EAANnouncements 17
Autumn 1995
Contents
EAAN activities:
From the editor......
- Hawaii EAAN meeting
Please find enclosed the registration materials for the Hawaii meetings of EAANetwork! We look forward to seeing you there!
advertisement: Asian Rare Books Inc.
MEMBER NEWS (in alpha-order):
Sarah ALLAN (Dartmouth) has left SOAS to take up a professorship in the United States:
Dept of Asian & Middle Eastern Langs & Lits
Bartlett Hall
Dartmouth College
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755 USA
Work 603-646-2861
email: [...]Francis ALLARD (Univ of Pittsburgh) is now a Research Associate in the dept of Anthropology at the Univ of Pittsburgh. He will also be a visiting assistant professor at the University of West Virginia for the Spring term of 1996. where he will teach a class on The Art and Archaeology of Ancient China and Japan". His new E-Mail address is: allard@pitt.edu
Gina BARNES (St John's College, Cambridge) announces her promotion to the Chair of Japanese at Durham and change of address as of January 1, 1996:
Prof. Gina L. Barnes
East Asian Studies
University of Durham
Durham DH1 3TH England
email: [...]
+44-0191-374-3231
FAX +44-0191-374-3242Wayne FARRIS (UnivTennesee) was given an incorrect affiliation in the last EAANnouncements 16: he is properly lodged at the University of Tennesee, not Tenri!
Magnus FISKESJÖ (Univ Chicago) writes: "In the summer of '95 I spent two months in China, mostly in Yunnan, visiting Chinese scholars as well as archaeological sites, and studying traditional agricultural practices in western Yunnan. Also, I took part in the Center for American Archaeology excavations for several weeks at the Moundhouse site in the Illinois river valley, a remarkable 2000-year old flood plain ceremonial site."
Enno GIELE (Berlin) writes that he has received a one-year scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to conduct doctoral research on the Ju1 yan2 wooden strips in Taibei. His advisor there will be Prof. HSING I-tien (XING2 Yi4 tian2), who is leading a project that uses infra-red cameras to make discernible those characters on the strips that are invisible to the naked eye. Enno's special interest is with the edicts issued from the political center in Chang2 an1 to the frontier in the Northwest, and the functioning of the administrative communication in general. Between September '95 and August '96, Enno can be reached at:
c/o PIN Yu-san
Hwa-yin St. #103, 1st Fl.
Taipei, TaiwanJanet GOODWIN (Aizu Univ) gave a talk on "Women or the Margins: prostitution in medieval Japan" in the Saturday Seminar series at Nichibunken, Kyoto, 12 March 1994.
James GRAYSON (Sheffield Univ) has been promoted to Reader (congrats!) and will be on six months of sabbatical from September 16, 1995 to mid-March 1996 in Seoul. He will be affiliated with the Institute for Korean Studies at Yonsei University where he will be writing a book on "Myths and legends from Korea: an annotated compendium of ancient and modern materials." In the first section of the book, he will deal with the foundation myths of Tangun, Koguryo, the clans, and ethnic groups mentioned in the early texts. Meanwhile, back home, he has new telephone numbers:
Home+44-114-230-5171
Work+44-114-282-4390
FAX +44-114-282-9479Jack HOWARD (Royal Ontario Museum) registers his new email address: [...]
KUZMIN, Yaroslav V. (East Asian prehistoric archaeology)
Pacific Institute of Geography
Far Eastern Branch of the Ruddian Academy of Sciences
Radio St. 7, Vladivostok 690041 RUSSIA
[address email to Y. Kuzmin]
Work (4232)320-672 FAX (4232)312-159
email: [...]
Dr. Kuzmin has recently returned to Vladivostok from a temporary stay at the SUNY Brockport Dept. of Anthropology, New York. His professional interests range over geoarchaeology, geochronology, Quaternary paleoecology, human paleoenvironment and paleoeconomy, the peopling of the New World, Stone Age prehistory; Eastern Asia and North America. His doctoral dissertation at the Institute of Geology and Geophuysics, Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk (1991) concerned the "Paleogeography of the Paleolithic and Neolithic sites in Primorye (Russian Far East)."Jenny LIU (SOAS, Univ London) is continuing her Ph.D. research under Prof. Roderick Whitfield in the Centre for Art & Archaeology, SOAS. Her new address is:
16 Delarch House, Webber Row ,
London SE1 8QU
email: [...]
Home+44-171-928-4388Heather PETERS (U Penn Univ Museum) acted as a consultant for UNESCO in Cambodia (fall '93-spring '94) training archaeology students at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh. In the spring of 1995, she again was consultant for UNESCO to conduct museum training workshops at the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre, Hue, Vietnam. Her recent papers on Southeast Asian archaeology are:
"Culture vultures" cover story for Far Eastern Economic Review, 19 Jan 95, pp. 34-7.
"Cultural heritage in peril: the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh." Oriental Art 40.4: 20-7.
"Presentation and representation of historical and cultural identity in the National Museum of Cambodia." American Assoc. of Museums conference, 24-8 April 94, Seattle.Joan PIGGOTT (Cornell) is spending this full academic year in Japan at:
Shiryo Hensanjo (Historiographical Institute)
University of Tokyo
Bunkyo-ku, Hongo Work
Tokyo 113 Japan
+81-33-812-2111x5986
FAX +81-33-311-8077Ken ROBINSON (Univ Hawaii) writes that he has returned from dissertation research in Korea and Japan, and is now at the following address:
1615 Liholiho St. #401
Honolulu, HI
96822, USAPam ROGERS (Univ Hong Kong) writes to say she is properly alphabetised under 'Rogers', not 'Rumball.' In addition to all the activities listed for her in the previous EAANnouncements, she is also doing a Ph.D. dissertation under Dr. Ian Glover at the Institute of Archaeology, London, on "Coastal settlement in southeast coastal China."
SKOSEY, Ms. Laura A. (Early historic Chinese archaeology, history, paleography, law)
4932 1/2 S. Kimbark Ave
Chicago, IL 60615 USA
Home 312-624-6709 email: [...]
Laura is currently writing a dissertation at the University of Chicago on the legal system and legal tradition of Western Zhou-an institutional and cultural history.Bill SOLHEIM (Univ Hawaii Prof Emeritus) gave several papers in 1994 at various conferences:
"The Son Vi and 'Hoabinhian' in Japan" at the Hoabinhian conference in Ha Noi, Viet Nam, 27 Dec '93-3 Jan '94.
"The Nusantao and north south dispersals" at the IPPA Conference in Chiang Mai, 2-12 Jan '94.
