New Western Language Books on East Asian Archaeology
2007-2008
Contents: Asia General
China
Japan
Korea
Adjacent Regions |
New on this Page: Thierry (July 16 2008) Nelson (April 30, 2008) Wagner (April 22, 2008) van Goethem (Mar. 31, 2008) |
see also:
Books 2005
Books 2006
NELSON, Sarah Milledge: Shamanism and the Origins of States: Spirit, Power, and
Gender in East Asia. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press Inc 2008.
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| Sarah Milledge Nelson’s bold thesis is that the development of states in East
Asia—China, Japan, Korea—was an outgrowth of the leadership in smaller communities guided by
shamans. Using a mixture of historical documents, mythology, archaeological data, and ethnographic
studies of contemporary shamans, she builds a case for shamans being the driving force behind the
blossoming of complex societies. More interesting, shamans in East Asia are generally women, who
used their access to the spirit world to take leadership roles. This work challenges traditional
interpretations growth of Asian states, which is overlaid with later Confucian notions of gender
roles. Written at a level accessible for undergraduates, this concise work will be fascinating
reading for those interested in East Asian archaeology, politics, and society; in gender roles, and
in shamanism. Contents: Preface 1. Orientation 2. Legends, Landscapes, and Skyscrapes 3. What is a Shaman? 4. Power, Leadership, and Gender 5. Shamanism in the East Asian Neolithic 6. Shamanism in Early Chinese States 7. Shamanism in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan 8. Rewinding the Strands (from the website of the publisher) 240 pages. Hardback (ISBN-13: 978-1-598741322) $65.00 |
SANCHEZ-MAZAS, Alicia , Roger BLENCH, Malcolm D. ROSS, Ilia PEIROS, Marie LIN (eds.): Past Human Migrations in East Asia: Matching Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics. Routledge Studies in the Early History of Asia: Routledge (May) 2008.
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| The study of the prehistory of East Asia is developing very rapidly. In uncovering
the story of the flows of human migration that constituted the peopling of East Asia there exists
widespread debate about the nature of evidence and the tools for correlating results from different
disciplines. Drawing upon the latest evidence in genetics, linguistics and archaeology, this exciting new book examines the history of the peopling of East Asia, and investigates the ways in which we can detect migration, and its different markers in these fields of inquiry. Results from different academic disciplines are compared and reinterpreted in the light of evidence from others to attempt to try and generate consensus on methodology. Taking a broad geographical focus, the book also draws attention to the roles of minority peoples – hitherto underplayed in accounts of the region’s prehistory – such as the Austronesian, Tai-Kadai and Altaic speakers, whose contribution to the regional culture is now becoming accepted. Past Human Migrations in East Asia presents a full picture of the latest research on the peopling of East Asia, and will be of interest to scholars of all disciplines working on the reconstruction of the peopling of East and North East Asia. (from the website of the publisher) 560 pages. Hardback (ISBN: 9780415399234) $170.00 |
CHILDS-JOHNSON, Elizabeth: The Meaning of the Graph Yi 異 and Its Implications for Shang Belief and Art. (East Asia Journal Monograph) London: Saffron Books 2007.
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| Book Description In this monograph, in a departure from previous analyses, Childs-Johnson uses a combination of written and graphic data to identify the meaning of the so-called taotie mask and the basis of Shang religion. By utilising paleographic and representational evidence Childs-Johnson puts into perspective for the first time that Shang belief was not limited to the worship of royal dead ancestor spirits. Childs-Johnson analyses the meaning of several pivotal oracle bone graphs, in particular yi, illustrating that Shang belief was founded on the concept of spirit metamorphosis. She identifies yi as meaning ‘to undergo metamorphosis of/by a spirit.’ This fundamental belief in metamorphosis, and the power associated with it, also underlies the meaning behind Shang ritual representations, which has been extensively examined in several previous studies. The significance of these analyses is monumental in explaining that early Chinese belief embraces more than the worship of dead ancestor spirits, that the setting for the birth of Chinese civilisation is more complex in incorporating the basic belief in the power to take on the power of another in the spirit realm. Students and China watchers of all levels will benefit from reading this study, not only because it answers many questions about traditional Chinese belief but enriches our understanding of the earliest dynastic period and its art in China. (from the website of the publisher) Soft cover, 64 pp (ISBN: 1 872843 63 8) £15.95 |
DIEN Albert E.: Six Dynasties Civilization. Yale: Yale University Press (April) 2007.
