text: Recent archaeobotanical research revealed a high significance of wild plant food, particularly nuts, in East Asian prehistoric subsistence, even in early agricultural periods in Chinese rice farming area (eg. Fuller et al. 2009). To develop the discussion, we need to reconstruct not only which plant people exploited but also how they scheduled the uses of wild and cultivated resources. Ethnographic research of modern traditional culture will provide such knowledge to be usefully referred to the archaeological interpretations. However, in China, so far almost no research from this ethnoarchaeological scope has been done, therefore, while developing the new research in China, it is needed to construct some theoretical framework to support that, referring to ethnographic studies of other temperate zones. In Japan and USA (native American), there are good accumulation of ethnographic studies on wild nut and other food resource exploitation, and thus their comparative study is conducted for the purpose.
  Climate has been debated by historians and archaeologists as one possible contributing factor for the emergence and collapse of complex societies. Recently, connections have been proposed between an ameliorating environment, surplus resources, energy, and the rise of Chinggis Khan’s 13th-century Mongol Empire. If favorable climate and increased rangeland productivity do indeed play a critical role in the politics of pastoral nomads, we should be able to observe this in other cases too. This paper aims to evaluate the role that climate might have played in the rise and expansion of the Xiongnu Empire (3rd century BC to 2nd century AD), using regional-scale archaeological data and climate reconstructions in Mongolia. Our paleoclimate data show a dramatic change in temperature and precipitation in central Mongolia during the Xiongnu period and enhanced productivity in the heartland of the empire. Climatic amelioration could thus have provided ample resources for strengthening the new unified leadership, although the picture is more complex.
  Spanish colonial activities in Asia were crucial in terms of the shaping of local and global histories during the early modern period. However, scholars pay less attention to these remote European colonies than those on the other side of the Pacific. This research examines multiple archaeological sites that are related to Spanish colonial history in Asia in northern Taiwan, highland Luzon (Ifugao), lowland Luzon (Manila), and Visayas, and shows that historical archaeology of las Filipinas is an excellent case study of archaeology of colonialism. Under a multiscalar temporospatial framework, this comprehensive study aims to break away from the influence of modern nationalism and show the various trajectories of cultural encounters from proto-historical to historical eras in different locations in island Southeast Asia, which are usually neglected by the traditional concept of colonialism.
  This paper presents the novel application of thermodynamic modeling towards understanding the gradual and spontaneous changes in the chemical composition of Imperial Chinese coins between 221 BC and 1911 AD. Thermodynamic models of relevant ancient metal systems (e.g. bronze and brass) were created to explain the occurrence and combination of coin metal types. These models also explain the compositional change of recast/recycled coinage over time. Past studies of Chinese coins have generated vast chemical datasets -numbering over 2000 in total (Zhou 2004)- that are interpreted here using thermodynamic method and theory, and compared to historic accounts of coin alloy production. Despite the supposed standardization of coin alloy percentages, coin data may not adhere to their prescribed recipes. This mismatch is likely due to metal recycling/mixing in specific socio-economic circumstances. We attempt to decipher the chemical compositional variance of Chinese coins for the better understanding of China's ancient economy.
  As a large herbivore, the domestication of cattle has received much attention in the fields of archaeology and anthropology. It is generally believed that the occurrence of the domesticated cattle in China can be traced to about 5000 years ago and suggested to be imported from the West. However, the existence of the bovid bones at the archaeological sites earlier than 5000 years ago challenges this assumption and the question of cattle domestication in China, independent of the development in the West, remains unsolved. This presentation introduces the isotopic data of large fauna including the bovid bones from the Neolithic in Shaanxi, aiming to understand the mechanism of cattle domestication in China through dietary comparison between the wild and the domesticated animals.
  A total of eight pieces of elaborately crafted artefacts named yazhang blades have been recovered from Phung Nguyen and Xom Ren, two Phung Nguyen culture sites in North Vietnam during the past three decades, but their provenience remains ambiguous. Similar artefacts have been found widely in China, for example at Shimao, Erlitou and Sanxingdui. Some Vietnamese archaeologists have highlighted the debate about the origin of these enigmatic blades in recent years and they proposed that they were local products, while Chinese scholars suggested that these mysterious artefacts were imported from China. Through the analysis of raw material, style, and technology, this empirical study reveals that at least four pieces of yazhang blades in Vietnam were imported from Sanxingdui, while the rest were possibly local products. The research findings will build a better understanding of the process of interregional interaction between ancient China and Vietnam during the early Bronze Age.
  Complex Cultural Affinities as Observed in the Jade and Stone Ornaments from the Aristocrats’ Burials of the Yu State of Western Zhou
  Since 1975, more than 20 social elites’ graves of Western Zhou period, interred with rich grave goods, were excavated from cemeteries along the banks of the Wei River in Baoji region. Cultural traits observed on the stone and bronze artifacts unearthed from these graves suggest that Baoji had functioned as an important gateway, through which the cultures in the Chinese Northwest and Southwest communicated with the Central Plain during the early historic periods. On the other hand, inscriptions on the excavated bronzes suggest that the aristocrats of the Yu state had maintained close ties with their peers in other Zhou states, and the members of the Ji clan at the Zhou court. Based on an examination of the excavated stone ornaments, this work interprets various patterns and trajectories of interaction between the Zhou and the non-Zhou people and among the Zhou states that took place in and around the Central plains.