"The Nusantao trade and communication network", at WAC in New Delhi, 4-11 Dec '94.Werner STEINHAUS (Osaka Univ), who was living in Kobe last year, was forced to leave the Nishinomiya area due to the earthquake. His new address, good until April 1995, is:
Yanagi-machi 25-3-102
Hatchi, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603 Japan
Home +81-75-467-2988Don WAGNER (Needham Research Institute) has moved house in Cambridge and can be reached during the current academic year at:
72 Searle St.
Cambridge CB4 3DB, UK
Home +44-1223-354595Joshua WRIGHT (Univ Cambridge) is planning to be away on fieldwork from Sept 15th to March 1st, first to China on Prof. R. MacNeish's dig, then to India. He can be reached through his home address:
455 Hilldale
Ann Arbor, MI 48105 USAMariko YAMAGATA (University of Tokyo) writes that she finished her Ph.D. at xx University last March on "Study about the Sori Pottery type-the history of its internal development and external relations." She is now employed at the University Museum at the University of Tokyo, and is engaged in archaeological research in Vietnam. This autumn she is joining the excavation at the Tra Kieu site in central Vietnam conducted by Dr. Ian Glover (University College London) and his Vietnamese colleagues. She has published previous work with Glover as "Excavations at Buu Chau Hill, Tra Kieu, Quangnam-Danang Province, Vietnam, 1993 (Tonan Ajia Kokogaku 14: 48-57, 1994) [see also RUNNING BIBLIOGRAPHY] and reported on the work at the IPPA Congress in Chiang Mai last year. Contact her at:
University Museum, University of Tokyo
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113 Japan
Work +81-3-3812-2111x2815
FAX +81-3-3815-7053
ASIAN SCHOLARS ABROAD:
LI Junjie (Museum of Chinese History, Conservation Dept) has just finished a six-month work placement at the Mary Rose Trust in Portsmouth, England. He has been learning the latest techniques for preserving wet wood where the English ship, the Mary Rose, is conserved. Several Ming-dynasty ships lie sunken off the coast of Liaoning await wood conservation techniques so that they can be raised and preserved. Li's placement was organised by the Great Britain China Centre and sponsored by Dr. Abraham LUE.
MAO Zhaozhe (Archaeology Dept, Hangzhou Univ) was Visiting Professor to the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken) in Kyoto between April 1 and June 30, 1994.
FIELD & RESEARCH 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 beginning of iron in China
by Donald B. Wagner
Until very recently it was a reasonable hypothesis that the first use of iron in China was in the
Southeast, perhaps in the 6th century BC, and that is the position I took in my book, Iron and steel
in ancient China (Leiden: Brill, 1993, ch. 2-3). New finds, together with old finds only recently
studied and published, have made this position untenable. It now seems likely that the technology of
iron smelting diffused to China by the 8th century BC from the West via Scythian nomads in Central
Asia.
Meteoritic iron had been used to some extent in China as early as the 11th century BC for the blades
of luxury weapons, cast into bronze handles which were sometimes inlaid with silver or precious
stones. The tradition of making luxury weapons with cast-in iron blades continues to about the 5th
century BC, but in this period the makers shift from meteoritic to smelted (presumably bloomery)
iron. The group of burials of the Guo state recently excavated near Sanmenxia, Henan, with cultural
connections to the Northwest, five bronze-iron edged artefacts were unearthed, all clearly related
in style, and on analysis it turns out that three are of meteoritic iron and two of smelted iron.
The following is tentative, for a good deal of material has not yet been properly published, and a
further problem is that Russian archaeologists are divided on when or even whether the steppe
peoples knew the technology of iron smelting. Nevertheless I suggest as a working hypothesis that
the craftsman of an indigenous Chinese tradition of making luxury weapons with meteoritic iron
blades, which were probably better than bronze weapons, at some time learned bloomery smelting from
steppe peoples and began substituting bloomery iron for meteoritic iron. These weapons were probably
not a match for bronze weapons, but by this time they were probably intended for display rather than
actual fighting.
Perhaps it was not until this technology had spread to the Southeast that it was used to make
anything useful. In most of China the only uses for bronze had been for ritual objects and weapons;
the 'barbarian' peoples of the Southeast were the first in the region of Chinese influence to use
bronze agricultural implements to any great extent, and iron presumably provided a useful cheap
substitute for bronze in this sort of application. It was probably here that iron casting was first
developed, beginning with the carburisation and melting of iron blooms in the kind of furnace that
was used to melt bronze. The blast furnace probably developed here as well, as bloomeries were
optimised for the purpose of providing iron for casting rather than forging.
DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS
M.A. & M.Phil. Degrees
Analysis of elite material culture and its relation to status in Early China: the elite
society of the Dawenkou cemetery.
Wright, Joshua. M.Phil., Cambridge University, Dept. Archaeology, 1995
The middle Neolithic cemetery of Dawenkou contributes to a regional chronology and a sequence of
social development in Shandong. However, an examination of how this particular cemetary fits into
the regional chronology exposes anomolies in that chronology. This paper examines those anomolies
and follows up their implications for the Dawenkou cemetery. It suggests that the cemetery is not
the result of three phases of use over a millenium or so, but of continiuous use over a shorter
period by a more heterogenous society. The elite society of Dawenkou seems to be one more concerned
with divisions of style, display and association within the elite group than in separating vertical
status in the cemetery.
Research in development process of Palhae history and phase of country
Song, Ki-ho, M.A. Seoul National University (in Korean)
[On] the question of the character of Palhae history and restoration: from archeological specimens,
Palhae's culture shows the appearance of several constituent elements harmonized together, but
written documents related to the developmental process of Palhae history continually show only a
consciousness of succession from Koguryo. The reason for this is probably that archeological
specimens reflect the variety of living cultures of the Palhae as compared to the written documents
which usually represent their consciousness. As we have observed on the structure of the foundation
and of the family name among the leadership group, Malgal and Koguryo persons were the main axes in
the foundation group of Palhae and the people of Koguryo descent held power in Palhae. Most members
of the Palhae ruling classes used the surnames of Ko family name from Koguryo's genealogy, and the
mounded stone chamber tomb of Koguryo was a main style in Liudingshan burials. Therefore, Palhae was
a country established by Tae Jo-young, who was a Malgal-Koguryo person, and the group of people from
Koguryo served him dutifully. In King Mun's period, it has been discovered that he used Koguryo's
Son of Heaven consciousness in diplomacy with Japan. In his late period, he claimed to be the Koryo
nation to signify being the successor of Koguryo.
Ph.D. Degrees
Ainu archaeology as ethnohistory: iron technology among the Saru Ainu of Hokkaido in the 17th
century.
Fukasawa, Yuriko, Ph.D. Cambridge University, Dept. Archaeology, 1995
The present understanding of Ainu culture is a result of the Ainu studies of the past. The image
of Ainu culture has been created by previous researchers. What I would like to address in this
dissertation is an archaeological challenge to explain the ethnohistory of the Ainu and to
reappraise the Ainu culture. The challenge is posed by the existence of iron-working hearths in
excavated Ainu villages dated before 1667. Owing to a lack of records concerning Ainu smithing in
Japanese historical documents, it had been thought that the Hokkaido Ainu did not practice iron
technology. This view persisted until iron-working hearths in the Saru river area in Hokkaido were
excavated by the author, indicating that iron-working technology had existed among the Hokkaido
Ainu. The excavations took place at Iruekashi site in 1988 and at Pipaushi site in 1990 under the
name of Biratori-cho Iseki Chosakai in Biratori-cho, Hokkaido. Both sites clearly indicate Ainu
settlements including post holes of dwellings associated with materials and organic remains such as
cultivated seeds, burials, and iron-working hearths. It is archaeologically significant in that one
of the hearths is identified by tephrochronological studies as dating from between 1663 and 1667.
