the English summary of Report on the Excavation of Jindo Logboat; PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED].

Mokp'o Conservation Institute, 37 Yonghai-dong, Mokp'o, Geonnam, South Korea 530-380

backup

CHINA ROUND-UP
 

Middle-Range research is alive and well in China! The report included here is the second one in as many issues to deal with the topic of ceramic ethnoarchaeology in China (see the report by Anne Underhill in EAAN-nouncements 11). It is hoped that western archaeologists can continue making use of the large body of work published by Chinese ethnologists and take advantage of fieldwork opportunities which do not necessarily entail excavation and its attendant logistical intricacies. Chinese archaeologists have themselves been carrying out ethnoarchaeological investigations similar to our own and I hope to include one report on this topic by a Chinese archaeologist in the next issue. In the meantime, I encourage you to send me any account of fieldwork you have recently carried out in China. Francis Allard, Dept of Anthropology, Forbes Quad, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15260. FAX 412-648-2792; E-Mail: fnast1@vms.cis.pitt.edu
 

Ceramic ethnoarchaeology in Yunnan Province
  by William Longacre

In June 1993 I visited a series of villages in Yunnan Province to assess their potential as field sites for a future ceramic ethnoarchaeological project. I was most ably assisted by Mr. LI Yung-ti, a former graduate student at the University of Arizona and now at Harvard University. The trip was facilitated by the staff of the Yunnan Provincial Museum in Kunming and especially its director, Professor Li.
The villages selected were from two ethno-linguistic groups, the Wa and Dai minorities of southwest China. In all cases, descriptions of the pottery-making process at the various villages visited had been published in the 1960s by Chinese ethnologists and archaeologists. Sadly, by the summer of 1993, pottery-making had in most cases died out. Only in a few of the Dai villages was pottery-making still alive and well. In one of these, the community of Man Lang, there exists an active pottery industry in which about 25 potters produce a total of 500 pots per week. These pots are primarily used by three other groups inhabiting the mountains above Man Lang. These are the Aini (a 'branch' of the Hani minority), the Blang and the Lahu peoples. The pots include a variety of rice cooking vessels, vegetable/meat cooking pots, water vessels, tea pots and a special pot for preparing the glutinous 'sticky' rice. This area would provide an ideal setting for production/distribution/consumption studies.
There is a possibility that a Ceramic Ethnoarchaeology Field School may be set up at Man Lang for those who participated in the Ceramic Analysis Workshop presented in China by myself and Professor Prudence Rice (Southern Illinois University) in 1992. I hope to initiate fieldwork with some graduate students at the University of Arizona in July 1995, beginning with a Field School lasting about one month. The graduate students plan on continuing to work in Man Lang for about one year. Interested parties may contact me for more information.

Dept of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ, USA

backup

ABSTRACTS

MA or MPhil theses

 

Die Residenz der Königin Himiko: Historische Nachrichten und archäologische Befunde-Ein Vergleich
Seyock, Barbara, M.A. 1993, Ruhr-Universität, Bochum, Germany [in German]

After a comparison of the historical news of the Wajinden and the archaeological findings of Yoshinogari, it is obvious that there are several concurrences. The economic and social structures of the Wa and the inhabitants of Middle and Late Yayoi Yoshinogari show some striking parallels. Also the fortified construction of the moated settlement seems to correspond to the description in the Wajinden.
Nevertheless these findings do not prove that with Yoshinogari the residence of Queen Himiko has been found. The criteria that can be used for a comparison are too unprecise in the end. Above all it is problematic that it was not possible to clarify defintely whether the cited descriptions of the Wajinden refer to Yamatai only or to the Wa lands as a whole. If the latter is true, there are just a few points left for investigation: for example, the "fortifications" that are "set up in a dignified way."
Thus there is no real evidence that Yoshinogari was the residence of Queen Himiko, but there is also no evidence for the reverse. Archaeological research in the next few years and decades will show if it is possible to find other sites similar in quality and complexity which could possibly have been the localisation of Yamatai. Positive evidence for a certain site will only be possible when the tomb of Himiko or the golden seal that was granted to her by the Emperor of Wei is found. Until then, Yoshinogari has to be considered as a possible localisation of the residence of Queen Himiko.
 

backup

Ph.D. dissertations
 

Palaeoethnobotany of later Jomon and Yayoi cultures of northeastern Japan: northeastern Aomori and southwestern Hokkaido
D'Andrea, A. Catherine, Ph.D. 1992, University of Toronto, Department of Anthropology

This research focuses on prehistoric subsistence and the development of farming in northeastern Honshu (Tohoku) and southwestern Hokkaido, Japan. Archaeobotanical sampling was carried out at the Tominosawa (late Middle Jomon) and Kazahari (Tokoshinai I, IV, and Fukurashima) sites in Aomori, and at the Mochiyazawa (Kohoku C2 and D) and Usu 10 (Obora A and Esan) sites in southwestern Hokkaido. Distributional analyses of plant remains from pithouses and other contexts are undertaken, and it is demonstrated that archaeobotanical remains can reflect the depositional history of these features. Plant remains recovered from Tominosawa suggest a focus on weed seed procurement, similar to contemporary sites in nearby southwestern Hokkaido. The Kazahari site produced evidence of Tokoshinai IV phase (Late Jomon) rice and foxtail and broomcorn millet dating to 2540±240 years bp (TO-2202). Sampling of later Fukurashima phase (Tohoku Yayoi) contexts produced evidence of rice, foxtail and broomcorn millet, Japanese barnyard millet, and hemp. These data demonstrate that rice and millets were present in northeastern Tohoku since the Tokoshinai IV phase, and that mixed farming systems were in place during later Fukurashima phase occupations. Ecological and ethnographic evidence is used to postulate that farming was posible in the area during the Tokoshinai phase.
This evidence suggests that rice was present in Aomori at a time comparable to the first known occurrence of rice in southwestern Japan. Consequently, the movement north of rice farming may not have been greatly affected by cultural and ecological factors. The Hokkaido Zoku-Jomon sites were occupied by mobile foragers. The remains of cultigens recovered from the Mochiyazawa site, indicate that acculturation by agriculturalists was well underway in southwestern Hokkaido by ca. 150 BC. The processes involved in the development and diffusion of farming into northeastern Japan are somewhat comparable to those evidenced in other temperate regions.
 

backup

Tribal segmentation and spatial variability: the social organization of a prehistoric Yangshao village settlement
Yun Kyun LEE, Ph.D. 1993, University of Michigan

Segmentation is one of the most fundamental organizational aspects of tribal societies and has been well documented in ethnology. The organizational principle of a segmentary society is egalitarianism. Decision making is based on consensus rather than powerful leadership. Although the society is arranged into a hierarchy of social groups, such as households, lineages, clans, and the tribe, units of the same level of organization are structurally and functionally equivalent; or they are autonomous to each other. Nonetheless, the expression of segmentary organization in archaeology has little been studied. This dissertation is an exercise to use the spatial data of a settlement site to monitor its segmentary organization. Spatial organization of behaviour is culturally significant. Human groups often use spatial separation and ordering to operationalize their cultural conceptions. Therefore, the spatial configuration of a settlement site should actualize the organizational principles of the community.
Jiangzhai (c. 6300 B.P.) is an extensively exposed Yangshao settlement site in North China. The site's settlement data are exceptionally well-documented. The layout of the site can be represented by concentric circles with a courtyard in the center, a residential area in the middle, and a cemetery in the periphery. The residential area was partitioned into five spatially separated and homogeneous sectors. Each sector was headed by a large house and contained a number of medium and small houses. Other features such as hearths and storage pits were evenly distributed among the five sectors. Although these features showed some formal variations, their distribution was not related to the spatial partitioning of the residential area. The locational patterns of artifacts also indicate that there were no specialization in food procurement and craft manufacturing among spatial sectors. All these support the proposition that the residential area was occupied by five autonomous social units. Further study of the distribution of various features indicates that each residential sector can be partitioned into smaller autonomous units. Most units contained one or several houses, hearths, and storage pits. Therefore, three levels of segmentary organization have been monitored by this spatial study: the households, clans, and the village community; and units of each level of organization were autonomous relative to one another.
 

