Li Liu
Sir Robert Ho Tung Professor
East Asian Languages and Cultures
Bio
Li Liu jointed Stanford faculty in 2010. Previously she taught archaeology at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, for 14 years and was elected as Fellow of Academy of Humanities in Australia. She has a BA in History (Archaeology Major) from Northwest University in China, an MA in Anthropology from Temple University in Philadelphia, and a PhD in Anthropology from Harvard University. Her research interests include archaeology of early China (Neolithic and Bronze Age), ritual practice in ancient China, cultural interaction between China and other parts of the Old World, domestication of plants and animals in China, development of complex societies and state formation, settlement archaeology, and urbanism.
Academic Appointments
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Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures
Honors & Awards
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The Best Translated Book of Year in Archaeology, China, Best Translated Book Award (2007)
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Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA), Australian Academy of the Humanities (2008)
Program Affiliations
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Center for East Asian Studies
Professional Education
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Ph.D., Harvard University, Anthropology (1994)
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M.A., Temple University, Anthropology (1987)
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B.A., Northwestern University, Xi'an, Archaeology (1982)
Current Research and Scholarly Interests
Research interests:
Archaeology of early China (Neolithic and Bronze Age); ritual practice in ancient China; cultural interaction between China and other parts of the Old World; early domestication of plants and animals in China; theory of development of complex societies and state formation; settlement archaeology; urbanism; zooarchaeology; starch analysis; use-wear analysis; mortuary analysis; craft specialization
2024-25 Courses
- Archaeology of Food: production, consumption and ritual
ARCHLGY 124, ARCHLGY 224 (Aut) - Constructing National History in East Asian Archaeology
ARCHLGY 135, ARCHLGY 235, CHINA 175, CHINA 275 (Win) - Emergence of Chinese Civilization from Caves to Palaces
ARCHLGY 111, ARCHLGY 211, CHINA 176, CHINA 276 (Aut) - Experimental Archaeology
ARCHLGY 133, ARCHLGY 233 (Win) -
Independent Studies (5)
- Individual Studies in East Asian Languages and Cultures (Graduate)
EALC 200 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Individual Studies in East Asian Languages and Cultures (Undergraduate)
EALC 199 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Master's Thesis or Qualifying Paper
EALC 299 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Senior Research (Capstone Essay)
EALC 198C (Aut, Win, Spr) - Senior Research (Honors Thesis)
EALC 198H (Aut, Win, Spr)
- Individual Studies in East Asian Languages and Cultures (Graduate)
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Prior Year Courses
2022-23 Courses
- Archaeology of Food: production, consumption and ritual
ARCHLGY 124, ARCHLGY 224 (Win) - Constructing National History in East Asian Archaeology
ARCHLGY 135, ARCHLGY 235, CHINA 175, CHINA 275 (Win) - EXPERIMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY
ARCHLGY 133, ARCHLGY 233 (Spr) - Emergence of Chinese Civilization from Caves to Palaces
ARCHLGY 111, ARCHLGY 211, CHINA 176, CHINA 276 (Spr)
2021-22 Courses
- Archaeology of Food: production, consumption and ritual
ARCHLGY 124, ARCHLGY 224 (Win) - Constructing National History in East Asian Archaeology
ARCHLGY 135, ARCHLGY 235, CHINA 175, CHINA 275 (Win) - EXPERIMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY
ARCHLGY 133, ARCHLGY 233 (Spr) - Emergence of Chinese Civilization from Caves to Palaces
ARCHLGY 111, ARCHLGY 211, CHINA 176, CHINA 276 (Spr)
- Archaeology of Food: production, consumption and ritual
Stanford Advisees
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Postdoctoral Faculty Sponsor
Yahui He, Bendi Tso -
Postdoctoral Research Mentor
Kacey Grauer, Bendi Tso
All Publications
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Identification of 10,000-year-old rice beer at Shangshan in the Lower Yangzi River valley of China.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
2024; 121 (51): e2412274121
Abstract
The origins of rice domestication and the beginnings of alcoholic fermentation in China are intriguing research topics, with the Shangshan culture in the Lower Yangzi River region being a focal point of archaeological investigations. This study employs a multiproxy approach (phytolith, starch, and fungi) to analyze microfossil remains associated with pottery vessels from the earliest phase of the Shangshan site (ca. 10,000 to 9,000 cal. BP). The results indicate that rice was consumed as a dietary staple and used for brewing fermented beverages with a qu starter containing Monascus mold and yeast as fermentation agents. The fermentation ingredients included rice, supplemented with other cereals (Job's tears, Panicoideae, and Triticeae), acorn, and lily. This rice-fungi-based multiplant brewing method marked the earliest-known alcoholic fermentation technique in East Asia. The emergence of this fermentation technology is attributable to the early development of rice domestication and the arrival of the wet-warm Holocene climate, which was favorable for fungal growth. These alcoholic beverages likely played a pivotal role in ceremonial feasting, highlighting their ritual function as a driving factor that may have stimulated the intensive utilization and widespread cultivation of rice in Neolithic China.
