Gideon Shelach-Lavi
Biographic Data
| ID | 187683 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gideon Shelach-Lavi |
| GIVEN NAMES | Gideon |
| FAMILY NAME | Shelach-Lavi |
| SIGNATURE | SHELACH-LAVI G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1576-1844 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 48 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 175 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 47 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1998 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Provisioning and pastoralism along the Mongolian medieval border system
To Build or Not to Build? Frontier Walls, Trenches, and Forts in Mid-Jin Politics, 1161–1208
In this article, we offer an in-depth contextualization of the construction of frontier walls, trenches, and forts under the Shizong and Zhangzong emperors of the Jurchen Jin dynasty, supplementing historical sources with up-to-date archaeological findings. We argue that, rather than through a narrow military history approach, the agendas behind these construction projects can only be understood in a wider framework of frontier-related Jin instit…
Grinding stones from the neolithic “Ashmound” site of Budihal, India
Subsistence and survival along the medieval long-wall system of northern China and Mongolia
The medieval wall and trench system of China and Mongolia covers ∼4000 km and consists of a series of rammed-earth walls, ditches, and hundreds of associated structures. This was not a unified system but rather different sections that were built by different political entities and perhaps for different purposes between ca. 1000 to 1220 CE. Among those lines, the earliest is the northernmost section dated to the period of the Liao empire (916–1125…
Breaking it down
Life along the medieval frontier
The Medieval Wall System (MWS), constructed in the tenth-thirteenth centuries AD across parts of Mongolia, China and Russia, was one of several long walls built along ancient frontiers in Asia. Despite a growing body of literature about this network of walls and trenches, many questions still surround its construction and function. Here, the authors present results of archaeological investigations on the Mongolian Arc of the MWS, revealing new co…
Examining Medieval Long-Wall frontier systems (11th – 12th centuries AD) through archaeological geophysics in the Eastern Mongolian Steppe Region
Geophysical survey of a Medieval wall system in northeastern Mongolia. • Exploring the structure and function of 11th century CE walled enclosures. • Integrating gradiometry and GPR in archaeological exploration. • Exposing the wooden poles construction of a Medieval gate structure. This paper presents the results of exploratory geophysical surveys and ground truthing of a cluster of earthen enclosures associated with a long-wall frontier system …
An elite grave of the pre-Mongol period, from Dornod Province, Mongolia
On the Mongolian plateau, the period between the collapse of the Kitan Empire (c. 1125 CE) and the rise of the Mongol empire (1206 CE) is still poorly understood. Although events leading up to the rise of Chinggis Khan's initial Mongol state are recorded in a number of historical sources, these accounts often look backwards over decades or even centuries from the perspective of a mature empire already made. Archaeology provides one path towards a…
Unraveling the Mongolian Arc
This paper explores, for the first time, a 405 km long wall system located in eastern Mongolia: the "Mongolian Arc" consists of an earthen wall, a trench, and 34 structures. It is part of a much larger system of walls built between the 11th and 13th centuries a.d. The Mongolian Arc, despite its magnitude, has been largely overlooked in existing academic discourse. Our team collected remote sensing data of different types and conducted an archaeol…
Ceramic production and the transition to agriculture in Northeast China
Insights from a Recent Workshop on Walls, Borders, and Frontier Zones in the Ancient and the Contemporary World
This article reports on the ‘Walls, Borders, and Frontier Zones in the Ancient and Contemporary World’ workshop and its implications of transdisciplinary research for building comparative insights into the uses, meanings and experiences of border and wall constructions in the past and present
Reply from Jaffe, Campbell, and Shelach-Lavi
Bronze Art, Cultural Norms, and Group Identity
A new generation of scholars has called into question the homogeneous nature of Western Zhou culture and the sweeping imposition of this culture over a large region that covers much of present-day China. Our study contributes to this debate by focusing on a coherent group of bronze vessels dated to the end of the Western Zhou and beginning of the Spring and Autumn periods. He (盉) vessels with drum-shaped bodies, bird-like lids, and human-like leg…
Annual Bibliography
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How Neolithic farming changed China
Shimao and the Rise of States in China