backup

On the social complexity of the Erlitou culture
Zorn, Bettina, Ph.D. 1992, Beijing University [in Chinese]
This work does not focus on the question whether the Eriltou culture, situated in central China along the Yellow River, belongs to the Xia Dynasty or the Shang Dynasty. Instead, it tries to see the culture as embedded in the natural environment, its complexity as arising from the achievements of earlier Neolithic cultures.
Chapter 1 presents the research history of the Erlitou culture. Chapter 2 discusses the Erlitou culture in relation to the concepts of civilization, culture, history, dynasty, and social complexity. Terms like civilization or culture show a variety of meanings not all of which are suited to the problem of this culture. The author applies the concept of social complexity to the Erlitou culture as a neutral measurement in order to analyze the archaeological culture. Chapter 3 looks at the general geographical condiitions like climate, soils, natural resources, etc. in the Erlitou catchment during the Holocene which favoured development in this area. In Chapter 4, the Erlitou culture is analyzed first by its most famous site, Erlitou, and others of its type in the center of the culture; second, by other archaeological types such as the Dongxiafeng in the northern area of Erlitou activity or Xiawanggang in the southern area; and third, by the culture as opposed to its neighboring cultures and their so-called interaction sphere. Chapter 5 takes a closer look at the culture's social complexity, identifying features resulting from different driving forces (inner and outer influences). An appendix lists relevant archaeological sites and their (Erlitou) material.
 

backup

JOBS & GRANTS

ACADEMY OF KOREAN STUDIES
The Academy of Korean Studies near Seoul offers a Korean Language Program, covering elementary and intermediate Korean, and a Korean Culture Program during the summer. The culture program is open to "professional researchers or university lecturers involved in Korean studies" who can understand the Korean-language lectures. The language program is also open to them, and undergraduate juniors and seniors, and graduate students enrolled in MA or PhD programs related to Korean studies. Generous financial aid is available to all participants. The application deadline is May 31st of each year. Contact: The Director, Korean Language and Culture Program, Graduate School, Academy of Korean Studies, 50 Unjung-dong, Pandang-gu, Songnam-si, Kyonggi-do 463-791 Korea.

SSRC KOREAN STUDIES PROGRAM
Research planning grants are available in order to identify topics that the Joint Committee on Korean Studies (JCKS) considers to be of particular interest and significance, 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: Korea Program, Social Science Research Council, 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 212-661-0280. Deadline: 1 November 1994.

TOYOTA VISITING PROFESSORSHIP IN JAPANESE STUDIES
The Center for Japanese Studies at the University of Michigan invites nominations and applications for the Toyota Visiting Professorship for the academic year from September 1995 through April 1996. Applications are restricted to Japanese citizens only. The recipient will be expected to conduct a program of research during residence, give occasional lectures, and engage in various activities with university and non-university audiences. While not a requirement, priority will be given to nominees willing to teach a regular graduate or undergraduate course for one semester. Salary will be provided at a competitive level reflecting rank and experience of the awardee. Travel expenses will be provided, and appropriate office facilities will be made available, along with research and clerical assistance. Applications in English are due by 30 April 1994. Forms available from: Prof. Jennifer Robertson, Director, CJS, 108 Lane Hall, Ann Arbor MI 48109-1290 USA. 313-764-6307; FAX 313-936-2948.

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. Round-trip airfare and a monthly stipend are included. Two copies of the application form and research proposals are due by July 31st; successful applicants will be notified at the end of January.
KF also offers Korean language training fellowships for study at a Korean university language institute for a period of six to twelve months. Tuition and a monthly allowance are provided. Two copies of the application form are due by July 31st; successful applicants will be notified at the end of January.
Contact: Personnel Exchange Department, The Korea Foundation, CPO Box 2147, Seoul, Korea +82-2-753-6553.

GRANTS RECEIVED

Korea Foundation
Ruraz, Joanna (Warsaw Univ) "History of Kaya" Jun-Nov 1993, Seoul
Pankaj, Narenda M. (Washington Univ, St. Louis) "Silla Buddhist relations with Sui & Tang"
Kourbanov, Sergei (Instute of Oriental Studies, St. Petersburg) "The land system of Koryo Kingdom"
Thompson, G.B. (Univ Otago) "Early rice farming of Korea"
Tubielewicz, Jolanta (Univ Warsaw) "Ancient Korean-Japanese relations from recent archaeological discoveries" 15 Sept-14 Nov, 1992.

CCK (Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation)
Max Plank Society (Germany) "The Austronesian arrival: research project to study the connections between Taiwan and the Papua New Guinean populations of the Trobrianders and the Roro"
British Library (UK) "Documents from Chinese Central Asia: a complete database of the Stein collection in the British Library"

Japan Foundation
XU, Bing Kun (Liaoning Univ) "Comparative study of Japanese and Chinese Archaeology" Kashiwara Archaeological Institute, Nara 93/6-93/12
YOON, Hong-Key (Univ Auckland) "A study of Japanese geomentality and cultural landscape with special reference to temple towns and temple gardens" Okayama Univ, 93/1-93/4
Tsurumi, Patricia (Univ Victoria) "From earliest times to the present: a history of Japanese women" Kyoto Seika Univ 92/9-93/8
Tonomura, Hitomi (Univ Colorado) "Sun goddess and storm god: gender and sexuality in Japan's creation myth" Osaka Univ of Foreign Studies 93/6-94/4
Cseh, Eva (F. Hopp Museum) "Research studies in connection with the old Japanese art objects in Hungary" Gakushuin Univ 92/11-93/11
Lohani, Binayak (Tribhuvan Univ, Nepal) "The origin of Buddhism in Japan: comparative study of the Chinese and Japanese Buddhism" The Eastern Institute 93/5-94/5
Wan, Jun (State Bureau for Preservation of Cultural Relics, China) "Comparative study of the preservation of archaeological sites in China and Japan" Tokyo National Research Institute of Cultural Properties 93/11-94/5
Prasartset, Chompunut (Silpakorn Univ, Thailand) "Comparative study on the pigments of ancient Japanese and Thai wall paintings" Nara National Cultural Properties Research Institute 93/3-93/4
Edet, Abu Solomon (National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria) "Research studies into the composition, construction and deterioration of ethnographic museum wooden objects, and advances in restoration techniques" Tokyo National Cultural Properties Research Institute 94/3-94/9
Green, Jeremy (Western Australian Museum) "Maritime archaeological investigation of Kublai Khan shipwrecks" Tokyo Univ of Mercantile Marine
Noijarern, Pramuel (Office of the National Culture Commission, Thailand) "Administration of cultural activities in Japan" Tsukuba Univ 93/10-93/12
Temu, Victoria Asantel (National Arts Council, Tanzania) "Administration of cultural activities" Tokyo Univ Foreign Studies 93/5-93/11
Masona, Tafirenyika (National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe) "Training for planning, management and marketing of cultural resources" Tokyo National Cultural Properties Research Institute
 

backup

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.