Thus, this hearth itself has considerable archaeological value as an absolute date within the
chronological order of the Ainu material culture.
There are several reasons for focusing on iron working technology in the context of Ainu culture in
this dissertation. First, the Ainu culture has hitherto been thought of as largely a hunting,
fishing and gathering society. Ethnographic analogies have employed the Ainu in studies of
hunter-gatherer adaptive processes and subsistence economies. The archaeological evidence, however,
suggests something more complex than a hunter-gatherer society, and leads to the hypothesis that
this labelling of the Ainu may be a consequence of historical, academic and political distortion.
For example, the use of the Ainu in analogical models of hunter-gatherers appears to have been
applied without consideration of the sequence of social change over time among the Ainu. The
chronological sequence of Ainu culture needs to be established, employing both historical and
archaeological evidence. It is necessary to apply archaeological methods to the Ainu material
culture in order to reconstruct its chronology and social change and set it in a historical context.
This dissertation will try to build a more detailed understanding of both the emergence of Ainu
cultural identity and social change among the ainu by examining the cultural contact and interaction
between the Ainu and outsiders in the past.
Bohai-Geschichte und Kultur eines mandschurisch-koreanischen Königreiches der
Tang-Zeit, dargestellt nach den Schriftzeugnissen und dem archäologischen Fundmaterial [in German].
To be published as Aetas Manjurica 5 (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1995)
Reckel, Johannes, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Göttingen, 1993
Bohai flourished between 698 and 926, when it was overrun by the Mongolian Kitan. It
occupied the area of Manchuria, northern Korea and the Russian territories east of the Ussuri and
along the Amur. The importance of Bohai lies in the fact that it stands on a major turning point in
the history of Northeast Asia and more specifically, Manchuria. Until the middle of the 1st m. AD,
Manchuria was dominated by Korean kingdoms like Koguryo and Puyo, and the Sushen, whom the old
Chinese historians believed to be the ancestors of the modern Manchu. Around 500 AD, the Wuji, who
soon afterwards are called Mohe, poured into the whole of Manchuria, destrouying Puyo and eventually
making up a considerable percentage of the population of Korugyo. In 668, Silla destroyed her two
rivals, Paekche and Koguryo, with the help of the Chinese army. But neither China nor Silla managed
to bring the northern parts of Koguryo under their own rule, and in 698 a new kingdom, soon
afterwards called Bohai, emerged from the former Koguryo upper class and the Mohe. Bohai's third
king, Da Qinmao (r. 737-93), built five large capitals ( a tradition later carried on by the Kitan
and Jurchen) ca. 3400x4600m, after the model of the Chinese capital Chang'an. The ruins of three of
these five capitals have been found and (partly) excavated; they belong to the largest cities in
Asia of those days.
Unfortunately, all written historical records of Bohai herself have been destroyed. Thus we have to
rely on the rather biased Chinese sources and on records the Japanese kept concerning Bohai missions
arriving in Japan. Korean sources pass over this unpleasant rival in the north, which claimed to be
the rightful heir of Koguryo, altogether in silence. Today it is still a matter of discussion
amongst historians if Bohai is a Korean kingdom, a Manchurian-Tungus state or just a Chinese vassal.
Bohai definitely had a mixed population. The Koguryo upper class represents the old "Korean"
Manchuria, whereas the majority of the rural population-probably even the royal family-was of
Tungus-Mohe stock, pointing towards the future Manchuria.
This thesis is not a specialized study on certain aspects of Bohai but tries to establish a basis
upon which more detailed research could be carried out in future. Part one (ca. 200 pp.) offers a
complete translation [into German] of all Chinese and Korean written sources on the Mohe (from ca.
500 AD onwards) and on Bohai, and it summarises in translation the Japanese Six National Histories
(rikkokushi), etc. Part two lists all known archaeological sites of Mohe/Bohai culture in China,
Korea and Russia, with longer or shorter descriptions for each site arranged according to areas
centred around one of the ancient capitals or major provincial towns. Where possible, certain
archaeological sites have been linked to places mentioned in the written sources. 150 pages of
figures show the objects found on the archaeological sites in B&W drawings. Part three tries to give
a description and analysis of Bohai history and culture on the basis of the material previously
presented.
Through the archaeological materials, the picture drawn by the scanty written sources becomes much
clearer: three different materials cultures are found in Bohai territory. Firstly, the old Koguryo
culture is mainly confined to old Koguryo territory along the Tumen river and its tributaries and
the royal burial ground of the first two or three generations near modern Dunhua: represented by
tiles with ornamented surfaces, small stepped-pyramid forming underground stone tombs, certain types
of Buddhist stone images, and stone-faced town walls, etc. The Chinese Tang culture flourished
mainly in and around the Supreme and Central capitals (Shangjing, Zhongjing). It is represented by
brick pagodas, brick tombs with murals depicting Tang-style courtiers, the structure of the
capitals, and three-coloured glazed ceramics, etc. The picture of the third culture, of the Mohe, is
slightly more complicated. The "Leitfossil" of this culture is a small urn-shaped pot with a double
rim near its mouth. Together with certain highly ornamented belt-plaques, it is found in nearly all
Wuji/Mohe tombs or house ruins from the 5th-10th c. AD. Interestingly enough, we also find it in the
burial ground of the first generations of the royal family of Bohai. But thereafter it is absent
from the rather sophisticated culture of the new capitals developing since the second half of the
8th c. and is pushed towards the northern fringes of the empire.
This archaeological evidence is confirmed by an analysis of the personal names of Bohai. (Of course,
the sources would not record the names of the common people but rather of officials and
representatives of the ruling class.) Typical Mohe-names disappear completely after the first two
generations, whereas members of the old Koguryo upper class-represented by those bearing the family
name Gao (Kor. Ko as short for Koguryo)-continue to play a leading role, especially in the frequent
missions to Japan. The Mohe in the southern and central parts of Bohai had become completely
sinicised by the time of the downfall of Bohai, whereas the Mohe culture along the lower Sungari and
Amur in the 10th c. develops into the Jurchen culture, represented by typical pottery with
pumpkin-shaped bellies and high necks. Towards the end of the 11th c. the Jurchen reconquer lost
ground and again occupy nearly the whole of Manchuria.
The limits of this thesis do not allow a detailed study of the Mohe culture; however, a
comprehensive bibliography on the Mohe and Bohai of nearly a thousand titles invites the reader to
further studies.
