Related Guides
Background Sources
- Handbook of East and Southeast Asian archaeology The Handbook of East and Southeast Asian Archaeology focuses on the material culture and lifeways of the peoples of prehistoric and early historic East and Southeast Asia; their origins, behavior and identities as well as their biological, linguistic and cultural differences and commonalities. Emphasis is placed upon the interpretation of material culture to illuminate and explain social processes and relationships as well as behavior, technology, patterns and mechanisms of long-term change and chronology, in addition to the intellectual history of archaeology as a discipline in this diverse region. The Handbook augments archaeologically-focused chapters contributed by regional scholars by providing histories of research and intellectual traditions, and by maintaining a broadly comparative perspective. Archaeologically-derived data are emphasized with text-based documentary information, provided to complement interpretations of material culture. The Handbook is not restricted to art historical or purely descriptive perspectives; its geographical coverage includes the modern nation-states of China, Mongolia, Far Eastern Russia, North and South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and East Timor.
- A Companion to South Asia in the Past A Companion to South Asia in the Past provides the definitive overview of research and knowledge about South Asia's past, from the Pleistocene to the historic era in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, provided by a truly global team of experts. The most comprehensive and detailed scholarly treatment of South Asian archaeology and biological anthropology, providing ground-breaking new ideas and future challenges.
- Archaeology of Asia This introduction to the archaeology of Asia focuses on case studies from the region's last 10,000 years of history. Comprising fifteen chapters written by some of the world's foremost Asia archaeologists, the book sheds light on many of the most compelling aspects of Asian archaeology, from the earliest plant and animal domestication to the emergence of states and empires from Pakistan to North China. In
- Archaeology of Oceania : Australia and the Pacific Islands This book is a state-of-the-art introduction to the archaeology of Oceania, covering both Australia and the Pacific Islands.
- A Companion to Chinese Archaeology A Companion to Chinese Archaeology is an unprecedented, new resource on the current state of archaeological research in one of the world's oldest civilizations. It presents a collection of readings from leading archaeologists in China and elsewhere that provide diverse interpretations about social and economic organization during the Neolithic period and early Bronze Age.
- Encyclopaedia Iranica This link opens in a new window A multi-disciplinary reference work and research tool designed to record the facts of Iranian history and civilization. A precisely documented reference work on the lands, life, culture and history of all Iranian peoples and their interaction with other societies.
Regional Databases
- Bibliography of Asian Studies This link opens in a new window An index to works, primarily in the humanities and the social sciences, pertaining to East, Southeast, and South Asia. Covers articles, chapters in edited volumes, conference proceedings, anthologies, Festschriften, and books. Date coverage: 1971 - present except for books (1971-1992).
- American Bibliography of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ABSEEES) This link opens in a new window Covers North American scholarship on East-Central Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet Union. Contains bibliographic records for journal articles, books and book chapters, book reviews, dissertations, online resources, and selected government publications.
- Southeast Asian Archaeology Bibliographic Database This searchable online bibliography contains thousands of references for books, articles, and other publications related to the archaeology of Mainland and Island Southeast Asia, along with other citations related to southern China and South Asia.
- Index Islamicus This link opens in a new window Index to literature on Islam, the Middle East and Muslim areas of Asia and Africa, and Muslim minorities elsewhere. Includes journal articless, conference proceedings, monographs, and book reviews. Date coverage: 1906 - present.
Primary Sources
- International Dunhuang Project: IDP is a ground-breaking international collaboration to make information and images of all manuscripts, paintings, textiles and artefacts from Dunhuang and archaeological sites of the Eastern Silk Road freely available on the Internet and to encourage their use through educational and research programmes.
Browse Books
Featured Films
- Lapita People (streaming, Academic Video Online) We know very little about one of the greatest diasporas in the history of humanity: the movement of people across the Pacific. But, over the last decade excavations at a most remarkable site in Vanuatu are starting to flesh out the stories laid down over thousands of years. Dr Paul Willis finds out what is being revealed about the Lapita people through their pottery, burial grounds and the isotopes in some very old teeth.
- The Frozen Tomb of Mongolia (streaming, Academic Video Online) In the frozen steppes of the Altay, a Franco-Mongolian archeological expedition prepares to excavate the tomb of an Eastern Scythian warrior, 2 300 years old.
- The Immortal Emperor (streaming, Academic Video Online) Amazing footage of the dig to excavate the 2000-year-old tomb of Qin Shihuang, China's First Emperor. The famous terracotta army was only part of a spectacular find: the Imperial kitchen, the orchestral office, chariots and charioteers were all included to ease his journey to the afterlife.
- Celestial Empire: Land of Archaeology (streaming, Academic Video Online) China's long history has provided countless fascinating archaeological findings in many facets of this science.
- An Army for the Afterlife (streaming, Academic Video Online) The splendor of Quin Shi Huang Di's Terracotta Army.
- NOVA. Emperor's Ghost Army (streaming, Academic Video Online) In central China, a vast underground mausoleum conceals a life-size terracotta army of cavalry, infantry, horses, chariots, weapons, administrators, acrobats, and musicians, all built to serve China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang Di, in the afterlife. Lost and forgotten for over 2,200 years, this clay army, 8,000-strong, stands poised to help the First Emperor rule again beyond the grave. Now, a new archaeological campaign is probing the thousands of figures entombed in the mausoleum.
- Guge : the last kingdom of Tibet (streaming, Academic Video Online) In the barren landscape of remote western Tibet lies the ruins of a mysterious kingdom. A kingdom whose capital was 3600 meters high on the Tibetan plateau. A kingdom that offers archaeological treasures that compare with Italy's Pompeii. This kingdom once controlled the trade in gold, silk and spices between India and China. It was a kingdom of fabulous wealth and great religious significance. For two centuries it was the cradle of Himalayan Buddhism. Yet this spiritual and commercial hub, which prospered for seven centuries, vanished without a trace in 1630.
- Cities in China. Xian (streaming, Academic Video Online) This wide-ranging documentary -- from the classic three-part "Cities in China Series" -- presents a cultural history of the ancient Chinese imperial city, once the greatest capital in the world and the Eastern terminus of the famed Silk Road.Just outside the city lies one of the world's most spectacular archaeological sites, the burial tomb of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang Di, who unified the country and connected the Great Wall.
- Part of Us (streaming, Academic Video Online) For the Ngarrindjeri people of South Australia, the living and the dead are connected through shared land and heritage. The preservation of this connection is at the heart of the community's effort to repatriate the bones of their ancestors. This film follows a group of Ngarrindjeri as they effect the repatriation of their ancestors' remains held in the World Museum in Liverpool and return them for burial in their ancestral lands in Australia.
- The Mystery of the Human Hobbit (streaming, Academic Video Online) Is the hobbit a new human species or nothing more than a modern human with a crippling deformity? On the far-flung island of Flores, in the Indonesian archipelago, a team of archaeologists happened upon a tiny 18,000-year old skeleton. It was no more than a metre tall. They assumed they have found the remains of a young girl. But other signs suggested she was in fact much older.
