China is one of the major centers for the origin of agriculture. However, our understandings of the transition from foraging to farming in the region still remain uncertain and controversial. The major aim of this conference is to better understand methodological and theoretical issues in agricultural origins in light of new fieldwork, new sites, and new analytical techniques. It is also important to investigate this transition in China from a global perspective. Recent developments in archaeobotany provide exciting techniques in identifying the remains of ancient crops and their wild progenitors, which have significantly advanced our understanding about the process of plant domestication. By bringing together a diverse international group of archaeologists to consider this topic of common interest, the conference will provide an important platform for international scholarly exchange.

Participants

Ofer Bar-Yosef (Harvard University)

Gary W. Crawford (University of Toronto Mississauga)

Jade d’Alpoim Guedes (Washington State University)

Richard Fullagar (University of Wollongong)

Wei Ge (Xiamen University)

Amanda G. Henry (Leiden University, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

Lisa Kealhofer (Santa Clara University)

Gyoung-Ah Lee (University of Oregon)

Li Liu (Stanford University)

Xinyi Liu (Washington University in St. Louis)

Houyuan Lu (Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Linda Perry

Maureece Levin (Stanford University)

Arlene M. Rosen (University of Texas at Austin)

Alison Weisskopf (University College London)

Jiajing Wang (Stanford University)

Xiaoyan Yang (Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Jianping Zhang (Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Zhijun Zhao (Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

Participant Bios