JOBS & GRANTS
CCK, Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation
Linduff, Katheryn M. "Sorting out the artifacts: the reflection of 'others' within ancient Chinese
spheres," Univ of Pittsburgh
Yang, Xiaoneng "Rethinking early China: pictographic Inscriptions, decor and religion," The
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Yung, Bell; Rawski, Evelyn; & Watson, Rubie W., "Harmony and counterpoint: ritual music in Chinese
context," Stanford University Press.
CSCC, Committee on Scholarly Communication with China
Barnes, Gina & Wait, Gerald, "Archaeological survey at Niuheliand and investigation of the site's
function," Liaoning Provincial Archaeological Institute
Etler, Dennis A., "Archaeological investigations at the Yunxian fossil hominid site," Hubei
Institute of Archaeology & Cultural Relics
J. Paul Getty Awards
McNair, Amy Elspeth, "Rhetorical function of Buddhist art in a Confucian society: patronage at the
Longmen cave-shrines under the reign of Empress Wu," Univ of Kansas
SSRC, Korean Studies-Advanced Research Grants
Steinhardt, Nancy, "Koguryo funerary space and its north Asian context," Univ Pennsylvania
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.
At the National Folklore Museum is an exhibition offering an overall view of changes in Korean lifestyle over the past century. On display are 300 photos and other items which show various aspects of the lives of old koreans including commercial transactions, transportation, communications, traditional rites and folk plays. Among the items are a lamp, a phonograph, a wooden pot and a winnowing machine dating back to the 1940s and no longer in use. There are also photographs of farmers working in a mill and a dugout crossing a river with cargo and taken in 1911 by an American tourist named Roy Chapman Andrews in North Hamgyong Province.
On August 15th, Liberation Day in Korea, the official demolition of the Japanese-built National Museum building in Seoul began with the removal of the spire with an accompanying fireworks display. Made of copperplate and concrete, the spire weighs 3.5 tons and is 8.5 m H x 3.5 m W. It was cut in advance into three parts with a diamond wire saw. During the ceremony, it was taken down onto the ground by a huge crane as the whole nation watched the historic scene on television. the spire will be moved to the Independence Hall in Chongwon, S. Chungchong. The full-scale demolition of the building will begin during the first half of 1996 at the cost of 4.8 billion won. A huge painting will be used as a blind to hide the museum while it is being torn down. A mosiac of 340 panels measuring 24 m H x 120 m W, the painting will depict various national cultural properties representing the Korean spirit. A new National Museum will be built in Yongsan Family Park, central Seoul, between 2005-2010, costing about 329 billion won (Korean Newsreview 12 Aug 95). Until then, the collections of the museum will be held in storage at an as-yet undisclosed location.
The Ho-am Museum in Seoul is exhibiting 266 items from the Koryo Dynasty (918-1398) until Sept 10, 1995. The Great Koryo Exhibition brings together painting, calligraphy and printing, lacquer ware and bronze work, Buddhist metal work, and particularly Buddhist paintings and celadon wares from major university collections and museums in Korea and abroad. Included are 25 designated National Treasures and 19 Treasures.
Sotheby's is holding a Chenghua Porcelain Exhibition in London, focussing on the recent archaeological finds at Jingdezhen. 21 Aug - 22 Sept 1995. The Percival David Foundation (SOAS, Univ London) continues with an exhibition on Flawless Porcelains: imperial ceramics from the reign of the Chenghua emperor, 5 Sept 95 - 29 Feb 96.
The Museum of East Asian Art in Bath, England, will be presenting a multi-media exhibition featuring animals in all aspects of Chinese art including ceramics, metalwork, lacquer, bamboo and jade from August 1995, accompanied by an illustrated booklet.
Two jade exhibitions were held over the summer in London: Chinese jade from the Neolithic to the Qing at the British Museum from the Sir Joseph Hotung collection, 8 June - 17 Sept 95 (see sumptuous accompanying book by Jessica Rawson p RUNNING BIBLIOGRAPHY), and Later Chinese jades lent by the V&A and Sir John & Lady Woolf at the Percival David Foundation (SOAS, Univ London) 3 July - 30 Aug 95.
Myongga Kimchi Museum in Seoul opened in 1986, dedicated to the history, development and varieties of kimchi as well as the methods and equpment used to make it. Included are onggi jars for making kimchi and various ceramic bowls for serving it. Address: Underground Arcade, Korea World Trade Center, Samsong-dong, Kangnam-ku, Seoul. +82-2-562-1075. (ACRO Update 3: 3, 1993)
The Idemitsu Museum in Tokyo is unrivaled for their kiln-sample collection in terms of collection size and number of sites involved. ACRO Update is making a case for creating more such "sherd banks" or ceramic clearing houses. Talk focusses on organising a central sherd bank to be located in Indonesia, Vietnam or even Thailand. Ideally the bank would house two types of material: archaeological samples from Southeast Asian sites, and provenanced kiln samples from ceramic-making countries in East and Southeast Asia. ACRO Update urges readers to make suggestions and comments on these plans. (ACRO Update 3: 3-4, 1993)
An exhibition of "Early Ceramics from Japan and Korea" is showing 19 Sept. - 3 Dec. 1995 at the Cleveland Museum of Art, 11150 East Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
The Indianapolis Museum of Art has acquired two ritual bronzes: a vessel from the 8th century BC which is nearly identical to a famous bronze in the collection of the National Palace Museum; it has a 41-character inscription indicating that it was used in rituals of the Marquis Yi in the state of Zeng. Also acquired was a tripod ritual vessel from the first halsf of the 7th century BC; it is one of the earliest examples to have sculptural animals on its lid, a detail that became popular in later years.
The Musée Guimet is showing "Horses and Men", a special exhibition of classical funeral statues (mingqi) from the Han to the Tang dynasty recently donated by Jacques Polain, 20 Sept - 18 Dec, 1995.
"Serindia, land of Bouddha, Sacred Arts on the Silk Road" will be exhibited at the Grand Palais 24 Oct 95 - 15 Feb 96. More than half of the 150 art works come from major museums around the world, including The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the British Museum in London, the National Museum of New Delhi, the Institut Hanza Tashkent of Ouzbekistan, and the Metropolitan Museum of New York. The remaining works come from the French collections of the Guimet Museum and the Bibliothéque Nationale.
A poster session on Japanese Archaeology in Britain, sponsored by the Japan Foundation, London, was mounted in The Oriental Museum, University of Durham in conjunction with the conference "From Jomon to Star Carr" (CONFERENCE PAPERS READ)
INTRODUCING....