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| Book Description The Six Dynasties, also known as the “Dark Age” of Chinese history, was a period of political disunity and conflict but also one of important developments in the arts, religion, and culture. This comprehensive and extensively illustrated book covers the material culture of the Six Dynasties, A.D. 220 to 589. Albert E. Dien, a foremost expert on the period, draws on the archaeological findings of mainland China journals as well as historical and literary sources to clarify and interpret the database of over 1,800 tombs developed for this volume. During the Six Dynasties, the influences of non-Chinese nomads, the flourishing of Buddhism, and increasing numbers of foreign merchants in the capitals brought about widespread change. The book explores what the archaeological artifacts reveal about this era of innovation and experimentation between the Han and Tang dynasties. (from the website of the publisher) 614 pages, 398 b/w illus. + 4 maps (ISBN: 0300074042) US $ 85 |
JIA, (Peter) Wei Ming: Transition from Foraging to Farming in Northeast China. BAR International Series 1629, Oxford: Archaeopress 2007.
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| Book Description The main aim of this book is to demonstrate that, based on a practicable method of tool complex analysis and using as a framework, the model of transition from foraging to farming such as “the availability model” can be tested with common archaeological data. Through case studies in northeast China, this book has made a contribution to this aim and has provided a useful method to study prehistoric economy relying on archaeological discoveries. The theoretical approach in this book has suggested that the economic style chosen by prehistoric societies is retrievable from the archaeological record without direct reference of faunal and floral data. This makes this method particularly useful for regions and periods where no faunal and floral information available. This method for retrieving economic information is also without direct reference to ethnographic analogy. This study shows the potential significance of the use of common archaeological data without directly using highly technological equipment and a large amount of scientific analysis. This makes this method particularly valuable for the research in most archaeological records in China and elsewhere when there are few modern technologies, methodologies and research conditions available. Contents: Chapter 1 outlines the major purpose of this book and background of current archaeological studies in northeast China in relation to transition from foraging to farming. Chapter 2 reviews the studies in transition to farming worldwide, including transition research in the west, China and northeast China. A summary of Chinese archaeology in its method and theory is also included. Chapter 3 establishes the author’s methodological framework in studies of transition to farming in northeast China, including the explanation of tool complex analysis, interpretation of the results of this analysis and establishing a baseline based on studies in the transition to farming in central China. Chapter 4 reconstructs Palaeo-environment in northeast China, involving sea level, temperature and precipitation, and vegetation changes during the Holocene in northeast China. Mainly based on pollen data, including present pollen reference, studies of the summer monsoon, this reconstruction provides an outline of environmental changes in northeast China. Chapters 5 to 8 are case studies. Based on the archaeological records in the four regions: the Liao River region, Liaodong peninsula, Song-Nen plain and Changbaishan mountains in northeast China, they use the author’s methodological frame work to analyse the process of transition to farming in each region, to establish the patterns of transition in northeast China. Chapter 9 synthetically analyses the process and model of the transition to farming in northeast China, including the analysis of transition patterns, the relationship between environmental changes, technological level and agricultural transition in northeast China. Some tentative explanations of the causes of the transition to farming are also included. Chapter 10 extends some theoretical discussions, including discussion of the relationship between environment and economic styles in different transition models. The potential usage of tool complex analysis in other regions is discussed in this Chapter and followed by some suggestions in the future studies, such as transition to animal farming, transition within one archaeological culture and studies on individual species of plants and animals. Also the suggestion of further studies needed, such as using the same method of tool complex analysis comparing to economies in present ethnic groups. (from the website of the publisher) 211 pages, 28 tables; 150 figures, maps, plans, drawings and photographs; 6 data Appendices (ISBN: 9781407300436) £36.00 |
Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland Bonn (Hrsg.): Unter der gelben Erde. Die deutsch-chinesische Zusammenarbeit im Kulturgüterschutz - Kongressbeiträge. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern 2007.