An unusual museum has been established in Portland, Oregon documenting Chinese immigration and commercial establishment in the area during the late 19th century gold rush days. The building of the Kam Wah Chung Co. & Chinese herbal pharmacy has been purchased and turned into a Chinese folk museum with accoutrements of the day. (p RUNNING BIBLIOGRAPHY: Cheng Y.C. 1993).

Korea will be getting its first international ethnography museum in the form of the Taejon Expo memorial museum, to be housed in the Peace and Friendship Pavilion. Departing exhibitioners from nations around the world donated items from their pavilions to form the nucleus of the collection of folk crafts and other nationally significant materials.

An on-site survey of Korean relics at the Palace Museum in Beijing is being conducted by Korean and Chinese scholars with support from the Korea Foundation. The Foundation dispatched Prof. Hwi-Joon AHN (Director of Seoul National University Museum) for initial discussions in August 1993.

An exhibition on early Chinese bronzes from the Klingenberg Collection was shown at the Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst, Berlin until 9 Jan 94.

There is talk of building a museum to house the female horserider statuettes of Early Han date discovered in the Xi'an airport construction (p NOTEWORTHIES 11-5). The museum, if built, will be located 22 km south of the city.

In her review of the International Symposium on Ancient Ceramics 1992, Pam Vandiver notes that "The pholosophical bent of Chinese museums is such that the critical results of technical studies are regularly reported in labels and often at the backs of display cases along with artistic masterpieces and broken artifacts. Unlike American museums, where such technical information usually is omitted in the belief that the public would not be interested, tourist and museum-goers in China enthusiastically support exhibits in which geological, technological, and scientific information is incorporated succinctly in to the displays." (Asian Perspectives 32.2: 239).

The Free China Review (Feb 1994) carries an editorial pointing out that half the collection (ca. 325,000 items) of the National Palace Museum in Taipei consists of books and documents removed from the Forbidden City. The article laments the destruction of more recent government documentation in urban renewal projects, decrying the lack of a scheme to preserve such records.

The National Contemporary Museum in Seoul hosted an exhibit, "Ah! Koguryo!... the wall-painting exhibition of Jian ancient tomb of 1,500 years ago" in November, attracting over 15,000 people per day. Prof. SOHN Pow-key, archaeologist at Dankook University, explains "This remarkable attention to Koguryo by Koreans is caused by their painful experience with the Korean war and the division of the nation. Koreans' nostalgia for Koguryo is directly related to their wish for the unification of the country and their search for spiritual origins." The exhibit now travels to Taejon, Kwangju and Pusan; and the costumes shown in the mural paintings have inspired the high fashion designer Lee to show a new line of clothes called "Original Lee Koguryo" in Paris this year.
(Shisa Journal 222: 76-79, 27 Jan 94)

An English leaflet for the Kobe City Museum states that the new museum is a conflation of two former museums: the Municipal Archaeological Art Museum and the Municipal Namban Art Museum. Since Kobe "had been an international harbor since old years [sic] and had been playing a role as the gate and window of cultural intercourse between foreign countries and Japan, the theme of the new museum was settled as 'International Culture Exchange: contact between Eastern and Western cultures and their changes by the interaction'." The Museum occupies the former Bank of Tokyo, Kobe Branch building. It faces Kyomachi street, which was once the central place of the former Kobe Foreigners' Settlement.

In March 1993, the Ch'ŏngju Early Printing Museum was opened on the site of Hŭngdŏk-sa Temple, the birthplace of moveable metal type. The museum chronicles the development of world printing history in which the printing of a 2-volume book at Hŭngdŏk-sa in 1377 predated the Gutenberg development of moveable type in Europe. The temple site was excavated in 1985, and half the museum's exhibits are devoted to the major discoveries at Hŭngdŏk-sa: metals, porcelains and tiles. (Koreana 7.2: 24, 1993)

Anthony Sinclair exclaims of the new Iwajuku site museum, which opened in 1992 in Gunma Pref., Japan, (p REVIEWS & REPORTS): "The museum at Iwajuku is astounding. It is one of the most beautiful museums I have set foot in. It also provides an excellent introduction to the current state of Palaeolithic archaeology in Japan from the discovery of Iwajuku to the present state of interpretation of site structure, techniques of stone working and the interpretation of raw material data."

 

backup

LECTURES

Sheffield University, Centre for Korean Studies
27 Apr 93 Prof. KWON Kyu-sik (Kyongbuk National Univ) "A Korean pilgrimage: the Kat pa'ui Buddhist rock sculpture and Korean religious consciousness"
10 Nov 91 Dr. Gina L. Barnes (St John's College, Cambridge) "Iron-clad warriors: proto-historic relations between Korea and Yamato"

University of Michigan, Center for Japanese Studies
10 Mar 94 Prof. Maribeth Graybill (Swarthmore College) "Kinship and status issues in Japanese courtly portraits of the Kamakura period"
24 Mar 94 Prof. Joan Piggott (Cornell Univ) "When the Emperor was a Woman'
 

backup

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. JEWISH SETTLEMENTS IN CHINA
    Recently the States of Israel and China decided to jointly rebuild the Great Synagogue of Kaifeng, which was served as the center for Jews, including the Saphardic group, in China during the Renaissance. Coincidentally, Fudan University in Shanghai has just opened a new Judaic Institute. To celebrate these events, a symposium is planned to be held at Fudan University in the fall of 1994 or spring of 1995 on the topic of the "History of Jewish settlements in China". A special exhibition and a series of lectures from US, Japan, Israel, China and Europe will also held during the symposium. Abstracts of papers offered for the symposium should be sent to: Dr. Alfonz Lengyel, President, Fudan Museum Foundation, 1522 Schoolhouse Road, Ambler PA 19002 USA. FAX 215-699-6448.
     
