Fall 2018 Events

“Early Cities and Economy: The Development of Urbanism, Regional Politics, and Economic Networks in the Shandong Peninsula before the Rise of Empire,”
Columbia University, October 25-27, 2018

On October 25-27, archaeologists from China and North America attended the international conference “Early Cities and Economy: The Development of Urbanism, Regional Politics, and Economic Networks in the Shandong Peninsula before the Rise of Empire” hosted by the Tang Center for Early China at Columbia University. The event was cosponsored by CCK Foundation Inter-University Center for Sinology, Harvard University, Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University, Shandong University, Shandong Academy of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Science.
        This conference discussed and examined the important archeological discoveries in Shandong over the past twenty years with a focus on the development of early cities and their economic activities. The participants discussed evidence for economic activities such as agriculture and different kinds of craft production at individual sites and within distinctive regions. They also explored new directions in the research, including methodological advancements in fieldwork and analysis. The conference presented a selected series of important archaeological projects that centered on settlements and urban archeology in Shandong from the Neolithic period to the late Bronze Age, and discussed their significance for understanding early cities and their economies.
        The papers are divided into four panels including: 1) Regional Settlement System and Cultural Background ; 2) Changes in Early City Organization; 3) Late Bronze-Age Cities and Economy; 4) Consumption and Production: Early Cities and the Regional Economic Network. Participating scholars included Fang Hui, Luan Fengshi, Chen Xuexiang, Wang Fen, Shandong University; Liu Yanchang, Han Hui, Shandong Academy of Cultural Relics and Archaeology; Liang Zhonghe, Tang Jinqiong, Institute of Archaeology, CASS; Ma Zhimin, Shandong Longkou Museum; Gary Crawford, University of Toronto; Gary Feinman, Linda Nicholas, The Field Museum; Li Min, UCLA; Roderick Campbell, NYU; Anne Underhill, Yale University.
        The conference was held in conjunction with the publication of Guicheng: An Archaeological Study of the Formation of States on the Jiaodong Peninsula in Late Bronze Age China, 1000-500 BCE, the bilingual monographic report from the international collaborative archaeological project in Longkou, Shandong, joint conducted by Columbia University, the Institute of Archaeology, CASS, and the Shandong Academy of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in 2007-2011.