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| Book Description Der ergänzende Band zur Ausstellung präsentiert bedeutende Forschungsergebnisse und Restaurierungserfolge. Anläßlich der Eröffnung der Ausstellung "Xi'an – Kaiserliche Macht im Jenseits. Grabfunde und Tempelschätze aus Chinas alter Hauptstadt" werden die Ergebnisse der seit 15 Jahren bestehenden Kooperation zum Schutz bedeutender Kulturgüter zwischen der chinesischen Provinz Shaanxi, dem Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum Mainz und dem Bayerischen Landesamt für Denkmalpflege München in einem internationalen Symposium zur Diskussion gestellt. Das Symposium steht in engem thematischen Zusammenhang mit der Ausstellung, deren Exponate zu 80 % aus Fundstätten der Provinz Shaanxi stammen, die im Rahmen der vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung geförderten deutsch-chinesischen Projekte erschlossen wurden. Die konservierungstechnischen Resultate werden mit den Arbeiten anderer internationaler Wissenschaftler aus dem Bereich der Restaurierung und archäologischen Forschung verglichen. Die Bandbreite der Themen erstreckt sich von der Konservierung der fragilen Farbfassung der berühmten Terrakottakrieger des Ersten Kaisers Qin Shihuangdi bis hin zu der mit neuesten Techniken durchgeführten Vermessung und der geophysikalischen Prospektion einer Palastanlage. (from the website of the publisher) 224 pages, 74 pictures Hardback (ISBN: 978-3-8053-3604-8) € 39,90 |
LEWIS Mark Edward: The Early chinese empires: Qin and Han. Harvard: Harvard University Press 2007.
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| Book Description In 221 bc the First Emperor of Qin unified the lands that would become the heart of a Chinese empire. Though forged by conquest, this vast domain depended for its political survival on a fundamental reshaping of Chinese culture. With this informative book, we are present at the creation of an ancient imperial order whose major features would endure for two millennia. The Qin and Han constitute the "classical period" of Chinese history--a role played by the Greeks and Romans in the West. Mark Edward Lewis highlights the key challenges faced by the court officials and scholars who set about governing an empire of such scale and diversity of peoples. He traces the drastic measures taken to transcend, without eliminating, these regional differences: the invention of the emperor as the divine embodiment of the state; the establishment of a common script for communication and a state-sponsored canon for the propagation of Confucian ideals; the flourishing of the great families, whose domination of local society rested on wealth, landholding, and elaborate kinship structures; the demilitarization of the interior; and the impact of non-Chinese warrior-nomads in setting the boundaries of an emerging Chinese identity. The first of a six-volume series on the history of imperial China, The Early Chinese Empires illuminates many formative events in China's long history of imperialism--events whose residual influence can still be discerned today. (from the website of the publisher) 336 pages 23 halftones, 16 maps Hardback (ISBN: 067402477X) $29.95 - £19.95 |
MADSEN, D.B., CHEN F., GAO, X. (eds.), Late Quaternary Climate Change and Human Adaptation in Arid China, Developments in Quaternary Science, Vol. 9, Elsevier, Amsterdam 2007.