  2. JAPANESE DISCOVERIES
    Earliest loom parts: Wooden components of a backstrap loom and clay spindle whorls have been discovered from a Late Jomon site (Yuusu phase) in Fukuoka City, north Kyushu. Dating to the 4th-3rd centuries BC, they are a century earlier than the known Yayoi examples. It is thought highly likely the tools were introduced with rice agriculture. (Asahi Shimbun 30 Nov 93)
    Animal pictures on narrow sword:
    A narrow bronze sword kept in the collections of the Rosaida Hachimangu in Kochi Prefecture has been revealed to bear raised-line cast motifs of egrets and deer of the same style as on bronze bells. Two other broad bronze swords are known with similar decoration. It is thought that the Rosaida sword was made in the Kinai at a bronze bell workshop. (Asahi Shimbun 30 Nov 93)
    [This adds one more piece of evidence to the cross-over of bronze weapon and bell spheres in Yayoi Japan.]
    Decorated pebbles: The Todoroki shellmound in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, has yielded objects interpreted as 1 engraved and 2 painted pebbles dating to the Early Jomon period (7000-5500 bp). The paint is reddish-brown in colour and through to be haematite or ochre. The designs are interpreted as an animal and a human. The engraving portrays an anthropomorphic form seemingly holding objects in both hands. The pebbles are oblong, 8cm, 11cm, and 13cm in length respectively. (RGB, The Artefact 16: 60, 1993)
    Earlier Jomon pottery: A site report from Shimomouchi, Nagano-ken in Japan, details very early pottery fragments at 16,000 bp. The thumbnail-sized pieces are too small to tell what kind of ceramic form they belonged to. The pieces are dated by radiocarbon (on charcoal). Site report: Shimomouchi Site, Nagano. Nagano Board of Education, 1992 (in Japanese).
    Refitted flakes between sites: Flake refitting usually is undertaken at individual sites to show the movements of knappers around various areas of the site. For the first time, flakes have been refitted from different sites in Japan, especially Yakurai-yama #10 and Yakurai-hara #15 in Miyagi Prefecture. These are among 5-8 sites which the knapper(s) regularly visited. Site report: Discovery of the refitted flakes between five sites in the Late Paleolithic Age of Japan, by FUJIMURA Shinichi and YAMADA Akihiro. Memoir of Tohoku Historical Museum, vols 16, 17. Sendai (in Japanese).
    Jomon-period sketches: A pottery fragment dating to the Final Jomon period bearing a series of four sketches was found at the Funabashi site, Kashihara-shi, Osaka pref. Such pictorial pottery was previously thought to have first appeared only in the Middle Yayoi period. The vessel is thought by MIZUNO Masayoshi (Nara Univ) to have been made on the continent. (Asahi 4 Aug 93)
    Medieval port excavation: The site of Tosaminato in Aomori Pref is believed to be the remains of a commercial district associated with the Ando family, rich merchants who figured prominently in coastal trade. Teams from the National Museum of Japanese History and Toyama University have recovered sherds of porcelain and pottery made in China and Korea as well as the Hokuriku and Tokai areas of Japan during the 12th-15th c. Prof. UNO Takao (Toyama Univ) emphasises the significance of the trade and commerce in eastern Japan, outside of the main industrial center of Kyoto. (Asahi 8 Aug 93)
    Alternate-field farming: Excavations at the Shiroi-Fukiya site (Komochi, Gunma Pref.) have revealed what is believed to be Japan's oldest pasture land (dating back to the Kofun period) with evidence that the practice of alternating dry field farming with pasturage was already practiced in the 6th c. (previously estimated at 12-14th c. in Japan, 11c. in Europe). Horses were grazed on eulalia (susuki) grass and crops and pasturage were alternated every ten years or so. (Nihon Keizai Shimbun 17 Aug 93)
    Shugendō artifacts: Some 3000 artifacts including Heian-period pottery have been discovered in a natural cave known as Shō-no-Iwaya near Daifugen peak, Nara pref. The cave was a well-known location for training in Shugendō (mountain asceticism) practices.
    (Mainichi 27 Aug 93)
    Takamori site: A date of 300,000+ bp is proposed for this site near Tsukidate town, Miyagi Pref. on the basis of artifact occurrences at below the oldest dated key tephra layer. The artifacts comprise flakes (some retouched), small bifacially worked tools, cores, bipolar cores and scrapers, notch, ax, drill, pointed tool. Only 2 pieces could be refitted. (Current Research in the Pleistocene 10: 28, 1993)
     
  3. CHINESE MAPS
    Ancient Maps of China, vol. 1, compiled by the Institute for the History of Natural Science, Beijing, is the first of a 3-volume set, beginning with the Warring States period of 475 BC. Hundreds of color and monochrome plates of maps, some architectural drawings and paintings of geographical significance are reproduced. Some of the maps were produced mainly to serve political and military needs; others represent areas as large as the then-known world down to gardens and temples. The two following volumes will include maps from AD 1300 to the present. Contact: Milwaukee Map Service Inc., 959 N. Mayfair Road, Milwaukee WI 53226 USA 414-774-1300; FAX 414-774-3181. (Asian Studies Newsletter Nov/Dec 1993)
     
  4. GHENGIS KHAN EXPLORATIONS
    An archaeological crew led by EGAMI Namio and sponsored by the Yomiuri newspaper finished its 4th and final season in Mongolia last summer. In 1992, the crew rediscovered Aurag Khan's capital, which had originally been recognized in the late 1960s 240 km east of Ulan Bator. It covered 40 ha and consisted of building foundations (13 of which were attributed to the palace itself) and a Chinese-style temple. Six gold coins minted in 1189 were recovered. The project also included survey by helicopter-borne electromagnets, ground radar, and satellite imagery analysis. Over 3500 graves were identified, and 35,000 lithics were recovered. The project was closed by a symposium organized by KATO Shimpei (Tsukuba Univ) in Ulan Bator in August 1993. (from Far Eastern Economic Review xx)
     
  5. BRITISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
    "If you are interested in archaeological bibliography then you should know of the British Archaeological Bibliography which appears twice a year and covers not just all publication on the archaeology of Britain, but an increasingly wide selection of publications of general archaeological interest, eg on matters of theory, methodology, archaeological science, cultural resource management, and so on. An annual subscription to BAB costs £95 for institutions, £42 for individuals and £17 for those in full-time education or retired. Contact the CBA for further details of prices in dollars and for overseas posting. We also produce a wide variety of other publications, such as Research Reports, Practical Handbooks, and a magazine called British Archaeological News which comes out 10 times a year"
    BAB is available from the council for British Archaeology, Bowes Morrell House, 111 Walmgate, York YO1 2UA, UK (tel. +44-904-671417, FAX +44-904-671384; email (Internet): 100271.456@compuserve.com (ARCH-L, 15 Oct 93)
     
  6. SYLLABUS BANK ON KOREA
    A database of course syllabi on any aspect of Korean studies (North and South, including archaeology) is being established at the University of Southern California. If you are teaching any courses with substantial Korea components, please send copies of your syllabi (one hard copy and a 3.5 or 5.2" computer disk in WordPerfect 5.1 or ASCII) to: Prof. Eun Mee KIM, Dept of Sociology, Univ Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2539, USA 213-740-3537. Suggestions regarding the format and content and the funding to compile and publish and database are welcome. It will be updated periodically.
     
  7. PAEKCHE RELICS RETURNED TO KOREA
    A cultural mission from Japan loaned the Taejon Expo ancestral tablets and 17 cultural relics of a Paekche royal family who immigrated to Miyazaki Prefecture after the fall of the Paekche kingdom to Shilla in 660 AD. Some of the materials had been housed at the Mikado and Hiki temples. The descendants of the two immigrant Paekche kings Chongka and Pokchi populate the current villages of Nanko-mura and Kiji-cho in Miyazaki, and it was these residents who voluntarily arranged the loan of the objects to Korea with the help of the Taejon Expo Organizing Committee. (Korea Newsreview, 30 Oct 93: 28)
     
  8. ARS ORIENTALIS
    This journal solicts scholarly manuscripts on the art and archaeology of Asia, welcoming a broad range of themes and approaches including brief research notes and responses to articles in previous issues. The contents of the annual issues are overseen by an Editorial Board comprised of University of Michigan faculty members and an Editorial Committee comprised of art specialists at the Freer Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Submissions must be made in English, and all non-English quotations provided in translation. Authors are asked to follow The Chicago Manual of Style, 13th ed. A style sheet is available from the managing editor. Fold-out illustrations and/or color plates will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Contact: Managing Editor, Ars Orientalis, Department of the History of Art, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1357 USA.
     