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology & Ethnography, St. Petersburg
Known at the Kunstkammer ('Chamber of Curiosities"), this museum was established by
Peter I in 1714 as the first state public museum in Russia and it greatly influenced the development
of sciences and understanding in the country. The Museum collections were augmented significantly by
the academic expeditions of the 18th c. that studied the nature and peoples of Russia and different
parts of the world. Currently, the Museum is a well-known academic centre. The ethnographic
researches of the Museum staff are based mainly on the rich Museum collections and cover all the
principal oriental areas: India and Sri Lanka, the Arab countries, Japan, China, Siberia, and so
forth. The researchers at the Museum are preparing or have prepared a number of collective
monographs dealing with various cultural and material objects from an anthropological perspective, a
series of monographs on the ethnographic status of beings, objects, and natural events (e.g. 'rain',
'dog', 'knife'). by Leonid Kulikov
(abstracted from IIAS Newsletter 5: 16, Summer 1995)
LECTURES
Friends Lecture, University of Pittsburgh
29 Sept 94 "Archaeological recovery and the study of Chinese art history," by Katheryn Linduff
China and Inner Asia Seminar, University of Toronto
3 Mar 95 "Strangers in their midst: Shang Wu Ding and his realm," by Katheryn Linduff
Japan Research Seminars, SOAS, Univ London
25 Jan 95 "The concept of sacred dynasty in the records of ancient Japan," by Ichiro TOYAMA
Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, SOAS, Univ London
2 Mar 95 "Han China, Sa-Huynh and India in the genesis of Cham civilisation," by Ian Glover
Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art Lectures, Univ London
21 Sept 95 "Post-Tang funerary sculpture," Jessica Harrison Hall
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.
- INTERNET ARCHAEOLOGY
The Council for British Archaeology will be publishing a fully interactive electronic journal beginning in the summer of 1996, integrating text, maps and diagrams with video clips of excavations, visualisations, colour photography and excavation databases. It will also give access to the software originally used by authors to analyse their material. The journal will be available through world Wide Web, with some sections available free and others protected by a password which will be issued by the CBA on payment of a subscription. The new journal is being set up with a £185,000 grant from the UK Higher Education Funding councils. (The Independent 3 July 95: 14)
-
WOODEN OBJECTS & SEEDS
FROM SHINCHANG-DONG
Recent excavations in a lowland marsh in Kwangsan-ku, Kwangju city in the far southwestern corner of South Korea by the Kwangju National Museum have yielded numerous hitherto unknown wooden objects including a drill board and stick for making fire, a shoe blank, spade and fork heads, sword sheath, and a plaque with a circular motif in lacquer-zigzag border with four-toothed radial design (resembling the tomoe in Japan) in the centre.
With the farming tools were also a found a pile of rice husks and various kinds of seeds, pottery, fish and animal bones.Such wetland finds are truly unusual in Korea and throw a new light on life in the 1st century BC. (Korean Newsreview 29 July 95; The Museum News 288: 1, 1 Aug 95)
- WOODEN KORYO VESSEL
A 12.5 metre-long lower hull of a wooden vessel, presumed to have been built in the 13th or 14th century of the Koryo dynasty, has been recovered by a government excavation team in the sea off Tali-do, an island near Mokp'o, S. Cholla, South Korea. The Ministry of Culture and sports plans to restore it to its original shape and display it to the public, probably in the National Maritime Museum also located in Mokp'o.
- PACIFIC FLOATIES
"In a talk in June at the field Museum [Chicago], Curtis Ebbesmeyer (Evans-Hamilton, Inc., Seattle, WA, USA fax 206-545-8463) reported that he has tracked down more than 20 Far Eastern jars found by fishermen and others along the Pacific coast of Canada and the US, either on the beach or actually floating in the sea. The fact that they are still sealed seems to have kept them from sinking. Some resemble jars made at Yingge in Taiwan (ACRO Update 1995[1]:2), and none are older than the 20th century. That drifting from East Asia to North America is possible is shown by other evidence: for instance, by the movement of a container load of toy plastic ducks ~~~~ which fell off a ship near Japan several years ago. According to Ebbesmeyer, about 1of all such objects can be expected to drift ashore somewhere in North America within three to ten years." (ACRO Update 3: 6, 1995)
- JOURNAL OF MATERIAL CULTURE
A new venue concerned with the relationships between artefacts and social relations irrespective of time and place is due to appear in March 1996. As an interdisciplinary journal, it aims to systematically explore the linkage between the construction of social identities and the production and use of material culture. The editors are: Daniel Miller, Christopher Tilley, James Clifford, and Nicholas Thomas. Contact any one of them or the publisher, Jonathan Carter, at Sage Publications, 2455 Teller Rd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91320 USA. email: carter@sageltd.co.uk
- CHINESE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SPECTACULAR
The Cultural Relics Publishing House and Kwang Fu Group (Taiwan) has announced publication of Attraction of Archaeological Finds in China. This ten-volume set features over 2,000 plates and a text of 650,000 Chinese characters, displaying the most important archaeological discoveries made in China in recent years. It features a description of each site, its excavation, finds, and research information. Contact: Cultural Relics Publishing House, 29 Wusi Dajie, Beijing 100009, China. FAX +86-10-401-0698.
- NEOLITHIC CHINESE ACORNS
"Hundreds of acorns found in [Hemudu culture] neolithic ruins near Shaxi Village in the suburbs of this coastal city in East China's Zhejiang Province are thought to have been used as food. This is the first material proof ever found that late Stone Age people ate acorns, according to Chinese archaeologists, although there are ancient records of acrons as food. The acrons had been purposely wrapped in a woven bamboo mat and stored in a special pit. (China Daily 5 Apr 95; submitted by Sarah Taylor)
- 3500 BP HONG KONG VILLAGE SITE
Archaeologists from the Chinese University of Hong Kong have discovered the remains of a 3,500-year-old village on Pa Tau Kwu hill, Lantau, believed to be the oldest complete site in the territory. During a month-long excavation of the 300 m2 site, granite foundations of three structures as well as a stove and a stone chair were unearthed. Two of the structures were round and one was square. They were probably houses of between 12.5 and 20 m2. Aftefacts include axes, pottery, spinning wheels, spears and fishing tools. The find was of major significance because it disproved the decades-old theory that Hong Kong's earliest inhabitants lived on boats and did not build settlements. The inhavitants, who hunted and fished for food, chose the hill-top location because it provided better shelter from the tides. The site was first discovered in 1991 during a university archaeological survey of the North Lantau Expressway stretching from Chek Lap Kok to Ma Wan, and excavated is funded with help of a HK$200,000 grant from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club. At least 10 more huts are in the area but funding in the region of $2 million is needed for further excavation. Ten archaeologists have been working on the project, three from Chinese University and seven invited from the Institute of Archaeology, Shaanxi Province. (South China Morning Post 24 Dec 94; submitted by Sarah Taylor)
- QIN EMPEROR TOMB TEMPLES
Chinese researchers claimed a critical achievement at the Qin Emperor's tomb site since the terra cotta army of the emperor was unearthed, an AP report cited China Daily as saying. The archaeologists excavated sacrificial temples consisting parts of the tomb, where daily and monthly rituals are believed being held as tribute to the emperor, according to China Daily. (sic [CND, 7/31/95] BEIJING -- Zhaohua, Jian LIU via eaan listserver)
- XUANQUANZHI SITE
BEIJING, July 19 (Reuter) - Chinese archaeologists have found the remains of an oasis swallowed by sand hundreds of years ago and previously been thought to exist only in legend, officials and media said on Wednesday. The oasis served as an outpost for travellers, especially couriers, to rest or change horses between Dunhuang and Anxi in western Gansu province in the Han dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD), an archaeologist told Reuters by telephone. Dunhuang, renowned for its Buddhist grottos, and Anxi are separated by about 100 km (60 miles) of desert. Sand encroached on the oasis after the Jin dynasty (265-420 AD), the archaeologist said. Xinhua news agency said relics dating from the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) were found in the oasis, indicating people still lived there up to that time.