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Due to political pressures, prior to the 1990s little was known about the nature of human foraging
adaptations in the deserts, grasslands, and mountains of north western China during the last glacial
period. Even less was known about the transition to agriculture that followed. Now open to foreign
visitation, there is now an increasing understanding of the foraging strategies which led both to
the development of millet agriculture and to the utilization of the extreme environments of the
Tibetan Plateau. This text explores the transition from the foraging societies of the Late
Paleolithic to the emergence of settled farming societies and the emergent pastoralism of the middle
Neolithic striving to help answer the diverse and numerous questions of this critical transitional
period. Part 1: Introduction 1-Archaeology at the Margins: Exploring the Late Paleolithic to Neolithic Transition in China's Arid West (David B. Madsen, Chen Fa-Hu, and Gao Xing) Part 2: Climate Change 2-Responses of Chinese Desert Lakes to Climate Instability During the Past 45,000 Years. (Bernd Wünnemann, Kai Hartmann, Manon Janssen, and Zhang Hucai Zhang) 3-Post-glacial Climate Variability and Drought Events in the Monsoon Transition Zone of Western China (Chen Fa-Hu, Cheng Bo, Zhao Hui, Fan Yu-Xin, David B. Madsen, and Jin Ming) 4-Vegetation Evolution in Arid China During Marine Isotope Stages 3 and 2 (~65-11 ka) (Ulrike Herzschuh and Liu Xingqi) 5-Holocene Vegetation and Climate Changes from Fossil Pollen Records in Arid and Semi-arid China (Zhao Yan, Yu Zicheng, Chen Fa-Hu, and An Chengbang) Part 3: Theoretical Perspectives 6-Variation in Late Quaternary Central Asian Climates and the Nature of Human Response (David B. Madsen and Robert G. Elston) 7-The transition to Agriculture in Northwestern China (Robert L. Bettinger, Loukas Barton, Peter J. Richerson, Robert Boyd, Wang Hui, and Choi Won) Part 4: Regional and Chronological Perspectives 8-Late Pleistocene Climate Change and Paleolithic Cultural Evolution in Northern China: Implications from the Last Glacial Maximum (Loukas Barton, P. Jeffery Brantingham, and Ji Duxue) 9-A Short Chronology for the Peopling of the Tibetan Plateau (P. Jeffrey Brantingham, Gao Xing, John W. Olsen, Ma Haizhou, David Rhode, Zhang Haiying, and David B. Madsen) 10--Modeling the Neolithic on the Tibetan Plateau (Mark S. Aldenderfer) 11-Zooarchaeological Evidence for Animal Domestication in Northwest China (Rowan K. Flad, Yuan Jing, and Li Shuicheng) 12-Yaks, Yak dung, and Prehistoric Human Habitation of the Tibetan Plateau (David Rhode, David B. Madsen, P. Jeffrey Brantingham, and Tsultrim Dargye) Part 5: Summary and Integration 13-Changing Views of late Quaternary Human Adaptation in Arid China (David B. Madsen, Chen Fa-Hu, and Gao Xing) (from the website of the publisher) Hardback - 244pages. (ISBN: 978-0-444-52962-6) GBP 100; USD 170; EUR 140 |
SHELACH, Gideon: Prehistoric Societies on the Northern Frontiers of China. Archaeological Perspectives on Identity Formation and Economic Change during the First Millennium BCE. (Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology Series) London: Equinox Publishing 2008.
