A Brief History of Chinese Field Archaeology

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ID: 322003
2026
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Abstract
Abstract At the inception of Chinese field archaeology in the 1920s, its principal theories and methods were mainly introduced from the West. However, Chinese field archaeology also underwent a continuous process of localisation that has left a heavy imprint on the discipline. This chapter divides the history of Chinese field archaeology into three phases. Phase 1 began with the Swedish geologist-archaeologist Johann Gunnar Andersson’s early excavation at Yangshao in 1921, which triggered the development of some fundamental methods: excavation by cultural layers, grid-excavating, and identification of yiji. Phase 2 started with the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949: new archaeological institutions and training programmes were initiated, and fieldwork rapidly resumed following the disruption of the Sino-Japanese and Civil Wars. Fieldwork and typology methods were refined. However, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, intense political campaigns disrupted research. Phase 3 began in the 1980s when China gradually reopened to the West. The introduction of settlement archaeology stimulated new approaches in fieldwork, especially the study of social relationships in the past, and fieldwork adopted interdisciplinary methods. During this period, archaeological fieldwork was incorporated into a more formal system of national cultural heritage management. The chapter further identifies three principal features of ‘fieldwork with Chinese characteristics’: the impact of the historiographical tradition, state management, and focus on studying yiji.
Reference Key
openalex_W7170090167 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Hailong Zhang
Journal Oxford University Press eBooks
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197800324.013.0025
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197800324.013.0025
Keywords Keywords not found

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