  9. KOREAN STUDIES IN CHINA
    The Korea Foundation has formulated a support plan for Korean Studies at universities and research in China. Research on Korean language and culture will be particularly encouraged at Beijing Language and Culture University through the Korean Education and Culture Research Center there. (Korea Foundation Newsletter 2.2, '93). [Is archaeology included in their vision of culture, one wonders?]
     
  10. INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ASIAN STUDIES, LEIDEN
    The IIAS was recently founded and officially opened in October 1993 as a post-doctoral institute under the aegis of the University of Amsterdam, the Free University, Leiden University and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Institute's aim is to encourage Asian studies in the humanities and social sciences and to set up scientific programmes in these fields of study, both for Dutch and foreign researchers, and to strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation among the disciplines. A budget of approximately US$3 million has been approved by The Netherlands Ministry of Education for the period 1992-95; additional funding is expected. Contact: Paul van der Velde, editor IIAS Newsletter, c/o WAL Stokhof, IIAS PO Box 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
    (EACS Newletter 1, Dec. 1993)
     
  11. SINOLOGICAL BOOKSHOPS IN TOKYO
    For hard-to-find volumes on Chinese subjects, Mme Lilian Pudles has compiled an annotated list of specialist bookshops in Tokyo. For a photocopy of the list, contact: Georges Métailié, Association Francaise d'Etudes Chinoises, 54 bd Raspail, 75006 Paris.
    (EACS Newletter 1; Dec. 1993)
     
  12. ARTIFACT PENS
    From Anita Cohen-Williams via ARCH-L (10 Nov 93): "Throw away your crow quills! Dump that India ink down the sink! I have discovered a great way to label artifacts using a pen that writes on just about anything! It is a Micron Pigma made in different sizes (.01, .03, .05 and on up) by Sakura Color Products Corp. These pens have black waterproof ink and will write on ceramics (both glazed and not), metal, glass, bone, shell, wood, etc.
    The pens cost about US$2 apiece. They don't smear, run, or blot, and even those of us whose hands shake can write tiny artifact numbers on items. I prefer the .03 and .01 pens. Art stores carry these pens as do some office product places."
     
  13. PAEKCHE METAL WORKSHOP
    An excavation in Puyo in southwestern Korea by the Puyo National Museum has turned up evidence of a metal workshop possibly connected to the Paekche capital of Sabi (occupied xx-xx). Stone foundations of at least 3 buildings and many roof tiles as well as a gilt bronze censor in the traditional Chinese shape of a mountain surmounted by a phoenix were excavated in December 1993. One of the buildings is interpreted as a subsidiary workshop with the main workshop possibly nearby. (Shisa Journal 219: 16, 6 Jan 1994; The Museum News 269: 1, 1 Jan 1994)
     
  14. WORLD-WIDE-WEB (WWW)
    Ken Stuart at Cornell University has established an Internet WWW archaeological fieldwork server containing information about excavations/surveys/projects seeking workers. The system allows a potential volunteer/worker seeking a project to connect to the server, look at a directory based on geographical location, then search among those projects listed to find those that look interesting. Further contact information, applications forms and project descriptions can then be browsed and printed. For instructions on using the server, contact: kps1@cornell.edu (ARCH-L 12-13 Jan 94)
     
  15. SHELLMOUND REQUEST
    "I am looking for references regarding coastal and shell midden site formation processes and geoarchaeology. My current project involves a coastal midden on Nevis in the Lesser Antilles. I have obtained many of the major works (e.g. J.K. Stein, etc.). Most importantly, I need to know about any sources including consolidated sediment petrographic thin sections, the post-depositional behavior of carbonates, coastal sedimentology and pedology, land crab (Geocarcinus) behavior." Contact: Matt Tomaso, Dept Anthropology, Univ Texas, Austin TX, USA. TOMASO@UTXVMS.CC.UTEXAS.EDU
     
  16. ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH NEWS
    A "very nice newsletter", published quarterly, containing book reviews, conference paper titles, bibliographic info, etc. Subscriptions at US$8/year. Contact: Pam Crabtree, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York 10003 USA.
     
  17. AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK AT YANGSHAO?
    Local officials in Henan Province are proposing to create an archaeological park on the site where J.G. Andersson's discovery of the Chinese Neolithic in 1921 inaugurated the study of Chinese prehistory. Architectural plans and illustrations for the park were presented to the 1993 Yangshao Site Preservation Conference, held at Mianchi County, Henan on October 30-31, 1993. The plans included a Yangshao-style village, a wooded area with a series of tree houses, a museum, an altar, a large phallic monument (based on a Yangshao artifact discovered at another site), a restaurant and some accommodation. Entry to the park is to be either by road or by boat, up a narrow creek. A tourism official explained that for logistical reasons they needed a tourist attraction between Luoyang and Xi'an.
    The Yangshao Site Preservation Conference was attended by YU Weichao (National Museum of Chinese History), YAN Wenming (Beijing University), LIU Dongsheng and ZHOU Kunshu of the Institute of Geology (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences), and about 40 other experts and local officials, notably from the local Cultural Bureaux and tourism sections. Two foreign observers were present: Simon Holledge (London University) and Jim Railey (Washington University, St. Louis). (submitted by Simon Holledge)
     
  18. HERITAGE BULLETIN BOARD
    Heritage Interpretation International in cooperation with Massey University in New Zealand have developed a bulletin board for all interpreters, heritage managers, academics and students interested in the interpretation and presentation of the world's heritage. The purpose is to allow the free exchange of information and ideas on interpretation and the management of heritage sites world wide. It is hoped that it will also allow for the open discussion of issues of interest to heritage professionsals, academics and students. Please send conference announcements, problems, ideas, books and media lists, institute discussions, questions and answers. (from ARCH-L 3 Jan 94)
    In order to subscribe to the bulletin board, send the following message:
    SUBSCRIBE HERITAGE your name
    to: listserv@massey.ac.nz
    For other problems and information, contact K.Dewar@massey.ac.nz
     
  19. CLEARING THE KUMASO NAME
    The Kumaso are an ethnic group mentioned in the earliest Japanese chronicles as having occupied parts of western Kyushu Island now incorporated into Kumamoto Prefecture. Though they have a reputation for being 'barbarians', Prof. MORI Koichi (Doshisha Univ) says instead they "engaged in trade with China and had a high level of culture." Artifacts from the region include a rare bronze mirror with a gilt back (ryukin-jutai-kyō), designated as an Important Cultural Property, and Yayoi-period Menda-type pottery. The citizens of Menda Township in Kumamoto Prefecture have now launched a movement to rectify the image of the Kumaso through "archaeological study." (Sankei Shimbun 20 Aug 93) [Another example of the use of archaeology in establishing local identities within modern nation-states.]
     