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This book focuses on the formative period in pastoral–sedentary relations, the late second and early
first millennium BCE, on today's northern borders of China. This area – known as the Northern Zone –
emerged as a crucial arena for interactions among sedentary, semi-sedentary, and nomadic people
during a decisive period in which the region's unique economic adaptations, socio-political systems,
local cultures and identities took shape. It is also during this period that the real and symbolic
chasm between the “Chinese” (or Zhou) states and their northern neighbors emerged, and when
conscious attempts were made to define a broader, ethnic-like identity vis-à-vis the “other” way of
life. Based on archaeological field work in the Chifeng area of Inner Mongolia and on data carefully collected from Chinese archaeological publications, as well as on anthropologically-derived theories and rigorous analytical methods, the book challenges common perceptions which were based mainly on the Chinese historical records. It demonstrates that while changes in aspects of daily life, such as subsistence strategies and political organization, were gradual; a much more dramatic change occurred in the style and quantity of symbolic expression. This suggests that the construction of identities - local and regional- was not merely the end result of the process but rather was, from the beginning, an important catalyst of change. The book brings more comprehensive and nuance understanding to the archaeology and history of East Asia. By focusing on issues of identity, its construction, manipulation and materialization in symbols and artifacts, it also brings new theoretical and methodological innovations to a topic which has a relatively long history in anthropology but which has only recently been seriously addressed by archaeologists. Contents Introduction: The Seeds of the New Order: How East Asia Changed During the Period Between 1100-600 BCE Chapter Two. Charting the Change: What Can We Learn from the Archaeological Record About Changes that Occurred Between 1100-600 BCE. Chapter Three. Is it the Economy? Economic and Political Processes in the Northern Zone Chapter Four. Symbols and Identity: The Drawing of Mental Boundaries Chapter Five. Local, Regional and Global: Interaction Spheres and Social Change Chapter Six. Conclusions: Archaeological versus Historical Perspectives on Processes during the first half of the first Millennium BCE and Beyond (from the website of the pubisher) Hardback - 224 pages. (ISBN: 1845533151) £80.00/$140.00 |
THIERRY, François:
Amulettes de Chine. Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France 2008.
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Ce catalogue des amulettes de Chine du département des Monnaies, Médailles et Antiques de la
Bibliothèque nationale de France comprend plus de cinq cents amulettes monétiformes, un ensemble
constitué autour de la collection qu’Henri Fontanier, consul de France à Tien-tsin, rapporta de
Chine en 1867, et qui entra dans les collections nationales grâce à l’intervention de l’empereur
Napoléon III. Cette collection, enrichie depuis lors, comprend des objets allant de la dynastie des
Han de l’Ouest à la période actuelle. Le catalogue proprement dit est précédé d’une introduction
permettant de comprendre l’importance de ces objets dans la culture matérielle et spirituelle de la
Chine. Depuis l’Antiquité jusqu’à nos jours, les Chinois ont, d’une part, porté ces objets à fonction apotropaïque et prophylactique pour se protéger contre démons et revenants et pour conjurer les effets des miasmes et des mauvais vents ; d’autre part, ils en ont offert aux parents et amis comme souhaits de longévité, d’une carrière honorable, d’une réussite matérielle et d’une descendance mâle. Enfin les amulettes ont été utilisées pour honorer les divinités du panthéon traditionnel et les sages de la religion officielle, et certaines autres ont servi dans les pratiques et rites divinatoires. Ces petits objets sont donc un microcosme de la culture chinoise, avec son système de multiples langages (rébus, synecdoques, métonymies, graphies antiques, glyphes taoïstes, symboles…), ses allusions littéraires, ses références historiques et sa très riche iconographie religieuse, historique, légendaire, zoologique, botanique, etc. (from the website of the pubisher) Softback - 248 pages. (ISBN: 978-2-7177-2402-8) € 99,00 |
Wagner, Donald B.:
Science and Civilisation in China. Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 11, Ferrous
Metallurgy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2008.
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Donald B. Wagner provides a comprehensive historical account of the production and use of iron and
steel in China in their political and economic context. An initial chapter on the traditional
Chinese iron industry introduces the important technical concepts and the ways in which technology,
geography, and economics interact and influence political phenomena. Recent archaeological work
indicates that the earliest production of iron in China was in the Northwest, and that the
technology was introduced from the West via Central Asia. It was, however, the invention in South
China of large-scale technologies which put China on a very different developmental path from that
of the West. Further chapters deal with developments from the Han to the Tang, the technical
evolution and economic revolution of the Song period, and economic expansion under the Ming. A final
chapter investigates the debt of the modern steel industry to Chinese developments. Offers the most comprehensive historical account of the development of ferrous metallurgy in China from the beginning, ca. 1000 BC, to modern times • Provides full analysis of the economic aspects of the topic • Includes important digressions into the history of Western technologies Contents 1. Introduction; 2. Introductory orientations: the traditional Chinese iron industry in recent centuries; 3. The earliest use of iron in China; 4. The flourishing iron industry of the -3rd and -2nd centuries; 5. The Han state monopoly of the iron industry; 6. The arts of the smith from Late Han through Tang; 7. Technical evolution and economic revolution in the Song period; 8. Economic expansion in the Ming period; 9. Some Chinese contributions to modern siderurgical technology; 10. Epilogue. (from the website of the pubisher) Full Table of Contents and introductory matter here: http://www.staff.hum.ku.dk/dbwagner/SCC36c-prelims.pdf Hardback - 512 pages, 114 line figures, 73 halftones, 4 tables. (ISBN: 9780521875660) £120.00/$220.00/AUD$450.00 (inclusive of GST) |
ADOLPHSON, Mikael; KAMENS, Edward; MATSUMOTO, Stacie (eds.): Heian Japan, Centers and Peripheries. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press 2007.