View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2412274121
View details for PubMedID 39652763
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Emergence of fibrecraft specialization 8000 years ago in early Neolithic North China
HOLOCENE
2024
View details for DOI 10.1177/09596836241266422
View details for Web of Science ID 001281785600001
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Revealing the 2300-Year-Old Fermented Beverage in a Bronze Bottle from Shaanxi, China
FERMENTATION-BASEL
2024; 10 (7)
View details for DOI 10.3390/fermentation10070365
View details for Web of Science ID 001278805400001
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Reconstructing Late Neolithic animal management practices at Kangjia, North China, using microfossil analysis of dental calculus
ANTIQUITY
2024
View details for DOI 10.15184/aqy.2024.43
View details for Web of Science ID 001194752700001
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Local adaptation and subsistence strategy of Yangshao migrants in Northwestern Sichuan in China during the Middle Neolithic (5300-4700 cal. BP)
HOLOCENE
2023
View details for DOI 10.1177/09596836231200438
View details for Web of Science ID 001086676800001
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Beyond subsistence: Evidence for red rice beer in 8000-year old Neolithic burials, north China
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE-REPORTS
2023; 51
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104168
View details for Web of Science ID 001106756400001
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Identifying indigenous bast microfibers for archaeological research in East Asia
ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN ASIA
2023; 36
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ara.2023.100476
View details for Web of Science ID 001102524600001
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Millet Beer Brewing in North China: Exploring Traditional Methods and their Significance in Archaeological Research
ETHNOARCHAEOLOGY
2023
View details for DOI 10.1080/19442890.2023.2245214
View details for Web of Science ID 001093290300001
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Misinterpretations of Shimao Research and Chinese Archaeology A Comment on Jaffe, Campbell, and Shelach-Lavi 2022
CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY
2023; 64 (4): 464-465
View details for DOI 10.1086/726447
View details for Web of Science ID 001063527100006
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Serving red rice beer to the ancestors ca. 9000 years ago at Xiaohuangshan early Neolithic site in south China
HOLOCENE
2023
View details for DOI 10.1177/09596836231169995
View details for Web of Science ID 000974033900001
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Editorial: Ancient starch remains and prehistoric human subsistence
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
2023; 11
View details for DOI 10.3389/feart.2023.1151844
View details for Web of Science ID 000958291200001
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Archaeological evidence for initial migration of Neolithic Proto Sino-Tibetan speakers from Yellow River valley to Tibetan Plateau.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
2022; 119 (51): e2212006119
Abstract
Sino-Tibetan is the second largest language family in the world. Recent linguistic and genetic studies have traced its origin to Neolithic millet farmers in the Yellow River region of China around 8,000 y ago and also suggested that initial divergence among branches of Sino-Tibetan coincided with expansion of the Neolithic Yangshao culture to the west and southwest during the sixth millennium BP. However, archaeological investigations to date have been insufficient to understand the lifeways of these migrant Proto Sino-Tibetan speakers. Here, we present the results of the interdisciplinary research on the material culture and ritual activities related to the initial southwestward migration of Yangshao populations, based on evidence from microfossil remains on ceramics at three sites in Gansu and Sichuan, regional archaeological contexts, and ethnographic accounts of modern Gyalrong Tibetans. The first Yangshao migrants may have integrated with indigenous hunter-gatherers in the NW Sichuan highlands, and adopted broad-spectrum subsistence strategies, consisting of both millet farming and foraging for local wild resources. Meanwhile, the migrants appear to have retained important ritual traditions previously established in their Yellow River homelands. They prepared qu starter with Monascus mold and rice for brewing alcoholic beverages, which may have been consumed in communal drinking festivals associated with the performance of ritual dancing. Such ritual activities, which to some extent have survived in the skorbro-zajiu ceremonies in SW China, may have then played a central role in maintaining and reinforcing cultural identities, social values, and connections with the homelands of the Proto Sino-Tibetan migrants.
