Book Talk: Metamorphic Imagery in Ancient Chinese Art and Religion

The Society for East Asian Archaeology is delighted to host a virtual book talk by Dr. Elizabeth Childs-Johnson in celebration of the launch her new book, co-authored with Dr. John Major, "Metamorphic Imagery in Ancient Chinese Art and Religion". We are honored to have Dr. Thomas Michael (Beijing Normal University) and Dr. Li Min (University of California at Los Angeles) serving as discussants for this exciting event.

New Book: Technological Knowledge in the Production of Neolithic Majiayao Pottery in Gansu and Qinghai

This book by Evgenia Dammer is the first comprehensive study of the technological knowledge needed to produce Neolithic Majiayao-style pottery (5300-4000 cal yr BP) which is famous for its painted designs in black and red. It examines the technological choices in the production of fine and coarse Majiayao-style pottery found across three river valleys, all located near the border area of Chinese provinces Gansu and Qinghai.

RITUAL AND ECONOMY IN EAST ASIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

In commemoration of Lothar von Falkenhausen’s 60th birthday, this volume assembles eighteen scholarly essays that explore the intersection between art, economy, and ritual in ancient East Asia. The contributions are clustered into four themes: “Ritual Economy,” “Ritual and Sacrifice,” “Technology, Community, Interaction,” and “Objects and Meaning,” which collectively reflect the theoretical, methodological, and historical questions that Falkenhausen has been examining via his scholarship, research, and teaching throughout his career.

New Book: The Social Lives of Chinese Objects

The Social Lives of Chinese Objects is the first anthology of texts to apply Arjun Appadurai’s well-known argument on the social life of things to the discussion of artefacts made in China. The essays in this book look at objects as “things-in-motion,” a status that brings attention to the history of transmissions ensuing after the time and conditions of their production. How does the identity of an object change as a consequence of geographical relocation and/ or temporal transference?

New Book: Tectonic Archaeology

The effects of tectonic processes on archaeological sites are evidenced by earthquake damage, volcanic eruptions, and tsunami destruction. However, these processes affect a far broader sphere of landform structures, environment, and even climate that envelops an archaeological site and triggers human behavioural activities.

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New Book: Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Microblade-based Industries in Northeastern Asia

The rise and fall of microblade technology during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene is not only a part of the panorama of global microlithization, but also a key question linked to human adaptive change in the face of climate fluctuation. This monograph creatively uses Lewis Binford’s macroecological approach developed from his book Constructing Frames of Reference (2001) against both interglacial and glacial climate conditions, to provide an explanation of variation and change among late Pleistocene and early Holocene microblade-based industries in northeastern Asia.

New Book: Megaliths of the World

Megaliths of the World, edited by Luc Laporte, Jean-Marc Large, Laurent Nespoulous, Chris Scarre, Tara Steimer-Herbet, brings together the latest research on megalithic monuments throughout the world. Many of these sites are well known, others less familiar, yet equally deserving of close attention.

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