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Book Description The first three centuries of the Heian period (794–1086) saw some of its most fertile innovations and epochal achievements in Japanese literature and the arts. It was also a time of important transitions in the spheres of religion and politics, as aristocratic authority was consolidated in Kyoto, powerful court factions and religious institutions emerged, and adjustments were made in the Chinese-style system of ruler-ship. At the same time, the era’s leaders faced serious challenges from the provinces that called into question the primacy and efficiency of the governmental system and tested the social/cultural status quo. Heian Japan, Centers and Peripheries, the first book of its kind to examine the early Heian from a wide variety of multidisciplinary perspectives, offers a fresh look at these seemingly contradictory trends. Essays by fourteen leading American, European, and Japanese scholars of art history, history, literature, and religions take up core texts and iconic images, cultural achievements and social crises, and the ever-fascinating patterns and puzzles of the time. The authors tackle some of Heian Japan’s most enduring paradigms as well as hitherto unexplored problems in search of new ways of understanding the currents of change as well as the processes of institutionalization that shaped the Heian scene, defined the contours of its legacies, and make it one of the most intensely studied periods of the Japanese past. Contributors: Ryūichi Abé, Mikael Adolphson, Bruce Batten, Robert Borgen, Wayne Farris, Karl Friday, G. Cameron Hurst III, Edward Kamens, D. Max Moerman, Samuel Morse, Joan R. Piggott, Fukutò Sanae, Ivo Smits, Charlotte von Verschuer. (from the website of the publisher) 464 pages. Softcover (ISBN: 978-0-8248-3013-7) $50.00 |
COBBING, Andrew: Kyushu: Gateway to Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press 2007.
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Book Description In this first major study of the region in English, the author examines the key themes of Kyushu’s history from earliest times—the cultural interaction with the continental mainland, settlement, location and infrastructure as well as trade and commerce—arguing that it was the principal stepping-stone in terms of Japan’s cultural, social, and economic advance through history up to the present day. (from the website of the publisher) November 2007 Hardback $90.00 |
KIDDER, J. Edward, Jr.: Himiko and Japan's Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai. Archaeology, History, and Mythology. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press 2007.
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Book Description The third-century Chinese chronicle Wei zhi (Record of Wei) is responsible for Japan’s most enduring ancient mystery. This early history tells of a group of islands off the China coast that were dominated by a female shaman named Himiko. Himiko ruled for more than half a century as head of the largest chiefdom, traditionally known as Yamatai, until her death in 248. Yet no such person appears in the old Japanese literature. Who was Himiko and where was the Yamatai she governed? In this, the most comprehensive treatment in English to date, a senior scholar of early Japan turns to three sources—historical, archaeological, and mythological—to provide a multifaceted study of Himiko and ancient Japanese society. (from the website of the publisher) 416 pages. Hardback (ISBN: 978-0-8248-3035-9) $60.00 |
Van GOETHEM, Ellen: Nagaoka.
Japan’s Forgotten Capital. Brill’s Japanese Studies Library, 29. Brill 2008.