Archaeologists found about 3,000 relics, including scores of letters carved on strips of bamboo or on wood tied together with rope, the archaeologist said. They also discovered a fort containing the remains of houses, a traditional Chinese medicine shop, a stable, weapons, farm tools and papyrus as well as a tower to transmit messages through fires, he said. "This was one of China's top 10 archaeological findings in 1991," the archaeologist said. Xinhua did not explain why announcement of the find had been withheld.
The relics have been moved from the oasis, parts of which have been covered with sand again to prevent decomposition. The oasis, covering 3,300 hectares (8,200 acres), had fields and irrigation canals, Xinhua said. The agency quoted archaeologists as saying the oasis began to decline in the late Tang dynasty (618-907) when nomadic tribes occupied the area and many people emigrated, leaving the land barren and irrigation systems damaged.
No mention was made of the oasis in historical records after the Tang dynasty, the agency said. Desertification worsened in the Yuan dynasty, forcing all residents to leave and the oasis to disappear into legend, it said.
On eaan listserver, the following exchange took place after the posting of the above:
Simon Holledge asked, "The following report appeared last month. The site was not named. I wonder if anybody can identify it?"
Pak Yangjin answered, "The description of the site in the news report of your inquiry matches a site called "xuan (2nd tone; to suspend) quan (2nd tone; spring) zhi (4th tone; to place)", which is briefly reported in Chinese Archaeology Yearbook 1992 (Zhongguo Kaoguxue Nianjian 1992), pp. 325-26. According to this report, the site is about 20,000 square meters in area, and was first discovered in 1987. An area of 2400 square meters was excavated in 1990-1991. About 15,000 slips from Han Dynasty were excavated along with other archaeological remains. Some of the slips are writings of imperial edicts, medicine prescriptions, administrative matters, carrier businesses, and so on. Other important artifacts mentioned in the report include paper remains which excavaters believe were made during the Western Han period.
- CALL FOR INFORMATION: BULLETIN OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF EAST ASIAN
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE
I am currently compiling news and information for a short ICHSEA bulletin. It will be sent out with the second circular for the 8th ICHSEA conference to be held in Seoul in August 1996. I am writing to request details, in English, of any of the following: new books, forthcoming publications, news of the profession, academic appointments, scholarships, forthcoming conferences, theses submitted, etc. Any such information will be gratefully received. If possible, please send by e-mail. It may not be possible to include all information submitted.
Morris Low, Research Fellow, Division of Pacific & Asian History Research School of Pacific & Asian Studies, The Australian National University
- CHINA WWF DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
I would like to notify your readers that we (World Wide Fund for Nature -- WWF, China Program) are looking to hire a full-time project manager for our Xishuangbanna (Yunnan) Tropical Forest Conservation Project. The project aims to intergrate conservation with local, small-scale development activities in and around the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve. The project manager will be responsible for designing and coordinating the implementation of the new phase of WWF support. WWF has been active in China since 1980 and in Xishuangbanna since 1987.
Interested parties should contact me for detailed terms of reference. We will close applications by October 20, 1995 and hope to have someone in place by mid-November.
Daniel Viederman, China Program Coordinato, WWF, 1 Tramway Pat Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2526-101 Fax: (852) 2586-1146 email: chinawwf@asiaonline.net
CONFERENCES:
CONFERENCE CALENDAR
Titles new to this issue are emboldened and those dealing specifically with East Asia are
starred
*Mar 9-11 '95: Archaeology in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong. Organized by the Fung Ping Shan Museum and the Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong. Papers already published in Archaeology in Southeast Asia, University of Hong Kong (for papers therein on China p RUNNING BIBLIOGRAPHY).
Mar 11 '95: Defining Chinese history: new archaeological discoveries and early China, Asia Society, New York. Panel I: The Great Bronze Age; Panel II: The Han through the Tang Dynasties.
*Apr 28-30 '95: Reflections on Chinese Ornament. Denver Art Museum, Denver Colorado
*May 25-30 '95: International Conference on Shang Culture, Luoyang Yanshi, Henan. Organised by the CASS Institute of Archaeology.
*Jul 1-2 '95: Trade Ceramic Society of Japan, annual meeting, Joetsu-shi, Niigata, Japan. Papers focussed on archaeological ceramics unearthed at Echigo near Kanazawa.
*Aug 15-8 '95: Conference on prehistoric cultures of the middle Yangtze river valley, Changsha, Hunan. Contact: Mr. PEI Anping, Hunan Institute of Archaeology, Dongfeng Village #2, Dongfeng Road, Changsha, Hunan, PRC.
*Aug 26 '95: Trade or Treasure: South-East Asian Ceramics Conference, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
*Sept 14 '95: Reconstructing Chenghua Porcelain, Sotheby's, London. FAX +44-171-408-5927.
Sept 14-6 '95: Interpreting, Preserving and Managing Ritual Landscapes: 60th Anniversary Conference of the Prehistoric Society, Dublin.
*Oct 28-9 '95: Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Oriental Ceramic Studies, Tajimi-shi, Gifu. Theme: Tea Ceramics of the Momoyama period. FAX +81-3-3812-5331.
*Oct 31-4 Nov '95: 1995 International Symposium on Ancient Ceramics (ISAC '95), Shanghai. Call for papers in the following areas: Scientific & technological insights; Archaeological discoveries; Arts & crafts; Kilns; International trade of ancient ceramics; Application of research achievement of ancient ceramics in modern industry; and other aspects. Contact: SUN Jing, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1295 Dingxi Road, Shanghai 200050. FAX +86-21-251-3903.
*Nov 10-16 '95: Annual Meeting of the Chinese Ancient Ceramic Society, Fanchang, Anhui. Contact: YE Wencheng, Anthropology Dept, Xiamen Univ. FAX +82-592-208-6402.
*Nov 11-13'95: Japan Archaeologists' Association Autumn Conference, Hitachinaka City, Ibaragi-ken, Japan. Contact: Nihon Kokogaku Kyokai, 4 Fl., Hirai Ekimae Kyodo Bldg., Hirai 5-15-5, Edogawa-ku, Tokyo 132 Japan, FAX +81-3-3618-6625
Nov 15-9 '95: American Anthropological Association, Washington DC
Mar 15-7 '96: Ancient Warfare: Archaeological Perspectives, 3rd CITEE Conference. Contact: Prof. A. Harding, Centre for the Archaeology of Central and Eastern Europe, 46 Saddler St., Durham DH1 3NU, UK. FAX +44-191-374-3619.
