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The Palaeolithic of Northeast Asia
This volume combines details of discoveries of Palaeolithic sites in a vast region of Northeast Asia (covering mostly the northeastern part of modern Russia), and meticulous analysis of hypotheses, ideas, and concepts related to the Northeast Asian Palaeolithic.
eBook
ReIntegrating a dispersed agenda: advancing archaeological research in Central Eurasia
Amid resurgent geopolitical fissures and in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a growing awareness in the sector of the need for, and concern about, national and international collaboration in archaeological projects. This article reflects on present-day challenges for international collaboration in central Eurasian archaeology and furthers a much-needed discussion about (re)integrating local narratives with inter-regional trends in future research. Responsible and practical proposals for bridging collaborator differences in institutional or publishing obligations, language capacities and access to resources are discussed.
Journal Article
Archaeology of the Eurasian Steppes and Mongolia
International interest in the prehistory and archaeology of the Eurasian steppes and Mongolia has increased dramatically since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. This article surveys important new evidence and interpretations that have emerged from several collaborative projects in the past two decades. A particular emphasis is placed on issues that are crucial to regional studies in the steppe ecological zone; however, it also is suggested that steppe prehistory must come to play a more significant role in developing more comprehensive understandings of world prehistory. Key developments connected with the steppe include the diffusion of anatomically modern humans, horse domestication, spoke-wheeled chariot and cavalry warfare, early metal production and trade, Indo-European languages, and the rise of nomadic states and empires. In addition to these important issues, thoughts are offered on some of the current challenges that face archaeological scholarship in this region of the world.
Journal Article
Migration Concepts in Central Eurasian Archaeology
Theories of migration hold a pervasive position in prehistoric archaeology of Central Eurasia. International research on Eurasia today reflects the juxtaposition of archaeological theory and practice from distinct epistemological traditions, and migration is at the crux of current debates. Migration was employed paradigmatically during the Soviet era to explain the geography and materiality of prehistoric ethnogenesis, whereas in the west it was harshly criticized in prehistoric applications, especially in the 1970s. Since the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), migration has resurfaced as an important, yet polemical, explanation in both academic arenas. Short- and long-distance population movements are seen as fundamental mechanisms for the formation and distribution of regional archaeological cultures from the Paleolithic to historical periods and as a primary social response to environmental, demographic, and political pressures. Critics view the archaeological record of Eurasia as a product of complex local and regional interaction, exchange, and innovation, reinvigorating essential debates around migration, diffusion, and autochthonous change in Eurasian prehistory.
Journal Article
Near Eastern Archaeology Works To Dig Out of a Crisis
In the wake of the Arab Spring, archaeologists in the Near East are locked in a struggle for the survival of their field. The Near East, birthplace of farming, animal domestication, cities, empires, and writing, exerts a powerful pull on archaeologists. The region is also the birthplace of modern archaeology itself, which began in the 19th century amid the mounds of Mesopotamia. Yet at the Eighth International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, the field's first gathering since the Arab Spring unleashed unrest from Morocco to Oman, researchers were worried about the future of archaeology's flagship subdiscipline. More than 120 foreign teams were abruptly shut out of Syria, Egypt is taking a xenophobic turn, parts of Iraq remain prone to violence, and Iran remains virtually sealed off. Even peaceful countries are more difficult for foreign archaeologists to access. Although about 600 scientists crowded the halls to listen to nearly 500 presentations, there was a note of quiet desperation in the air.
Journal Article
NATIONALISM AND ARCHAEOLOGY: On the Constructions of Nations and the Reconstructions of the Remote Past
Nationalism requires the elaboration of a real or invented remote past. This
review considers how archaeological data are manipulated for nationalist
purposes, and it discusses the development of archaeology during the nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries and the relationship of archaeology to
nation-building, particularly in Europe. Contrastive conceptions of nationality
and ethnicity are presented, and it is argued that adoption of modern
constructivist perspectives is incompatible with attempting to identify
ethnic/national groups solely on the basis of archaeological evidence. The
political uses of archaeology are also reviewed for the construction of
national identities in immigrant and postcolonial states. The problematic
nature of nationalistic interpretations of the archaeological record is
discussed, and the essay concludes with a consideration of the professional and
ethical responsibilities of archaeologists confronted with such
interpretations.
Journal Article
Neolithization and Ancient Landscapes in Southern Primorye, Russian Far East
Archaeological and paleoecological investigations of Neolithization processes in Southern Primorye (or the Maritime Region) of the Russian Far East are generating new insight into the complex interactions between human populations and the natural environment during the Middle Holocene. Dynamic coastal and terrestrial ecosystems have been linked to transformations in the paleoeconomy and social structure of prehistoric societies that gave rise to the Boisman Neolithic culture (7500–4500 BP) of coastal hunter-fisher-gatherers. These human–environment relations are reconstructed in the current paper, drawing from a wide range of available evidence.
Journal Article
Soviet inspiration in Chinese archaeology
On the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of China's Institute of Archaeology, the author looks back to its origins, and recalls a short period, now almost forgotten, of dynamic and fruitful collaboration with the archaeologists of Soviet Russia. Soviet intellectual aims in the 1950s had a profound and lasting influence on the development of Chinese archaeology, including the design of its institutions, its theoretical basis, its research agenda and its field methods. The new emphasis on ancient life beyond the elite and the study of social and economic process seems to pre-echo some of the themes of Anglo-American processual archaeology that was to follow a decade later.
Journal Article
Canals versus horses: political power in the oasis of Samarkand
At the heart of Central Asia, the Middle Zeravshan Valley and the city of Samarkand are crisscrossed by a complex system of canals derived from the Zeravshan river (
Fig. 1
). In agreement with the traditional theories proposed by soviet scholars and defended, in another context, by Wittfogel, it is usually assumed that a strong, long-term association exists between the management of this irrigation system and some form of centralized political power system.
By adopting an integrated approach, we will examine an alternative history of the emergence and growth of Samarkand and the link between water management and socio-political power. In the first part we will focus on the archaeological evidence pertaining to the construction of the Dargom, the primary canal of Samarkand and suggest that it is not necessarily the result of a short-term (or fixed) master plan or linked to a strong central political power. In the second part we will consider the non-irrigated grasslands surrounding the oasis and show that the socio-political structures of the oasis cannot be understood without a more systemic approach.
The paper is based on the results of an ongoing project to survey the Middle Zeravshan Valley systematically initiated by the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan in collaboration with various international teams (see acknowledgements).
Journal Article