View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2212006119
View details for PubMedID 36508670
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The quest for red rice beer: transregional interactions and development of competitive feasting in Neolithic China
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES
2022; 14 (4)
View details for DOI 10.1007/s12520-022-01545-y
View details for Web of Science ID 000777405500002
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Brewing and Serving Alcoholic Beverages to Erlitou Elites of Prehistoric China: Residue Analysis of Ceramic Vessels
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
2022; 10
View details for DOI 10.3389/fevo.2022.845065
View details for Web of Science ID 000790189100001
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Fermented maize beverages as ritual offerings: Investigating elite drinking during Classic Maya period at Copan, Honduras
JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
2022; 65
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101373
View details for Web of Science ID 000729639300001
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Introduction: Alcohol, rituals, and politics in the ancient world
JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
2022; 65
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jaa.2022.101397
View details for Web of Science ID 000760816800004
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The earliest cotton fibers and Pan-regional contacts in the Near East.
Frontiers in plant science
2022; 13: 1045554
Abstract
Fiber technology (cordage and textile) has played a central role in all human societies for thousands of years, and its production, application and exchange have deep roots in prehistory. However, fiber remains have only rarely been observed in prehistoric sites because they tend to decay quickly in normal environmental conditions. To overcome preservation problems of macroscopic remains, we employed microbotanical analysis on soils from anthropogenic sediments in activity areas at Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley, Israel (ca. 5,200-4,700 cal BC), and recovered fiber microremains. This includes at least two types of bast fibers and the earliest evidence of cotton in the Near East, some of which were dyed in various colors. Some of these fibers likely represent the remnants of ancient clothing, fabric containers, cordage, or other belongings. The cotton remains, probably derived from wild species originating in South Asia, predate the oldest known cotton domestication in the Indus Valley by about two millennia. Tel Tsaf played a pivotal role in trans-regional trade and exchange networks in the southern Levant, and the presence of cotton at the site points to possible connections with the Indus Valley as early as 7,200 years ago.