*Apr 8-11 '96: EAANetwork First World Conference, Honolulu in conjunction with the AAS Meetings. Contact: Yangjin Pak, Dept of Anthropology, Harvard Univ, FAX +1-617-496-8041; email: ypak@husc8.harvard.edu
Apr 10-14 '96: 61st SAA Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana. Contact: Paul Fish & Suzanne Fish, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA. Tel +1-520-621-2556, FAX +1-520-621-2976; email: archeo@ccit.arizona.edu
*May 25-6 '96: Japan Archaeologists' Association Spring Conference, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. Contact: Nihon Kokogaku Kyokai, 4 Fl., Hirai Ekimae Kyodo Bldg., Hirai 5-15-5, Edogawa-ku, Tokyo 132 Japan, FAX +81-3-3618-6625
*Jul 8-10 '96: Asian Studies Association of Australia 20th Anniversary Conference, La Trobe Univ, Melbourne. Contact: Robin Jeffrey, La Trobe Univ, Melbourne, Australia. email: polrj@lure.latrobe.edu.au
*Aug 12-16 '96: Xiong-nu Archaeology Session of the World Archaeology Congress, Buryatia [Ulan-Ude], Russia. Themes: Nomadism in the system of ancient civilizations; Regional patterns of nomadism; Ecological problems of nomadism; History and culture of the Xiong-nu; The nomadic mode of life-adapting to the natural environment; Protection and use of the historic and cultural heritage. Excursions: to archaeological monuments of Buyatia and to Lake Baikal. Contact: The Institute of Social Sciences, Siberian Brance, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulitsa Sakhyanova 6, Ulan-Ude 670042 RUSSIA. (301 22) 372-16 or 330 42; FAX (301 22) 632 44, Box 057
*Sept 2-6 '96: 6th International Conference, European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, Leiden, The Netherlands. Contact: Marijke Klokke, IISA, Nonnensteeg 1-3, POBox 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands. FAX +31-71-274162
Sept '96: Wetland Archaeology Conference, Copenhagen. Sponsored by WARP. Contact: Mogens
Schou Jørgensen, RAS, National Museum of Denmark, Frederiksholms
Kanal 12, DK-1220 Copenhagen K, Denmark
CONFERENCE REPORTS
MacPherson, Kerrie L. (1995) "Report on the Fourth International Conference on the Evolution of the East Asian Environment." Chinese Environmental History Newsletter 2.1: 7-12. (includes list of papers)
ANON (1995) "Report on the Seventh International Conference on Japan of the European Association for Japanese Studies, August 22-26, 1994 Copenhagen, Denmark." Japan Foundation Newsletter 23.1: 11-15. (list of papers included)
McCormack, Gavan (1993) "Japaneseness." Japanese Studies Bulletin [Australia] 13.3: 109-10. Report on the conference entitled "Stirrup, Sail and Plough: continental and maritime influences on the Japanese identity," 20-23 Sept 1993, ANU, Canberra.
Stott, Peter (1995) "The World Heritage Copnvention [Thailand, Dec 1994]" Southeast Asian
Archaeology International Newsletter 6 (May): 7.
PAPERS READ
For copies of the papers listed here, please contact either the symposium or panel organizer
if the author is unknown to you
4th International Conference on the Evolution of the East Asian Environment, 3-7 Jan 1995,
Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong.
Papers of direct archaeological content (see conference report above for others) were:
Panel: Geology & Palaeoclimatology:
Miki, Takashi: Variegated sequences in Kyushu, Japan and their palaeoenvironmental and
archaeological significance
Panel: Dating & Marine/Terrestrial Correlation:
Carey, Jan: Reading changes in wetland environments from East Asian potsherds
Panel: Loess
Panel: Palaeoflora & Palynology:
Zhang, Lansheng: Changes in the farming-pastoral zone of Eastern Asia during the last 10,000
years
Corlett, Richard T.: Human impact on the flora of Hong Kong island
Panel: Quaternary coastal evolution
Panel: Evolution of Man:
Jablonski, Nina G.: Geographical and life history perspectives in modern human origins
Wu, Xinzhu: On the source of modern East Asians
Xu, Qinqi: Homo erectus lantianensis in Chenjiawo, China-first appearance of Peking Man
Huang, Peihua: Living environments of Peking Man and Hexian Man in China
Pan, Yuerong: Evolutionary changes in laccopithecus from Lufeng, Yuanmou and Yuannan, China
Oxnard, Charles: African Eve? Asian Adam! The implications of evolutionary modelling for
interpretations of mitochondrial DNA studies
European Association of South Asian Archaeologists 13th Biennial Conference, 3-7 July
1995, Cambridge, England. Organised by the Ancient India and Iran Trust. Papers dealing directly
with East Asia were:
Jera-Bezard, R. & Maillard, M.: Centaure in Dunhuang-a survival of classical art
Bhattacharya-Haesner, C.: Banners from Dunhuang and Turfan-their Indian counterparts, a comparative
study
Society for American Archaeology 60th Annual Meeting, 3-7 May 1995, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, USA.
White, Joyce C.: Wet rice agriculture: environment transformer? or environment expander?
