Bio

Yahui He is an environmental archaeologist specializing in archaeobotany in East Asia. Her research investigates the dynamics of human-plant relationships in multi-scalar socio-political contexts, focusing on the materiality of plants in processes of sedentism and urbanism.

Her PhD and ongoing research work in the Northern Zone, China (northern Loess Plateau and southern Mongolian Plateau) utilizes multi-proxy methods, including starch, phytolith, fungi, and use-wear analyses, to explore plant-based food and drink practices across different social contexts, such as household, community, and mortuary settings. Yahui’s collaborative research extends to studies on plant exploitation and dispersal, as well as related technologies such as plant food fermentation and bast fiber production across mainland China and beyond, including Erlitou in Henan and others in Taiwan and Honduras.

Prior to joining the Stanford Archaeology Center as a postdoctoral scholar, Yahui obtained her PhD at Stanford in 2024 and was a Li Foundation Fellow at the Needham Research Institute in Cambridge, UK in 2024 (Jan.-June).

Professional Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Stanford University, CHINE-PHD (2024)
  • Master, Yale University, Archaeological Studies (2015)
  • Bachelor, Xiamen University, China, History, Archaeology track & Law (2013)

Stanford Advisors

  • Li Liu, Postdoctoral Faculty Sponsor

Contact

  • Academic
    yahuihe@stanford.edu
    University - Scholar Department: Archaeology Position: Postdoctoral Scholar

Additional Info

Links

2024-25 Courses

All Publications

  • 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 Liu, L., Zhang, J., Li, J., He, Y., Gao, Z., Jiang, L. 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

  • Identifying indigenous bast microfibers for archaeological research in East Asia ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN ASIA Liu, L., He, Y., Grauer, K. C., Wang, Y. 2023; 36

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ara.2023.100476

    View details for Web of Science ID 001102524600001

  • An Interplay of Dryland and Wetland: Millet and Rice Cultivation at the Peiligang Site (8000-7600 BP) in the Middle Yellow River Valley, China AGRONOMY-BASEL Wang, J., He, Y., Tang, Y., Liu, L., Li, Y., Chen, X., Gu, W. 2023; 13 (8)

    View details for DOI 10.3390/agronomy13082130

    View details for Web of Science ID 001057090300001

  • Brewing and Serving Alcoholic Beverages to Erlitou Elites of Prehistoric China: Residue Analysis of Ceramic Vessels FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION He, Y., Zhao, H., Liu, L., Xu, H. 2022; 10

    View details for DOI 10.3389/fevo.2022.845065

    View details for Web of Science ID 000790189100001

  • Fermented maize beverages as ritual offerings: Investigating elite drinking during Classic Maya period at Copan, Honduras JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHAEOLOGY Chen, R., He, Y., Li, X., Ramos, J., Li, M., Liu, L. 2022; 65

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101373

    View details for Web of Science ID 000729639300001

  • 陕西榆林石峁遗址皇城台地点酒类残留物及相关陶器分析 (A study on the fermented beverages and related pottery assemblage from the Huangchengtai Locality at the Shimao site in Yulin, Shaanxi) 考古与文物 (Archaeology and Cultural Relics) He, Y., Liu, L., Shao, J., Di, N., Sun, Z. 2022: 146-154
  • "Proposing a toast" from the first urban center in the north Loess Plateau, China: Alcoholic beverages at Shimao JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHAEOLOGY He, Y., Liu, L., Sun, Z., Shao, J., Di, N. 2021; 64

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101352

    View details for Web of Science ID 000701939100002

  • 黄瓜山文化彩陶分析 (A study on the painted pottery from the Huangguashan Culture) 南方文物 (Cultural Relics in Southern China) He, Y. 2019; 6: 89-100
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4068-5695