View details for DOI 10.3389/fpls.2022.1045554
View details for PubMedID 36570915
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"Proposing a toast" from the first urban center in the north Loess Plateau, China: Alcoholic beverages at Shimao
JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
2021; 64
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101352
View details for Web of Science ID 000701939100002
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From Hangovers to Hierarchies: Beer production and use during the Chalcolithic period of the southern Levant-New evidence from Tel Tsaf and Peqi'in Cave
JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
2021; 64
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101361
View details for Web of Science ID 000709716600004
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Red beer consumption and elite utensils: The emergence of competitive feasting in the Yangshao culture, North China
JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
2021; 64
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101365
View details for Web of Science ID 000718290600002
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Initial insights into ceramic production and exchange at the early Bronze Age citadel at Shimao, Shaanxi, China
ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN ASIA
2021; 28
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ara.2021.100319
View details for Web of Science ID 000707918500001
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Communal drinking rituals and social formations in the Yellow River valley of Neolithic China
JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
2021; 63
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101310
View details for Web of Science ID 000681616300001
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Neolithic bone meal with acorn: Analyses on crusts in pottery bowls from 7000 BP Hemudu, China
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY
2021
View details for DOI 10.1002/oa.3026
View details for Web of Science ID 000673387300001
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A functional study of denticulate sickles and knives, ground stone tools from the early Neolithic Peiligang culture, China
ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN ASIA
2021; 26
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ara.2021.100265
View details for Web of Science ID 000663432900002
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Boost AI Power: Data Augmentation Strategies with Unlabeled Data and Conformal Prediction, a Case in Alternative Herbal Medicine Discrimination with Electronic Nose
IEEE Sensors Journal
2021: 1-11
View details for DOI 10.1109/JSEN.2021.3102488
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The brewing function of the first amphorae in the Neolithic Yangshao culture, North China
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES
2020; 12 (6)
View details for DOI 10.1007/s12520-020-01069-3
View details for Web of Science ID 000536084700001
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Making beer with malted cereals and qu starter in the Neolithic Yangshao culture, China
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE-REPORTS
2020; 29
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.102134
View details for Web of Science ID 000522788600061
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Response to comments on archaeological reconstruction of 13,000-y old Natufian beer making at Raqefet Cave, Israel
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE-REPORTS
2019; 28
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.101914
View details for Web of Science ID 000508224600033
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Exploitation of job's tears in Paleolithic and Neolithic China: Methodological problems and solutions
QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL
2019; 529: 25–37
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.quaint.2018.11.019
View details for Web of Science ID 000497646700005
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From foraging to farming across the Asia-Pacific: An introduction
QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL
2019; 529: 1–2
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.quaint.2019.11.002
View details for Web of Science ID 000497646700001
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Rise and fall of complex societies in the Yiluo region, North China: The spatial and temporal changes
QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL
2019; 521: 4–15
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.quaint.2019.05.025
View details for Web of Science ID 000483364800002
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A method to identify Job's tears, Coix lacryma-jobi L., phytoliths in northern China
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE-REPORTS
2019; 24: 16–23
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.12.010
View details for Web of Science ID 000466995200002
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The origins of specialized pottery and diverse alcohol fermentation techniques in Early Neolithic China.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
2019
Abstract
In China, pottery containers first appeared about 20000 cal. BP, and became diverse in form during the Early Neolithic (9000-7000 cal. BP), signaling the emergence of functionally specialized vessels. China is also well-known for its early development of alcohol production. However, few studies have focused on the connections between the two technologies. Based on the analysis of residues (starch, phytolith, and fungus) adhering to pottery from two Early Neolithic sites in north China, here we demonstrate that three material changes occurring in the Early Neolithic signal innovation of specialized alcoholic making known in north China: (i) the spread of cereal domestication (millet and rice), (ii) the emergence of dedicated pottery types, particularly globular jars as liquid storage vessels, and (iii) the development of cereal-based alcohol production with at least two fermentation methods: the use of cereal malts and the use of moldy grain and herbs (qu and caoqu) as starters. The latter method was arguably a unique invention initiated in China, and our findings account for the earliest known examples of this technique. The major ingredients include broomcorn millet, Triticeae grasses, Job's tears, rice, beans, snake gourd root, ginger, possible yam and lily, and other plants, some probably with medicinal properties (e.g., ginger). Alcoholic beverages made with these methods were named li, jiu, and chang in ancient texts, first recorded in the Shang oracle-bone inscriptions (ca. 3200 cal. BP); our findings have revealed a much deeper history of these diverse fermentation technologies in China.
View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.1902668116
View details for PubMedID 31160461
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Synchronous 500-year oscillations of monsoon climate and human activity in Northeast Asia.