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Book Description This is the first work dealing comprehensively with the historical and physical aspects of the Nagaoka palace and capital, constructed in the eighth century at the order of Kanmu Tennō, but abruptly abandoned after only ten years. New research and especially the information yielded by decades of excavation made possible this fresh reassessment of conventional theories not only of the construction and layout of Nagaoka, but also the life and reign of its founder. It also examines the motivations behind the establishment and unexpected abandonment within the context of Kanmu’s reign and personal convictions. More broadly speaking, the volume deals with the process of capital building in late eighth-century Japan, and the links between the Nara and Heian capitals. Readership: All those interested in ancient Japanese history and archaeology, in particular the rule of the late eighth-century sovereign Kanmu, capital building and relocation, political intrigue, and mokkan (inscribed wooden tablets). (from the website of the publisher) 350 pages. Hardback (ISBN: 350) EUR 119.- / US$ 170.- |
BEST, Jonathan W.: A History of the Early Korean Kingdom of Paekche, together with an annotated translation of The Paekche Annals of the Samguk sagi. Harvard, Harvard University Press 2007.
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| Book Description This volume presents two histories of the early Korean kingdom of Paekche (trad. 18 BCE-660 CE). The first, written by Jonathan Best, is based largely on primary sources, both written and archaeological. This initial history of Paekche serves, in part, to introduce the second, an extensively annotated translation of the oldest history of the kingdom, the Paekche Annals (Paekche pon'gi). Written in the chronicle format standard for the traditional official histories of East Asia, the Paekche Annals constitutes one section of the Histories of the Three Kingdoms (Samguk sagi), a comprehensive account of early Korean history compiled under the editorial direction of Kim Pusik (1075-1151). Although these two representations of Paekche history differ markedly, the underlying problem faced by both the twelfth-century and the twenty-first-century historian is essentially the same: fashioning a responsible, encompassing, and reasonably coherent history of the kingdom from meager, and often disparate and fragmentary, evidence. Included in the volume are 22 appendixes on problems in Paekche history; a concordance of proper names, official titles, omens, and weights and measures; a glossary of geographical names; and six historical maps of the kingdom showing its changing boundaries. (from the website of the publisher) 555 pages, 6 maps (ISBN: 0-674-01957-1) Paperback $60.00, £38.95, €55.30 |
CAYRON, Jun G.: Stringing the Past: An Archaeological Understanding of Early Southeast Asian Glass Bead Trade. Distributed for University of the Philippines Press. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press 2007.
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| Book Description The source of thousands of Indo-Pacific type glass beads recovered from the Pandanan shipwreck in Palawan, Philippines, has heretofore not been determined. This book is a significant contribution to our knowledge of glass beads: how they were made, used, and traded in early Southeast Asia. (from the website of the publisher) 222 pages (ISBN: 978-971-542-506-3) Paperback $14.00 |
HIGHAM, Charles F.W., A. KIJNGAM and S. TALBOT: The Excavation of Noen U-Loke and Non Muang Kao. The Origins of the Civilization of Angkor, Vol. 2. Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, 2007.
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| Book Description This is the final report on the excavation of the Iron Age sites of Noen U-Loke and Non Muang Kao, excavated in 1997-8 as the first part of the our research programme on the Origins of Angkor. It is published by the Thai Fine Arts Department of Thailand. Noen U-Loke fills a major void in our understanding of later SE Asian prehistory. A large site ringed by five moats and banks, excavations uncovered a sequence of occupation and mortuary remains covering the entire Iron Age sequence, from about 500 BC until 400 AD. Some burials were richly endowed with gold, silver, carnelian, agate, ivory, shell and bronze ornaments. Non Muang Kao corresponds to part of the Noen U-Loke sequence and remarkable remains of house floors and building foundations were found, together with further Iron Age burials. 632 pages, 536 ill., 101 tables (ISBN: 978-974-417-823-7) available from Oxbow Books in England and the USA at a price of 50 pounds, or 100 US dollars. It is now available for 25 pounds sterling, or 50 US dollars, excluding postage and packing from Thailand. Information: Charles Higham charles.higham@stonebow.otago.ac.nz |
KUZMIN, Yaroslav V., Susan G. KEATES and Chen SHEN (ed.): Origin and Spread of Microblade Technology in Northern Asia and North America. Burnaby, B.C. (Canada): Archaeology Press, 2007.