  20. ANCIENT SIBERIANS
    A dwelling place of early humans has been found at Diring, south of Irkutsk, in Siberia. "Even the most conservative geologist will concede the artefacts are at least 200,000 years old," says Dr. Rob Bonnichsen of Oregon State University. (The Daily Telegraph 30 Dec 1993: 7)
     
  21. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES FOR ANTHROPOLOGISTS
    "This is a floppy disk journal of interest to anthropologists of all types. Perhaps you have a pet bibliography project you believe to be fairly comprehensive. If it is annotated either with paragraphs or key words and you are willing to put it on wordperfect for the IBM or just about any Macintosh program, please consider submitting it to ABA. A successful submission will earn you a 2-year subscription. Please contact the editor, Cheryl Claassen, to discuss a submission and format details. Bibliographies of any length can be accepted and turn-around time is ca. 6 weeks to issue. Most of the top research libraries in Canada and the USA subscribe. The journal will also publish citation analyses." Email: claassencp@appstate.bitnet (ARCH-L 21 Oct 93)
     
  22. PROTOHISTORIC YAMATO INDEX
    Anyone who owns a copy of Protohistoric Yamato: archaeology of the first Japanese state may now obtain an index to the volume by contacting: Dr. G.L. Barnes, Dept of Archaeology, Downing St., Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UK. FAX +44-223-333503, email:
    (internet) GLB1@HERMES.CAM.AC.UK
     

backup

CONFERENCES:

CONFERENCE CALENDAR

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

*Mar 20-27 '94: Late Palaeolithic-Early Neolithic of Eastern Asia and North America: success and cultural transformation, Vladivostok. [note change of dates] Themes: 1) Development of Late Palaeolithic cultures and the problems of transitional (Mesolithic) complexes-method and theory; 2) Forms of cultural and economical adaptation at the end of Pleistocene and Early Holocene (the origin of ceramics, the genesis of fishing and sea gathering; 3) The origin of Early Neolithic cultures, etc. Contact by Nov 30th: Dr. Nina A. Kononenko, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography, Pyshkinskaya St. 89, Vladivostok 690600 RUSSIA

*Mar 24-27, '94: AAS annual meeting, Boston at the Boston Marriott Copley Place

Mar 24-27 '94: Computer Applications in Archaeology CAA94, Glasgow University. Contact: Jeremy Huggett, Dept of Archaeology, Glasgow Univ, Glasgow, Scotland, email: JHUGGETT@uk.ac.gla.dish

Apr 4-8 '94: MRS Spring Meeting: Discussions on Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology, USA.

*Apr 6-8 '94: Joint East Asian Studies Conference (BAKS, BACS, BAJS), Boddington Hall, University of Leeds. Contact: Prof. Ian Neary, Contemporary Japanese Centre, Univ of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK.

Apr 11-13 '94: Wetland Archaeology & Nature Conservation: principles, problems & practice, University of Bristol, UK. First call for Papers. Contact Dr. Margaret Cox, Somerset Levels & Moors Archaeologist, Dept. for the Environment, Somerset County Council, County Hall, Taunton, Somerset TA1 4DY, UK. 0823-255426; FAX 0823-334346.

*Apr 17-23 '94: BUMA-3, the 3rd International Conference on the Beginning of the Use of Metals and Alloys, Sanmenxia. Contact ASAP: Prof. HAN Rubin, Institute of Historical Metallurgy, Univ of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083 China. +86-1-201-9944 x 2534, FAX +86-1-201-7283

Apr 18-24 '94: 59th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim, CA.

Apr 19-20 '94: 1994 Annual Meeting of the Paleoanthropology Society, held in conjunction with the SAAs, Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim, CA. Contact: Dr. John Yellen, NSF 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22230, USA.

May 9-14 '94: International Conference on Archaeometry, Ankara. Contact: Ay Melek Ozer, Dept of Physics, Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06531 Turkey. FAX 90-4-2101281.

May 13-17 '94: Megaliths and Social Geography, Sweden. Contact; County Museum of Skaraborg, Falköping, Sweden.

Jun '94: International Conference on Fresh Water and River Archaeology, College of North Wales, Bangor. Session: lake dwellings and crannogs, lake transport, riverside habitation sites, river transport, estuarine excavations, sink holes, inundated sites, drains and wells, boat finds from land-fill and drainage areas. Contact: Mensun Bound, MARE, Univ of Oxford, 4 Butts Rd, Horspath, Oxford, England.

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 '94: 15th International Radiocarbon Conference, Glasgow, Scotland.

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.

*29 Aug - 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.

*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 urgain, 303 rue Notre-Dame Est, 5th floor, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 3Y8. 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 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.

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.

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

backup

PAPERS READ

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

3RD INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON HUMAN PALEONTOLOGY, Jerusalem, 23-28 August 1992. Contact: The 3rd International Congress on Human Paleontology, c/o International Ltd., PO Box 29313, Tel Aviv 61292 Israel.

Zhou, Guoxing: New discoveries in the Yuanmou Basin, Yunnan Province, China
Shen, Guanjun: Progress in the dating of Paleolithic sites in China
Zhang, Yinyun: Evolutionary trends in the dental sample from the Zhoukoudian Homo erectus site
Tillier, Anne-marie: The Zhoukoudian juvenile individuals: their significance in the study of Asian Homo erectus

VALCAMONICA SYMPOSIUM 1992: PREHISTORIC ART AND TRIBAL ART, Montecampione, Italy 16-21 October 1992

Sasse, Werner: Prehistoric rock art in South Korea

SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF CHINA ON ANATOMICAL SCIENCES,
October 1992

Wu, Xinzhi and Brauer, Gunter: Anatomical differences of some cranial features in early Homo sapiens between China and Africa
Wu, Xinzhi: Human evolution in China-continuity or replacement
Wu, Rukang: Evolution and new evolution of humankind

KOREAN MATERIAL CULTURE STUDY DAY, 13 Feb 93, London. Organised by Ms. Beth McKillop, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Bailey, Lisa: Crowning glory-head ornamentation during the three Kingdoms period
Barnes, Gina: Protohistoric armour from the Korean peninsula
Biolley, Jehanne de: Glass vessels from Silla tombs in the Kyongju areas and their origins
Harrell, Mark: Buddhist art of the United Silla period
Wood, Nigel: the relationship between Chinese & Korean ceramic technology

SILK ROAD COINS AND CULTURE, 2-3 April 1993, British Museum, London. Contact: Ms. Helen Wang, Department of Coins, British Museum, Bloomsbury, London WC1, UK

Cribb, Joe: Siva-Wesho in Kushan and Kushano-Sasanian coin design
Tanabe, K.: The Kushano-Sasanians hidden in Roman and Chinese literary sources
Lieu, S.: From Egypt to Turfan: Manichaean texts and art from the Silk Road
Jayashinghe, C.: Foreign trade links with ancient Sri Lanka-numismatic and archaeological evidence
Wood, F.: Seals and cricket bats
Whitfield, S.: Bunhuang on computer
Whitfield, R.: Flowers and incense-Buddhist offerings at Dunhuang
Farrer, A.: From paper flowers to paradise paintings-comparative values in the pictorial materials from Cave 17, Dunhuang
Mielczarek, M.: Remarks on the numismatic evidence for the northern Silk Route
Nikitin: New finds of Sasanian and Central Asian coins from the southern Urals
Bopeamarchi, O.: Masten, a hitherto unknown Iranian ruler in India
Zeymal, Y.: coins from Takht-i Sangin
Wang, H.: Coins on the Silk Routes before the Tang period
Rhodes, N.: Tang Dynasty coins made in Xinjiang
Thierry, F.: On the Tang coins unearthed by Pelliot at Kucha: Kaiyuan, Qianyuan, Dali, Jianzhong, Zhong and Yuan characters
Porter, V.: A survey of Islamic coins found by Stein

TWO END POINTS OF THE STEPPE: KOREA AND HUNGARY IN THE ERA OF MIGRATION, Miskolc, Hungary, 14 Jun 1993. Organized by the Miskolc Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Profs LEE Ki-dong and LEE Ki-moon from Seoul participated in this conference.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHINESE ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY, 3-9 December 93, Taipei. For full programme in Chinese, contact: Dr. Yu-mei CHEN, Institute of History & Philology, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei, Taiwan