Nature communications
2019; 10 (1): 4105
Abstract
Prehistoric human activities were likely influenced by cyclic monsoon climate changes in East Asia. Here we report a decadal-resolution Holocene pollen record from an annually-laminated Maar Lake in Northeast China, a proxy of monsoon climate, together with a compilation of 627 radiocarbon dates from archeological sites in Northeast China which is a proxy of human activity. The results reveal synchronous ~500-year quasi-periodic changes over the last 8000 years. The warm-humid/cold-dry phases of monsoon cycles correspond closely to the intensification/weakening of human activity and the flourishing/decline of prehistoric cultures. Six prosperous phases of prehistoric cultures, with one exception, correspond approximately to warm-humid phases caused by a strengthened monsoon. This ~500-year cyclicity in the monsoon and thus environmental change triggered the development of prehistoric cultures in Northeast China. The cyclicity is apparently linked to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, against the background of long-term Holocene climatic evolution. These findings reveal a pronounced relationship between prehistoric human activity and cyclical climate change.
View details for DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-12138-0
View details for PubMedID 31511523
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Fermented beverage and food storage in 13,000 y-old stone mortars at Raqefet Cave, Israel: Investigating Natufian ritual feasting
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE-REPORTS
2018; 21: 783–93
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.08.008
View details for Web of Science ID 000449797000069
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The first Neolithic urban center on China's north Loess Plateau: The rise and fall of Shimao
ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN ASIA
2018; 14: 33–45
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ara.2017.02.004
View details for Web of Science ID 000438166000004
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Harvesting and processing wild cereals in the Upper Palaeolithic Yellow River Valley, China
ANTIQUITY
2018; 92 (363): 603–19
View details for DOI 10.15184/aqy.2018.36
View details for Web of Science ID 000437144800016
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Emerging approaches to the development of urbanization in early China
ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN ASIA
2018; 14: 1–6
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ara.2017.12.003
View details for Web of Science ID 000438166000001
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Wild plant use and multi-cropping at the early Neolithic Zhuzhai site in the middle Yellow River region, China
HOLOCENE
2018; 28 (2): 195–207
View details for DOI 10.1177/0959683617721328
View details for Web of Science ID 000424957000002
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Plant exploitation of the first farmers in Northwest China: Microbotanical evidence from Dadiwan
Quaternary International
2018
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.quaint.2018.10.019
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Response to Comments on "Outburst flood at 1920 BCE supports historicity of China's Great Flood and the Xia dynasty".
Science (New York, N.Y.)
2017; 355 (6332): 1382
Abstract
Wu et al, Han, and Huang et al question our reconstruction of a large outburst flood and its possible relationship to China's Great Flood and the Xia dynasty. Here, we clarify misconceptions concerning geologic evidence of the flood, its timing and magnitude, and the complex social-cultural response. We also further discuss how this flood may be related to ancient accounts of the Great Flood and origins of the Xia dynasty.
View details for DOI 10.1126/science.aal1325
View details for PubMedID 28360294
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Response to Comments on "Outburst flood at 1920 BCE supports historicity of China's Great Flood and the Xia dynasty"
SCIENCE
2017; 355 (6332)
View details for DOI 10.1126/science.aal1325
View details for Web of Science ID 000397809500031
- Identifying ancient beer brewing through starch analysis: A methodology Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 2017; 15: 150-160
- Usewear and residue analyses of experimental harvesting stone tools for archaeological research Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 2017; 14: 439-453
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Millet grain morphometry as a tool for social inference: A case study from the Yiluo basin, China
HOLOCENE
2016; 26 (11): 1778-1787
View details for DOI 10.1177/0959683616645944
View details for Web of Science ID 000385859800004
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Changing patteins of plant-based food production during the Neolithic and early Bronze Age in central-south Inner Mongolia, China: An interdisciplinary approach
QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL
2016; 419: 36-53
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.quaint.2015.02.002
View details for Web of Science ID 000389292900005
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Outburst flood at 1920 BCE supports historicity of China's Great Flood and the Xia dynasty
SCIENCE
2016; 353 (6299): 579-582
Abstract
China's historiographical traditions tell of the successful control of a Great Flood leading to the establishment of the Xia dynasty and the beginning of civilization. However, the historicity of the flood and Xia remain controversial. Here, we reconstruct an earthquake-induced landslide dam outburst flood on the Yellow River about 1920 BCE that ranks as one of the largest freshwater floods of the Holocene and could account for the Great Flood. This would place the beginning of Xia at ~1900 BCE, several centuries later than traditionally thought. This date coincides with the major transition from the Neolithic to Bronze Age in the Yellow River valley and supports hypotheses that the primary state-level society of the Erlitou culture is an archaeological manifestation of the Xia dynasty.