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| Book Description This volume is one of a few systematic descriptions in English of microblade complexes, and the first comprehensive collection which contains primary evidences from the North Pacific region, including China, Korea, Japan, Siberia and the Russian Far East, and northwestern USA and Canada. The updated summaries on archaeology, radiocarbon chronology, and palaeoenvironment are presented, in order to understand major spatial-temporal patterns of the origin and subsequent spread of microblade technology in Northeast Asia and its movement to North America. Volume is prepared by scholars with primary knowledge of the topic. The chapters are organized geographically, and they contain presentation and discussion of original data published in English and several non-Roman languages, including Russian, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. Numerous illustrations and maps add to the texts provided. Bibliography of 600 entries includes all important references in English, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, related to microblade technology in Northern Hemisphere. Content Foreword (Roy L. CARLSON) Chapter 1. Introduction: Microblades and Beyond (Yaroslav V. KUZMIN, Susan G. KEATES and Chen SHEN) Chapter 2. Techno-typological Comparison of Microblade Cores from East Asia and North America (Chun CHEN) Chapter 3. A Re-evaluation of Microblade Industries and the Fenghuangling Cultural Complex in Shandong Peninsula, Northern China (Chen SHEN) Chapter 4. The Japanese Microblade Industries: Technology, Raw Material Procurement, and Adaptations (Hiroyuki SATO and Takashi TSUTSUMI) Chapter 5. Emergence and Mobility of Microblade Industries in the Japanese Islands (Katsuhiro SANO) Chapter 6. A Review of Korean Microlithic Industries (Christopher J. NORTON, Kidong BAE, Hanyong LEE and John W.K. HARRIS) Chapter 7. Late Pleistocene Microlithic Assemblages in Korea (Chuntaek SEONG) Chapter 8. Geoarchaeological Aspects of the Origin and Spread of Microblade Technology in Northern and Central Asia (Yaroslav V. KUZMIN) Chapter 9. Microblade Technology n Siberian and Neighbouring Regions: An Overview (Susan G. KEATES) Chapter 10. The Microblade Complexes of Alaska and the Yukon: Early Interior and Coastal Adaptations (Robert E. ACKERMAN) Chapter 11. The Spread of Microblade Technology in Northwestern North America (Martin MAGNE and Daryl FEDJE) Chapter 12. Conclusion: In the Search of the Origins of Microblades and Microblade Technology (Fumiko IKAWA-SMITH) How to order Customers can order book directly from Publisher: Archaeology Press, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., V5A 1S6, CANADA. Volume can also be ordered from Archaeology Press website: http://www.sfu.ca/archaeology/archpress/catalogue.html Book will be also available for sale at the forthcoming SAA Annual Meeting in Vancouver, B.C., March 26-30, 2008. Don’t miss it ! Check Archaeology Press booth at the Exhibition ! x+222 pages; 17 tables; 111 figures and maps. Paperback (ISBN: 978-0-86491-294-7) US/CAN $35.00 (plus handling and shipping). |
SOLHEIM II, Wilhelm G. (ed.): Archaeology and Culture in Southeast Asia: Unraveling the Nusantao. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press 2007.
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| Book Description This is the long-awaited synthesis of almost four decades of articulation on the Nusantao by the most senior practitioner of archaeology in Southeast Asia. The Nusantao is a formulation that attempts to provide answers to why we see so many clear similarities and patterns in archaeology of the region. The main answer to this question places the sea and the maritime tradition on center stage. Solheim draws on his wide and profound knowledge of networks of interactions existing in various time depths, peopled by what he generally labels “Nusantao.” Contributors: David Bulbeck and Ambika Flave (from the website of the publisher) 336 pages. Softcover (ISBN: 978-971-542-508-7) $30.00 |
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Last modified: 16.07.2008
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