  Microscopic observation and physicochemical analysis conducted in this study identified a new type of mineral inclusion—analcime—among some Machang type painted pottery made in late Neolithic northwestern China. Analcime was present only in the Machang type painted pottery made in the lower Huangshui River valley, but not in non-painted pottery made in the same region, contemporary Machang type pottery made in other regions, or pottery of earlier/later phases found in northwestern China. Our study found that potters who adopted this new technique were able to provide their pots to consumers across a wider region than potters who did not. Inter-regional exchange was intensified along with the emergence of this new production technique. This case study provides an opportunity to investigate how technical innovation could have restructured production and circulation systems among non-state level societies.
  The double handled ma’an 马鞍 or saddle-shaped mouth jar is the artifact most closely associated with the Siwa 寺洼 Culture found in the Gansu province (ca. 1400-700 BC). Ma’an jars are abundantly found at Siwa sites and like many other archaeological objects in China, are unearthed almost exclusively from burial contexts. They dominated Siwa burial assemblages and were clearly an important funerary object that most likely played a central role in the burial ritual. This paper present the results of a study conducted on over a 100 ma’an jars excavated from the Zhanqi site in the Tao River valley, Gansu. As with most jars and jugs, the function of the ma’an jar is understood to be for storage; to hold grain or liquids. In contrast, I find clear traces of cooking practices and suggest a new interpretation for the ma’an jars as well as for their unique saddle-shaped mouth.
  Early Subsistence Practices at Prehistoric Dadunzi in Yuanmou, Yunnan: New Evidence for the Origins of Early Agriculture in Southwest China
  Dadunzi in Yuanmou County is an important prehistoric site located in northern Yunnan in the Jinsha River region. The flotation results of plant remains in the Dadunzi site retrieved during excavations in 2010 yielded the earliest evidence for rice and millet agriculture in Yunnan dating to 4000 BP. The flotation samples taken from the site are dominated by agricultural crops and weeds associated with agriculture, indicating that the main source of subsistence at the site was agriculture, apparently a mixture of dry-land agriculture and rice farming. The dry and hot river valley in which Dadunzi is located provides the ideal environment for such a mixed form of agriculture which seems to have persisted over a considerable period of time.
  The first bronze gear-shaped object was found in Taosi, Shanxi Province. The excavator named it bracelet as used for ornamentation. However, some scholars argued that 29 teeth of the object represent the days of the lunar month. Recently, four similar gear-shaped objects were discovered at Shimao site. One of these has 12 teeth, two have 13, and one has 23, which argues against the astronomical hypothesis. Although wearing gear-shaped objects as ornaments might be uncomfortable, such use is suggested by the discovery of similar artifacts which are believed to have been worn on the arm and dated to later periods in southwestern China and Korea, in which even sharper teeth are discovered. The occurrence of bracelets in the highest status tombs from Taosi and Shimao suggests they symbolize social status and prestige of the owners. The symbolic meaning of these objects appeared early in prehistory and developed further in the Bronze Age.
  The Pazyryk burials are a series of Scythian Iron Age tombs in the Altai Mountains, Siberia, south of the modern city of Novosibirsk, Russia; the site is close to the borders with China, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. The tombs are characterized by the so-called Scythian kurgans—high, enormous mounds—containing wooden chambers covered by large cairns of boulders and stones. They yielded harnesses, weapons, and animal ornaments that date from the seventh to the first centuries BCE. This study involves a basic analysis of the ritual ceremony of the Pazyryk culture as well as the social identity influencing the structure and materials of the Pazyryk kurgans in the Altai Mountains region.
  Nakayama site in Akita Prefecture (dated to the latter half of Jomon period) is located in the northern Tohoku region. It is a waterlogged site and remains of horse chestnuts and walnut shells were found in large quantities. The remains were water-sieved through 3 mm mesh. The size of the nuts was measured, and the existence of wormholes and baking marks were examined. The result showed that the proportions of premature nuts and nuts with wormholes were low compared to other regions. It was also shown that, at the time people started sedentary life in the area, in the case of horse chestnuts the size of nuts became larger and their shape changed from globular to flat, so the range of size became narrower. The size of walnuts also became slightly larger. In addition, many of walnuts were cracked vertically in a certain way, and experiments were conducted to reconstruct the cracking method.
  This paper examines the archaeological evidence for trade along the Sea of Japan coast during the medieval period in Japan in the light of Amino Yoshihiko’s argument in favour of a series of ‘urban’ trading centres developing at this time. He re-situates the study of medieval Japan from the perspective of the sea, a theme further developed using historical sources by Peter Shapinsky in Lords of the Sea. The presentation builds on studies published in The Archaeology of Medieval Towns: case studies from Japan and Europe, including Tosa Minato on the northern tip of Honshu, and explores the relationship between such settlements and better known medieval urban centres such as Sakai, Hiraizumi and Kamakura. The paper concludes with a consideration of the significance of the archaeological record for understanding this complex period, and what the archaeology of medieval Japan can offer the developing field of global medieval archaeology more generally.
  This paper will explore the issues that have arisen in the compilation of the Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Korea and Japan, a comparative volume dedicated to the archaeology of these two regions attempted for the first time in English. We will explore in particular how the notion of historical ecology can be used as a framework for examining similarities and differences in cultural trajectories on the peninsula and the archipelago.
  Faces of Old Joseon or Eastern Barbarian (Dongyi): Ethnic Identities of Bronze Mask Figures of the 1st Century BCE from Northeast China