ERASMUS WORKSHOP ON IDEOLOGY & INSTITUTIONS IN JAPAN,

9-11 December 93, Leiden, The Netherlands. Hosted by Prof. Wm. Boot, Centre for Japanese & Korean Studies, Univ of Leiden
Bausch, Ilona: Clay figurines and their role in ritual during the Jomon period, as seen from the archaeological evidence of 'special context sites'
Kastrop, Gabriele: The development of the chieftain's position in the Late Yayoi and Early Kofun periods according to the archaeological record of settlement and graves
Kompier, Tom: The phases in the formation of the Japanese early state
Seyock, Barbara: The residence of Queen Himiko: the historical news of the Wajinden in comparison with the Yoshinogari site archaeological findings
Shinoto, Maria: Central Japanese burial systems and indigenous burial systems in south Kyushu-evidence for institutional regulation in religious, political or ethnic ideology

THEORETICAL ARCHAEOLOGY GROUP (TAG) CONFERENCE, 13-16 Dec 1993, Durham, UK

Sinclair, Anthony: Recent developments in the interpretation of the Palaeolithic in Japan

LE HOABINHIEN 60 ANS APRÈS MADELEINE COLANI, CONFÉRENCE ANNIVERSAIRE, 28 Dec 93-3 Jan 94, Hanoi. Contact: Prof. Ha Van Tan, Institute of Archaeology, Hanoi, Vietnam

Souhaité, Stéphanie: Madeleine Colani -une biographie
Ha Van Tan: Hoabinhian-a review
Shutler, Richard: Historic development of Hoabinhian concept
Hayden, Brian: The Southeast Asian Mesolithic in comparative perspective
Chu Van Tan: About periodization of Hoabinhian
Pham Li Huong: Radio-carbon dating of Hoabinhian
Nishimura, Masanari: The Hoabinhian viewed from the attributes analysis-implications from a comparative study of Bung Cave and Xom Trai Cave in northern Vietnam
Nguyen Van Binh: Preliminary report on Dieu rockshelter excavations
Bui Vinh: The post-Hoabinhian period in Vietnam
Ha Huu Nga: The relation between Bacsonian and Hoabinhian
Tran Quoc Vuong: The environment of the Hoabinhian
Hoang Xuan Chinh: The edge ground tools of Hoabinhian
Nguyen Thi Kim Dung: The traces of using on Hoabinhian tools
Trinh Nang Chung: The typology of Hoabinhian tools
Doan Duc Thanh: The experimental study of making and using the Hoabinhian tools
Dinh Trong Hieu: Film video: Hypothèse sur l'habitat hoabinhien en grottes avec présence de kjökkenmöddings-contribution de la recherche ethnographique et des méthodes expérimentales
Somsak Pramankij: An experimental study of the technic of making Mesolithic tools-one basic technic
Vadhana Subhavan: An attempt to classify Mesolithic tools recently discovered in Thailand
Santoni, Marielle and Pautreau, Jean-Pierre: L'abri sous roche de Pha Chang et les sites préhistoriques d'Ob-Luang, Hod, Province de Chiang Mai (Thailande)
Kamminga, Johan: Recent research on the stone assemblage from Sai Yok-implications for re-defining the Hoabinhian
Shoocongdej, Rasmi: The organization of technology in 'Hoabinhian' lithic assemplages from Lang Kamman Cave, western Thailand
Sin Sisakul: Paleoenvironmental geology of an archaeological site at Moh-Khiew Cave, Krabi Province, southern Thailand
Pookajorn, Surin: Human activities and environmental changes during the Late Pleistocene to the Middle Holocene in southern Thailand-a case studyt from recent excavation in 1991-1993, at Moh Khiew Cave and Sakai Caves (Krabi and Tang Provinces)
Albrecht, Gerd: Ethnoarchaeology in the rain forest of southern Thailand
Xie, Guangmao: The Lower Paleolithic in South China
Peng, Shuling: Pebble tools from primary laterite in South China
Li, Fuquiang: On the transition from Paleolithic Age to Neolithic Age in South China
Qin, Cailuan: On the transition from Paleolithic Age to Neolithic Age in Guangxi
Qiu, Licheng: On the cobble industry of prehistoric Guangdong Province, South China
He, Naihan: The discovery and research of the Mesolithic sites in South China
Wang, Dadao: Re-studies on the types of Yunnan Neolithic culture
O'Connor, Sue: Northern Australia-a Southeast Asian Province?
Bowdler, Sandra: The Hoabinhian in Australia: a retrospective review
Soejono, R.P.: The Hoabinhian in Indonesia
Corvinus, Gudrun: The Patu industry from the foothills of the Himalaya in Nepal
U. Nyunt Han: Prehistory in Myanmar
Ipoi Datan: Prehistoric cave burials from Niah and Mulu caves, Sarawak
Rahman, Mohd. Kamaruzaman Haji A.: The Hoabinhian site at Taat Cave, Upper Terengganu, Malaysia
Sieveking, Gale: The expansion of the Hoabinhian
Solheim, Wilhelm G., II: The Son Vi and 'Hoabinhian' in Japan
Viengkèo Souksavatdy: Prehistory in Laos
Nguyen Lan Cueng: The anthropological remains of Hoabinhian
Prapid Choosiri: an analysis of paleopathological changes in human skeletal remains from southern Thailand
Vu The Long: The relationship between the fauna in Hoabinh caves and the fossilized fauna of the Pleistocene in Vietnam
Yaowalak Chaimanee: Faunal remains from Moh Khiew Cave, Krabi Province, Thailand
Maloney, Bernard K.: Palynological evidence for the origin of the coconut
Bui Thi Mai: Principes d'analyse palynologique-méthodologie appliquée aux sites archéologiques
White, Joyce: The significance of the plant remains from the Hoabinhian sites of northwest Thailand-the view from northeast Thailand

 

Other conference reports:

Vandiver, Pamela B. (1993) "International Symposium on ancient Ceramics 1992: a review." Asian Perspectives 32: 239-44.
ANON (1993) "First AASV Symposium on Archaeological Dating." The Artefact: Pacific Rim Archaeology 16: 50-52.
ANON (1990) "Resolution of the International Symposium 'Chronostratigraphy of the Paleolithic in Asia and America'." Kogo Misul Saron 1: 277-80. (in English)
Renfrew, Colin (1993) "IIAS Workshop on the origin and past of Homo sapiens sapiens as viewed from DNA" (p above, p. 9)
 

backup

BOOK REVIEWS

 

Three recent works on Chinese oracle bone collections outside China

The increasing accessibility of China over the last decade should not imply neglect of excellent resources for Chinese archaeology which exist much closer to hand. The three works reviewed here provide a reminder of the outstanding materials available outside China in the field of Oracle Bone Studies (jiaguxue).