Miller-Antonio, Sari et al.: Excavations at the stratified cave of Panxian Dadong, guizhou Province,
southern China
Zhao, Zhijun, et al.: Phytolith evidence for early rice in southern China
Chinese Jades, 18th Percival David Foundation Colloquy on Art & Archaeology in Asia, 3-5
July, 1995 London. Contact: Ms. Rosemary Scott, PDF, SOAS, Univ London, Thornhaugh St., London WC1H
0XG, UK
Wen, Guang: A geoarchaeological study of Chinese archaic jades
Tsien, Hsien-Ho: Alteration of ancient yu (jade)
Yang, Mei-li: Jade styles of Erlitou culture
Li, Xueqin: Epigraphy and ancient Chinese jades from Shang to early Zhou
Allan, Sarah: The meaning of jade in early Chinese philosophy and ritual
Mou, Yongkang: An archaeologist's view of Liangzhu jade
Wang, Mingda: Aspects of Liangzhu jades from tomb number 20
Guo, Dashun: The arrangement and types of Hongshan jades in burials
Wang, Tao: The face of another world-jade masks from ancient tombs
Teng, Shu-p'ing: A discussion of the three origins of ancient Chinese jade
Whitfield, Roderick: Jades in the Eastern Zhou
Wu, Hong: Princes of jade revisited-Han material symbolism as observed in Mancheng tombs
Sun, Zhixin: A chronology of the decoration of Liangzhu jades
Rawson, Jessica: Recycling ancient jades-three attitudes to the past
Watt, James: Chinese jade carving from the 10th to 14th centuries
Clunas, Craig: The idea of fu yu (archaic jade) in Ming and Qing texts
Pearlstein, Elinor: Archival perspectives on the Sonnenschein collection
Hardie, Peter: Ferdinand N. Schiller, collector of jade, 1915-31
Salviati, Filippo: The so-called 'Jade Age'-towards a definition of a new category in the
periodization of ancient Chinese culture
From Jomon to Star Carr, 4-8 Sept 1995, Cambridge & Durham, England. Organised by
EAANmembers Simon Kaner (Archaeology Dept., Cambridge Univ) and Dr. Peter Rowley-Conwy (Archaeology
Dept., Durham Univ). Many interesting papers were given on the European mesolithic and
hunter-gatherer society (obtain schedule and abstracts from organisers!). Papers on East Asian
archaeology were:
Dolukhanov, Pavel: The Pleistocene-Holocene transition in Northern Eurasia: resources, cultures and
interactions
Fukasawa, Yuriko: The analogical abuse of the hunter-gatherer
Kobayashi, Tatsuo: Monuments and landscapes in the Jomon
Hiraguchi, Tetsuo: Problems of early whaling in Japan
Nelson, Sarah M.: Early coastal sites on the Korean peninsula
Nakano, Hiroko & Nakano, Masuo: Reconstruction of Jomon food environments from lipid analysis in
coprolites
Matsui, Akira: Eastern vs Western Jomon culture: comparing their economic bases
Sutoh, Takashi & Tomioka, Naoto: Subsistence activities in the Final Jomon society in northeastern
Japan
Uchiyma, Junzo: Jomon fishing in western Japan: another maritime adaptation
Hayashi, Kensaku: Formation of the Jomon settlement system-sedentism, storage and territoriality
Miyaji, Atsuko: Subsistence and settlement system of hunters and gatherers in Osaka
Akayama, Yozo: Settlement and sedentism in the Middle Jomon: analysis of pit house plans
Kaner, Simon: Occupational histories and social relations in Jomon Japan
Abe, Asaei: Axe trade in the Jomon period-a case study from the Teraji site
Amitani, Katsuhiko: Utilization of timber for wooden artifacts in the Early Jomon
Nishida, Yasutami: Studies on Jomon pottery usage
Lee, Gi-Kil: Pottery technology in the Korean Neolithic
Tomii, Makoto: The actual state of the appearance of local pottery types at the end of Middle Jomon
Fujio, Shin'ichiro: Why did the Yayoi period begin?
Takamiya, Hiroto: Beginning of food production on the island of Okinawa
Yane, Yoshimasa: From the Jomon to the Yayoi-the birth of agricultural society in western Japan seen
from the origins of Yayoi pottery
Jackes, Mary & Gao, Qiang: The Jiangshi skeletal remains at the Ban Po Museum, Xi'an, Shaanxi,
Peoples' Republic of China
Aristocracy & Warrior,Feb. 4-5, April 1, 1994, Nichibunken, Kyoto.
Shimosaka, Mamoru: The organization and function of monzeki temples-the influence of the temples
over court nobility and samurai
Nawa, Osamu: The transmission of court nobility culture in the case of Konoe family
Tabata, Chiaki: The formation process of the Ryukyu dynasty
Kang, Hugh Hi-Woong: The examination system for the government service-the reformation of the system
in early Koguryo dyansty
Kasaya, Klazuhiko: Problems in the study of warrior society
Japanese Basic Culture and Okinawa, 10 Jan 1994, Nichibunken, Kyoto.
Iyori, Tsutomu: The space at religious service in the Ryukyu Dynasty-the principles of religious
observances seen in the ceremony of the Oaraori of the kingdom's supreme priest-queen Kikoe-Okimi
and in the local annual religious ceremonies
Tsuda, Junko: The sound at royal ceremonies in modern times of Ryukyu Dynasty
ASIAN-LANGUAGE PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED
Yoshizaki, S. (1995) Hokkaido University Campus Sites 1995. Hokudai Konai no Iseki Vol. 10. Sapporo: Hokkaido University. (in Japanese) rec'd from author via H. Takamiya.
Lee, Ki-Gil (1995) Urinara shinsokgi sidai ui chilgurot gwa sallim [Neolithic pottery and
livelihood of Amsadong, Dongsamdong and Osanli sites]. Seoul: Paeksan Charyuwon. rec'd from author.
(in Korean with English summary)
BOOK REVIEWS
The Archaeology of Northeast China, Beyond the Great Wall
Edited by Sarah M. Nelson, London: Routledge, 1995, £40
Even if one does not believe in the Chinese Neolithic this volume provides a wealth of detailed
information on the archaeology of a region which has long been an obscure backwater. Nelson has
gathered papers from archaeologists working in the Dongbei, China's three northern-most provinces of
Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang, on the Neolithic and Bronze Age in that region.
Nelson aim to correct misconceptions about the position of Dongbei in East Asia. This she does, this
volume provides good coverage, considering its scale. It offers information from the pens of
archaeologists closely connected to the topics, all gathered into a regional framework allowing for
comparison and the observation of developments. Work in this region is by no means complete, as she
concludes now is the time to expand our understanding of Dongbei archaeology in many unexplored
directions.
In her introduction and abstracts Nelson recognizes the differences in method, theory and focus
between Chinese archaeologists and their western counterparts. It is these difference that create
the greatest barrier between these many excavations and the reader. She recognizes the focus of
Chinese archaeologists on the core of China, but also calls attention to ties between the Dongbei
and other the regions of East Asia which border it.
A leading place in the Neolithic is given the Hongshan culture, one of the most fascinating
discoveries in the region. Unfortunately Guo's first chapter does not give Hongshan its due. He
barely considers Hongshan on its own merits, but has his sights firmly set on historical central
China. A brief coverage of the artefact and settlement types is liberally scattered with
interpretations aimed at making Hongshan the well-spring of Imperial China.
Xu and Liu's chapters consider their subjects, various Neolithic sites in Jilin province, with a
less sino-centric focus. After detailed descriptions of dwellings and finds both place emphasis on
regional connections and implications of their data. The site of Yongjingzi, described by Liu,
contains tantalizingly unelaborated mentions of the remains of temporary dwellings and horses,
something not seen in any of the other sights described in the region.
Turning the Bronze Age, Guo again leads off with a well considered and well illustrated chapter on
the Lower Xiajiaden culture and its connections with Shang (2000-1080 BC) styles, appropriate in
this context. The final three chapters of the volume, written by Guo, Liu and Tan respectively, are
essentially descriptive catalogues of the northern style bronze finds in the three northern
provinces.
The majority of these articles suffer from their lack of illustrations. Though artefacts are
carefully described any catalogue or regional comparison could profit from more pictures, rather
than the partially representative sample shown. On a site to site basis, though "plans and profiles
are drawn" during excavation(p.7), few of these are evident in the publication.
Despite its short comings in presentation and emphasis this volume succeeds in its purpose, to bring
an understanding of the Dongbei to wider audience. Similar works, concerning other regions of China,
would be just as welcome.
Joshua Wright, Department of Archaeology, Cambridge University
RUNNING BIBLIOGRAPHY
1980s RETROSPECTIVE
Bibliography
JOURNAL UPDATES
- Hanguk Koko-Hakbo, Journal of the Archaeological Society, No.32, Nov. 1995