The three grand cultural spheres of the Holocene Eurasian Continent
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Jianye Han
Abstract
Based on the typology of ceramic wares and analysis of the spatial distribution, origin, and dispersal of other categories of archaeological remains, it can be determined that three grand cultural spheres existed on the Holocene Eurasian Continent prior to the rise of the Silk Road. These were the Early Eastern Cultural Sphere, centered around the Yellow River valley and the Yangtze River valley; the Early Western Cultural Sphere, centered around the Tigris-Euphrates River valley (Mesopotamia); the Early Northern Cultural Sphere, located to the north of the Eastern and Western Cultural Spheres. Due to cultural interactions, collisions, and exchanges, there were large intersection zones between the three grand cultural spheres.
Postscript
The original article 全新世亚欧大陆的三大文化圈 was published in Kaogu 考古(Archaeology) 2021.11:64–75 with one figure and 80 notes. The English version, translated by Siping Qiu 邱四平, has removed the notes.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- New archaeological discoveries
- Paleolithic site of Xuetang Liangzi in Shiyan, Hubei
- Sitai Neolithic site in Shangyi, Hebei
- Neolithic site of Nanzuo in Qingyang, Gansu
- Shang royal mausoleum area and its surroundings at Yinxu in Anyang, Henan
- Bronze Age site at Hebosuo in Kunming, Yunnan
- Xixia Suyukou porcelain kiln site in Helan, Ningxia
- Reports
- Dawenkou culture cemetery at the southern Gangshang site in Tengzhou, Shandong
- The excavation of the Tang tombs of Dai Zhou and his wife in Chang’an District, Xi’an
- Research
- The three grand cultural spheres of the Holocene Eurasian Continent
- Preliminary discussions on painted pottery in Neolithic China
- A comparative study on the jade drilling technology of ancient Mesoamerican civilizations and prehistoric China
- Seima-Turbino-type bronze spearheads from Xiawanggang in Xichuan and the implications for north-south cultural exchange
- “Export” of ninth- to tenth-century Chinese bronze mirrors: Shipwreck findings from the Java Sea
- Biological evolutionary insights into the origins of agriculture: Evidence from the origin of rice agriculture
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- New archaeological discoveries
- Paleolithic site of Xuetang Liangzi in Shiyan, Hubei
- Sitai Neolithic site in Shangyi, Hebei
- Neolithic site of Nanzuo in Qingyang, Gansu
- Shang royal mausoleum area and its surroundings at Yinxu in Anyang, Henan
- Bronze Age site at Hebosuo in Kunming, Yunnan
- Xixia Suyukou porcelain kiln site in Helan, Ningxia
- Reports
- Dawenkou culture cemetery at the southern Gangshang site in Tengzhou, Shandong
- The excavation of the Tang tombs of Dai Zhou and his wife in Chang’an District, Xi’an
- Research
- The three grand cultural spheres of the Holocene Eurasian Continent
- Preliminary discussions on painted pottery in Neolithic China
- A comparative study on the jade drilling technology of ancient Mesoamerican civilizations and prehistoric China
- Seima-Turbino-type bronze spearheads from Xiawanggang in Xichuan and the implications for north-south cultural exchange
- “Export” of ninth- to tenth-century Chinese bronze mirrors: Shipwreck findings from the Java Sea
- Biological evolutionary insights into the origins of agriculture: Evidence from the origin of rice agriculture