
Jiajing Wang
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Archaeology
Bio
Jiajing Wang is a Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford Archaeology Center. She is a prehistoric archaeologist whose research interests include the origins of agriculture, the rise of sociopolitical inequalities, and ancient alcohol production. She studies these topics through archaeobotanical, use-wear, and lithic analyses. Her recent project examines the transition from hunter-gatherer to rice agricultural societies during the early Holocene period in the Lower Yangtze Valley of China.
Honors & Awards
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Stanford Centennial Teaching Award, Stanford University (2019)
Professional Education
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Doctor of Philosophy, Stanford University, CHINE-PHD (2019)
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Bachelor of Arts, Smith College, Anthropology, Art History (2014)
2020-21 Courses
- Archaeobotany
ARCHLGY 126, ARCHLGY 226 (Spr) -
Prior Year Courses
2018-19 Courses
- Archaeology of Food: production, consumption and ritual
ARCHLGY 124, ARCHLGY 224 (Aut)
- Archaeology of Food: production, consumption and ritual
All Publications
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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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Identifying ancient beer brewing through starch analysis: A methodology
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE-REPORTS
2017; 15: 150–60
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.07.016
View details for Web of Science ID 000415617900014
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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
- 上山遗址打制石器微痕与残留物分析 (Use-wear and residue analysis of Shangshan flake tools) 南方文物 (Southern Heritage ) 2016; 02: 120-124
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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