View details for DOI 10.1126/science.aaf0842
View details for PubMedID 27493183
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Revealing a 5,000-y-old beer recipe in China
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
2016; 113 (23): 6444-6448
Abstract
The pottery vessels from the Mijiaya site reveal, to our knowledge, the first direct evidence of in situ beer making in China, based on the analyses of starch, phytolith, and chemical residues. Our data reveal a surprising beer recipe in which broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), Job's tears (Coix lacryma-jobi), and tubers were fermented together. The results indicate that people in China established advanced beer-brewing technology by using specialized tools and creating favorable fermentation conditions around 5,000 y ago. Our findings imply that early beer making may have motivated the initial translocation of barley from the Western Eurasia into the Central Plain of China before the crop became a part of agricultural subsistence in the region 3,000 y later.
View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.1601465113
View details for Web of Science ID 000377155400039
View details for PubMedID 27217567
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC4988576
- Plant-based subsistence strategies and development of complex societies in Neolithic Northeast China: Evidence from grinding stones Journal of Archaeological science: Reports 2016; 7: 247-261
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Understanding household subsistence activities in Neolithic Inner Mongolia, China: Functional analyses of stone tools.
Journal of Anthropological Research
2016
View details for DOI 10.1086/686298
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Plant domestication, cultivation, and foraging by the first farmers in early Neolithic Northeast China: Evidence from microbotanical remains
HOLOCENE
2015; 25 (12): 1965-1978
View details for DOI 10.1177/0959683615596830
View details for Web of Science ID 000365256000010
- A long process towards agriculture in the Middle Yellow River valley, China: Evidence from macro- and micro-botanical remains Journal of Indo-Pacific Archaeology 2015; 35: 3-14
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Identification of starch granules using a two-step identification method
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE
2014; 52: 421-427
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jas.2014.09.008
View details for Web of Science ID 000345734600035
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A broad-spectrum subsistence economy in Neolithic Inner Mongolia, China: Evidence from grinding stones
HOLOCENE
2014; 24 (6): 726-742
View details for DOI 10.1177/0959683614526938
View details for Web of Science ID 000337573000009
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When and how did Bos indicus introgress into Mongolian cattle?
GENE
2014; 537 (2): 214-219
Abstract
The Mongolian cattle are one of the most widespread breeds with strictly Bos taurus morphological features in northern China. In our current study, we presented a diversity of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop region and Y chromosome SNP markers in 25 male and 8 female samples of Mongolian cattle from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in Western China, and detected 21 B. taurus and four Bos indicus (zebu) mtDNA haplotypes. Among four B. indicus mtDNA haplotypes, two haplotypes belonged to I1 haplogroup and the remaining two haplotypes belonged to I2 haplogroup. In contrast, all 25 male Mongolian cattle samples revealed B. taurus Y chromosome haplotype and no B. indicus haplotypes were found. Historical and archeological records indicate that B. taurus was introduced to Xinjiang during the second millennium BC and B. indicus appeared in this region by the second century AD. The two types of cattle coexisted for many centuries in Xinjiang, as depicted in clay and wooden figurines unearthed in the Astana cemetery in Turfan (3rd-8th century AD). Multiple lines of evidence suggest that the earliest B. indicus introgression in the Mongolian cattle may have occurred during the 2nd-7th centuries AD through the Silk Road around the Xinjiang region. This conclusion differs from the previous hypothesis that zebu introgression to Mongolian cattle happened during the Mongol Empire era in the 13th century.
