Description
Book Synopsis* Comprises fifteen chapters by some of the world's foremost Asia archaeologists. * Sheds light on the most compelling aspects of Asian archaeology, from the earliest evidence of plant domestication to the emergence of states and empires.
Trade Review“Miriam Stark has performed a monumental service to global archaeology by selecting the most important cross-cultural themes in Asian archaeology and many of the most innovative writers to discuss them.”
Gina L. Barnes, University of Durham
“Offering remarkable coverage of the world’s largest continent, Stark has created an outstanding book that should be required reading for any archaeologist or historian interested in Asia.” John Olsen, University of Arizona
"This volume is the seventh in the series Blackwell Studies in Global Archaeology, a series intended to cover the central areas of undergraduate archaeological teaching. While this is certainly a sustainable market for the series, this particular volume presents an overview and depth that will also, and perhaps more so, be a welcome addition to the libraries of postgraduate and research archaeologists ... Stark has assembled a valuable resource made all the more useful by not shying away from the scholarly and national politics reflected in so much Asian Archaeology" Australian Archaeology
Table of ContentsSeries Editors' Preface vii
List of Figures and Tables viii
Notes on Contributors xi
Part I Introduction 1
1 Contextualizing an Archaeology of Asia 3
Miriam T. Stark
Part II Contexts of Asian Archaeology 15
2 Some National, Regional, and Political Uses of Archaeology in East and Southeast Asia 17
Ian C. Glover
3 Archaeology in the Two Koreas 37
Sarah M. Nelson
4 Self-Identification in the Modern and Post-Modern World and Archaeological Research: A Case Study from Japan 55
Koji Mizoguchi
Part III Formative Developments 75
5 East Asian Plant Domestication 77
Gary W. Crawford
6 Asian Farming Diasporas? Agriculture, Languages, and Genes in China and Southeast Asia 96
Peter Bellwood
Part IV Emergence and Development of Complex Asian Systems 119
7 Early Communities in East Asia: Economic and Sociopolitical Organization at the Local and Regional Levels 121
Anne P. Underhill and Junko Habu
8 Sociopolitical Change from Neolithic to Bronze Age China 149
Li Liu and Xingcan Chen
9 Marks and Labels: Early Writing in Neolithic and Shang China 177
David N. Keightley
10 Secondary State Formation and the Development of Local Identity: Change and Continuity in the State of Qin (770–221 B.C.) 202
Gideon Shelach and Yuri Pines
Part V Crossing Boundaries and Ancient Asian States 231
11 Frontiers and Boundaries:The Han Empire from its Southern Periphery 233
Francis Allard
12 States on Horseback:The Rise of Inner Asian Confederations and Empires 255
William Honeychurch and Chunag Amartuvshin
13 Historicizing Foraging in South Asia: Power, History, and Ecology of Holocene Hunting and Gathering 279
Kathleen D. Morrison
14 The Axial Age in South Asia: The Archaeology of Buddhism (500 B.C.–A.D. 500) 303
Himanshu Prabha Ray
15 Imperial Landscapes of South Asia 324
Carla M. Sinopoli
Index 350
