SEAA News Blog

Cattle (Bos taurus), domesticated from the extinct aurochs (Bos primigenius), has been an important animal to many human societies since prehistoric times. Cattle provides not only meat for subsistence, but also hide, blood, dung, milk and traction that contribute to the organization of human beliefs, cultural attitudes and social complexity. This book provides the widest range of cattle bone biometrical information from the Early Neolithic period to the Early Bronze Age (10000 to 3600 years ago) and investigates the morphological variation of this animal from a biological point of view: the main indicator for tracing domestication. The results suggest that cattle in ancient China was imported from the Near East around 4,300 years ago and made their first appearance in the Yellow River Valley. Once they had arrived in central China, these small-sized domesticated cattle soon spread and was exploited intensively from then on.

November 1, 2019

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Louis Frieberg Post-doctoral Fellowships

The Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies offers post-doctoral fellowships for the2020-2021 academic year. The post-docs are open to scholars in the humanities and socialsciences specializing in East Asia, especially China, Japan, Korea and Mongolia.Fellowships are granted for one academic year or one semester. The starting date of the visitshould not be later than four years after receipt of the doctoral degree; the fellow must hold avalid doctoral degree no later than October 2020.The fellowship consists of a monthly stipend (tax free) of $1,800, paid in Israeli currency andlinked to the representative rate of exchange. Fellows are entitled to one airline ticket(economy class, up to $1,500) for a direct flight from their hometown to Israel and back. Thefellows are expected to teach one semester-long course at the Hebrew University (foradditional payment, according to the Hebrew University regulations). The ability to teach acourse in Hebrew is welcome, but is not a prerequisite for attaining the fellowship. Thefellows will also actively participate in the life and activities of the Louis Frieberg Center forEast Asian Studies and will present their research at the seminar of the Department of AsianStudies, and possibly at other relevant forums. Any work outside the Hebrew Universitywould be allowed only after specific approval by the Frieberg Center. Applicants shouldsub one hard copy and an electronic copy—in one file—of their application to theaddress below, no later than March 8, 2020.

Dr Keith Knapp has once again created his yearly digest of publications relating to the archaoelogy of East Asia. This excellent resource summarizes a large number of archaeology-related articles that have been published in the last year. For the full digest please visit: https://www.academia.edu/41475529/2019_East_Asia_Archaeological_Digest

INSTITUTE OF ASIAN AND ORIENTAL STUDIES / CHINESE STUDIES
 

The Traditional China Chair at the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies
of the Uni­versity of Zurich is looking for a postdoc in East and Central
Asian archaeology, art history or palaeo­zoology/-botany. Postdoctoral work
will be carried out under the aus­pices of the Swiss Na­tional Science
Foundation (SNSF) project “Sino-Indo-Iranica rediviva – Early Eurasian
migratory terms in Chinese and their cultural im­plications” (PI: Prof.
Wolfgang Behr). The project will investigate Central Asian loan words of
Ira­nian, Indian, Tocharian and other linguistic origins in Chinese
epigraphical and transmitted texts from early antiquity to the Sui
unification (581 CE). Linguistic results will be compared to evidence from
from material culture and the natu­ral environments with the aim of gaining
deeper in­sights into the devel­opment of the flourish­ing trade routes
linking China and Cen­tral Asia since the onset of writing in China.
As part of the project, a database of Chinese terms with their (putative)
foreign equiva­lents and material culture correlates will be compiled and
published online. The successful appli­cant will conduct a thorough
investigation of material traces re­flecting contact during the time of the
investigated textual evidence in close coordina­tion with the other three
project partici­pants as well as external collaboration part­ners.