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.gene.2013.12.066
View details for Web of Science ID 000331509600006
View details for PubMedID 24418696
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The evolution of millet domestication, Middle Yellow River Region, North China: Evidence from charred seeds at the late Upper Paleolithic Shizitan Locality 9 site
HOLOCENE
2014; 24 (3): 261-265
View details for DOI 10.1177/0959683613518595
View details for Web of Science ID 000331373000001
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Paleolithic human exploitation of plant foods during the last glacial maximum in North China.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
2013; 110 (14): 5380-5385
Abstract
Three grinding stones from Shizitan Locality 14 (ca. 23,000-19,500 calendar years before present) in the middle Yellow River region were subjected to usewear and residue analyses to investigate human adaptation during the last glacial maximum (LGM) period, when resources were generally scarce and plant foods may have become increasingly important in the human diet. The results show that these tools were used to process various plants, including Triticeae and Paniceae grasses, Vigna beans, Dioscorea opposita yam, and Trichosanthes kirilowii snakegourd roots. Tubers were important food resources for Paleolithic hunter-gatherers, and Paniceae grasses were exploited about 12,000 y before their domestication. The long tradition of intensive exploitation of certain types of flora helped Paleolithic people understand the properties of these plants, including their medicinal uses, and eventually led to the plants' domestication. This study sheds light on the deep history of the broad spectrum subsistence strategy characteristic of late Pleistocene north China before the origins of agriculture in this region.
View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.1217864110
View details for PubMedID 23509257
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3619325
- Archaeology of China: From the Paleolithic to the Early Bronze Age Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2012
- Stone tool-use experiments to determine the function of grinding stones and denticulate sickles Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 2012; 32: 29-44
- Were Neolithic rice paddies plowed? -- Usewear analysis of plow-shaped tools from Pishan in the Lower Yangzi River Region, China Vestnik 2012; 11 (10): 14-28
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Plant exploitation of the last foragers at Shizitan in the Middle Yellow River Valley China: evidence from grinding stones
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE
2011; 38 (12): 3524-3532
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jas.2011.08.015
View details for Web of Science ID 000297384300033
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Archaeological Soybean (Glycine max) in East Asia: Does Size Matter?
PLOS ONE
2011; 6 (11)
Abstract
The recently acquired archaeological record for soybean from Japan, China and Korea is shedding light on the context in which this important economic plant became associated with people and was domesticated. This paper examines archaeological (charred) soybean seed size variation to determine what insight can be gained from a comprehensive comparison of 949 specimens from 22 sites. Seed length alone appears to represent seed size change through time, although the length × width × thickness product has the potential to provide better size change resolution. A widespread early association of small seeded soybean is as old as 9000-8600 cal BP in northern China and 7000 cal BP in Japan. Direct AMS radiocarbon dates on charred soybean seeds indicate selection resulted in large seed sizes in Japan by 5000 cal BP (Middle Jomon) and in Korea by 3000 cal BP (Early Mumun). Soybean seeds recovered in China from the Shang through Han periods are similar in length to the large Korean and Japanese specimens, but the overall size of the large Middle and Late Jomon, Early Mumun through Three Kingdom seeds is significantly larger than any of the Chinese specimens. The archaeological record appears to disconfirm the hypothesis of a single domestication of soybean and supports the view informed by recent phyologenetic research that soybean was domesticated in several locations in East Asia.
View details for DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0026720
View details for Web of Science ID 000297198200017
View details for PubMedID 22073186
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3208558
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