2017-2018
September 22, 2017
Tang Special Annual lecture in Archeology, 2017-2018
The First Neolithic Urban Center on China’s Loess Plateau: Discovery and Interpretation of the Shimao Site
The discovery of the Shimao site in northern Shaanxi, the largest Neolithic stone walled settlement in China (>400 ha; ca. 2300-1800 cal. BCE), revealed a unique trajectory to urbanism in China. This once powerful kingdom centered around Shimao was completely unknown in ancient textual records. The discovery challenges previous understandings of sociopolitical changes in early complex society over a broader region on the eve of the Chinese dynastic civilization.
Keynote Speakers:
Sun Zhouyong, PhD, Professor and Director of Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology
Commentators:
Chen Xingcan, Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Liu Li, Stanford University
Nicola Di Cosmo, Institute for Advanced Study
Brian Lander, Brown University
Friday, September 22, 2017 (1:00 – 6:00 PM)
403, Kent Hall, Columbia University
Please rsvp by September 15, 2017 at info@tangcenter-columbia.org.
2016-2017
April 1, 2017
Tang Special Annual lecture in Archeology, 2016-2017
The Excavation of the Haihunhou Tomb
Keynote Speakers:
Yang Jun, excavator, Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology
Zhang Zhongli, excavator, Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology
Commentators:
Anthony Barbieri-Low, University of California, Santa Barbara
Sarah Allan, Dartmouth College
Li Feng, Columbia University
Saturday, April 1, 2017 (1:00 – 6:00 PM)
403, Kent Hall, Columbia University
Please rsvp by March 27, 2017 at info@tangcenter-columbia.org.
2015-2016
October 3, 2015:
Inaugural Tang Special Annual Lecture in Archaeology
Speaker: Professor Liu Bin (Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Archaeology)
Title: Realm of God and King – Recent Discovery of the Liangzhu City and Rise of Civilizations in Southern China
Abstract: The discovery of Liangzhu City in the Yuhang district of Zhejiang Province is the first step towards global recognition of Liangzhu Culture as an important representative of China’s earliest civilizations. In this paper, major features of the Liangzhu city site are outlined including its defensive fortifications, palace compound, water control and irrigation systems, and apparatuses of astronomical observation and calendric recording. Also discussed are the diagnostic features of Liangzhu Culture, its carved jade artifacts and the complex connection between spiritual and authoritative power represented by these artworks. Finally, comparisons are made between Liangzhu culture and other major cultures of the ancient world in order to argue for Liangzhu’s rightful place as one of the world’s earliest civilizations.
Panelists: Jason Sun, Curator, Department of Asian Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and specialist of Liangzhu jades; Anne Underhill, Chair and Professor of Anthropology, Yale University, and specialist in Neolithic archaeology of China; Terry D’Altroy, Loubat Professor of American Archaeology, Columbia University, and specialist in Inca archaeology and archaeology of the empire; and Xingcan Chen, Associate Director of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing.
Location: 403 Kent Hall, 1140 Amsterdam Avenue, Columbia University
Time: 1 PM – 6 PM