1) LI Xueqin, QI Wenxin and Sarah Allan: Yingguo suo cang jiagu ji [Oracle Bone collections in Great Britain], 4 vols. Beijing: Shangwu Yinshuguan, 1985-1991.
In this well-produced set of volumes, oracle bone inscriptions from eleven British collections are systematically recorded for the first time. Most of the credit for this work belongs to the second of the named authors, who spent eight months surveying the collections and making wet rubbings in the traditional Chinese fashion. She examined a total of 3,088 bones; 414 were rejected as spurious, and of the remaining 2,674 only 1,649 (or 62%) had previously been published (as drawings). The bulk of the material comes from the Couling-Chalfant Collections in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh (1,425 bones) and the British Library (444); the Hopkins Collection in Cambridge University Library (608) and the collection in the British Museum (107).
The rubbings occupy the first two volumes of the set; they have been sorted chronologically (into the generally accepted five periods), and by subject (using the classification scheme adopted in the standard oracle bone corpus, Jiaguwen heji (13 vols., Beijing, 1979-83), and numbered in a continuous sequence. The third volume contains transcriptions into modern Chinese script, three essays by the named authors, and a new identification of a tortoise shell in the Hopkins Collection by E.N. Arnold of the British Museum (Natural History). The final volume contains comprehensive indexes and finding lists. The publication of this work makes the oracle bones in British collections, among the richest outside China, more accessible for research than ever before.
2) HU Houxuan: Su De Mei Ri suo jian jiagu ji [Oracle Bones seen in the USSR, Germany, USA and Japan]. Chengdu: Sichuan Cishu Chubanshe, 1988.
This work, by the doyen of Oracle Bone Studies in China today, contains drawings of bones examined by the author during his travels: 79 from Moscow and Leningrad, 422 from the Berlin Museum für Völkerkunde, 24 from various places in the USA and 51 from the Museum of Tenri University, Japan. Most of the bones, with the exception of those from Berlin, were previously unpublished. No transcriptions are provided, but brief introductions give details of provenance, periodisation, etc.
3) Jean A. Lefeuvre: Collections d'inscriptions oraculaires en France (Variétés Sinologiques, nouvelle série 70). Paris: Institut Ricci, 1985
This volume of over 400 pages records a total of 59 oracle bones, held in six collections in France. The work falls into two parts. In Part One, after a finding-list, in which the bones of each collection are arranged in chronological sequence and classified by subject according to a scheme of the author's own devising, clear black-and-white photographs of each bone (obverse and reverse) are accompanied by drawings, transcriptions into modern Chinese script, and translations into English and French. In Part Two, the history of each collection is described, and each bone is provided with a voluminous commentary. The entire text is repeated three times, in Chinese, French and English. The work ends with a bibliography and a character index.
Full publication of oracle bones ideally includes rubbings, photographs and drawings, in order for the maximum information to be presented by two-dimensional representation of these awkwardly shaped objects. The good photographs in this work are therefore most welcome, and it is unfortunate that the author was unable to provide rubbings also; this is, however, a highly specialised skill not widely practised outside China. The intrinsic significance of these bones is not perhaps worthy of the elaborate commentary they are given here. The reason for repeating the entire text in three languages is not clear; the inscriptions are inadequate material for a textbook, and any one version will suffice for specialists.

Charles Aylmer, Far Eastern Department, University Library, Cambridge
 

backup

China, Korea and Japan: the rise of civilization in East Asia, by Gina L. Barnes.
London: Thames & Hudson, 1993. 288 pp. 217 illus

This book is meant to cater for East Asian enthusiasts with no substantial knowledge of archaeological method and theory on the one hand, and archaeology enthusiasts with little knowledge of East Asia on the other. Its aim, the author maintains, is to describe and account for the major socio-cultural developments in East Asia through the millennia to AD 800 (p. 9). An additional aim can be extracted from pg. 13: "...the aim has been to exemplify general trends and principles and to pinpoint controversies."
In the preface, Barnes draws attention to the major problems she encountered when writing the book: the integration of the early Chinese developments with those in Korea and Japan turned out to be difficult; there is such an abundance of available information that its compression into major trends but no excessive detail causes that information to become compressed to a fault; and she recognises the uneven distribution of data in space and time with certain areas or periods over-represented.
Barnes begins the chapters by pointing out the differences in the character of the national archaeological traditions under consideration. The Shang in China, for instance, were literate two millennia before writing took hold on the Japanese isles. Thus, in China, historical archaeology goes back much further in time. Besides these internal differences, she points out some of the major ones between the 'Western archaeological tradition and those of East Asia by referring to their history, character and modern organisation. Especially the information on the modern organisation of the different national archaeologies I deem of great importance for the general reader.
The author then turns to the problem of integrating the data from the different areas into a coherent whole. The obvious starting point is China, for this is where the oldest human remains in the area were found. From Chapter 4 (The Earliest Inhabitants: 1000,000-40,000 years ago) onwards we see an oscillation between chapters mainly concerned with data from China and chapters mainly concerned with the data from the Korean peninsula and the Japanese isles. These chapters are arranged in a chronological way with some overlap. One might object that this is rather the mixing of the different nation-based archaeologies, rather than an integration that treats the area as one. Nevertheless, I think the data allow no closer integration.
The main aim of the book was to describe and account for the major socio-cultural developments in the area. Now this is, of course, subjective-for what does 'major' mean? It might be worth drawing attention to the fact that Barnes is very much concerned with questions of socio-political process and organisation. Thus, the book has a bias towards data concerned with socio-political complexity and socio-political evolution. Certainly there is much information on this subject in East Asia, but many scholars of the region will not share the American anthropological perspective of which Barnes is an exponent. Some more information on commoner-culture or technology not directly related with elite culture might have been justified.
I do have some doubts as to whom the book is catering. For East Asia enthusiasts with no clear idea of archaeological method and theory, I found the lack of a glossary with archaeological terminology somewhat disturbing. Throughout the book there are boxes explaining some aspects of cultural history mentioned in the text in more detail. I deplore the fact that this same method has not been used to introduce the East Asia enthusiast into the secrets of archaeological methods and techniques such as stone tool flaking or pollen analysis.
As for the second aim to "pinpoint controversies", if by pinpointing Barnes means signalling the presence of these problems, then this aim is attained. But I think that a more detailed discussion of what the major debates in East Asian archaeology are was called for. I have the impression that she has tried to avoid getting too deep into these controversies, which are more often than not riddled with nationalistic connotations. I am aware of her assertion that she wants to refrain from too detailed a description and thus establish a framework that will stand the test of time, in which we can then integrate "changing perspectives and new information" (p. 13). However, for a full understanding of what is hidden behind many East Asian archaeological publications, I think that these controversies are of major importance. Her book fails to meet the expectations of a reader with an interest in exactly these issues, issues often not adequately dealt with in Western-language literature.
Besides these points, I would like to draw attention to some minor faults. I found it sometimes regrettable that many of the illustrations go without an indication of the size of the depicted objects. Some figures do not really serve the purpose of illustrating the text but need some study themselves (e.g. figure 19 on the periodisation of the Late Palaeolithic industries in Japan). And anyone more familiar with the literature of the East Asian archaeology will recognise many of the plates and figures as being derived from other sources. Although the book has been equipped with a source list of the derivations of all the plates and figures at the end, to me it seems more appropriate, especially because some readers might recognise the figures quite readily, to show the sources of the figures directly with the figures.
Having said this, it is clear that this book nevertheless serves as a good introduction to East Asian archaeology. As promised, it integrates China, Korea and Japan, and introduces the reader to the major socio-cultural processes. It is well written and an obvious effort has been made to avoid an avalanche of Oriental names. Even so, the reader might now and then become confused with, for instance, the names of all the Chinese Neolithic cultures, but there seems no way around this. It is a book that we have long been waiting for and that follows on years of preparation on the part of the author. It should serve as a general introduction from which to start the further explora