The Shimao (石峁) site, located in northeastern Shaanxi Province, is the focus of some of the most exciting work being done in Chinese archaeology today. Since 2012, the site has been included several times in the list of the most important discoveries of Chinese archaeology and was even selected by the first Shanghai Archaeology Forum as one of the top 10 archaeological discoveries in the world. Because of its unique nature and the exemplary work …
Economy, sharing strategies and community structure in the early Neolithic village of Chahai, Northeast China
Mismatches of scale in the application of paleoclimatic research to Chinese archaeology
Issues surrounding the difficult task of correlating archaeological and climatic trajectories are directly impacting the study of human-environmental interaction in Ancient China. We have chosen to focus on the 4.2 ka BP event due to the widespread belief in recent Chinese archaeological publications that it brought about the collapse of Neolithic cultures in multiple regions of China. Following a literature review concerning the many issues surr…
Does extra-large equal extra-ordinary? The ‘Wall of Chinggis Khan’ from a multidimensional perspective
This paper focuses on a hitherto little-known long (or “Great”) wall that stretches along 737 km from northern Inner Mongolia in China, through Siberia into northeastern Mongolia. The wall was constructed during the late medieval period (10th to 13th century CE) but is commonly called the “Wall of Chinggis Khan” (or ‘Chingisiin Dalan’ in Mongolian). It includes, in addition to the long-wall itself, a ditch feature and numerous associated fortific…
A model for the domestication of Panicum miliaceum (common, proso or broomcorn millet) in China
This paper outlines a model for the domestication of Panicum miliaceum (broomcorn millet) in Northern China. Data from 43 archaeological sites indicate a continuous increase in average grain size between 6000 and 3300 bc . After this date there is a divergence, with grain size continuing to increase in some populations, while others show no further size increase. The initial increase in grain size is attributed to selection during domestication, …
Medieval long-wall construction on the Mongolian Steppe during the eleventh to thirteenth centuries AD
The long walls of China and the Eurasian Steppe are considered to have functioned as either defensive structures against aggressive nomadic tribes, or as elements to control the movement of local nomadic groups following imperialist expansion. This article focuses on a hitherto understudied 737km-long medieval wall running from northern China into north-eastern Mongolia. Built by either the Liao or Jin Dynasties, the wall features numerous auxili…
Animals and Human Society in Asia
The Qiang and the question of human sacrifice in the late Shang period
The character that many scholars read as Qiang appears in more than 800 known late Shang oracle bone inscriptions, most of which refer to the ritual sacrifice of Qiang people. More than half of all the human victims mentioned in the inscriptions are identified as Qiang, and among all the neighbors of Shang named in the inscriptions, only the Qiang are specifically mentioned as human sacrifices. Why were the Qiang so important and why were such la…
Prehistoric societies on the northern frontiers of China
Introduction The Seeds of the New Order: How East Asia Changed During the Period Between 1100-600 BCE Outline of the Book Chapter Two. Charting the Change: What Can We Learn from the Archaeological Record About Changes that Occurred Between 1100-600 BCE. Geographical Background Naming the People of the Northern Zone: Can it be done and is it Important? Continuity or Change? The Archaeological Data of the Northern Zone Ceramics and Artifacts of Da…
The Archaeology of Early China
This volume aims to satisfy a pressing need for an updated account of Chinese archaeology. It covers an extended time period from the earliest peopling of China to the unification of the Chinese Empire some two thousand years ago. The geographical coverage includes the traditional focus on the Yellow River basin but also covers China's many other regions. Among the topics covered are the emergence of agricultural communities; the establishment of…
The Earliest Neolithic Cultures of Northeast China
The Earliest States in China
The paleolithic site of Longwangchan in the middle Yellow River, China
A model for the domestication of Panicum miliaceum (common, proso or broomcorn millet) in China
This paper outlines a model for the domestication of Panicum miliaceum (broomcorn millet) in Northern China. Data from 43 archaeological sites indicate a continuous increase in average grain size between 6000 and 3300 bc . After this date there is a divergence, with grain size continuing to increase in some populations, while others show no further size increase. The initial increase in grain size is attributed to selection during domestication, …
Archaeology and politics in China
In China, as in many other modern and contemporary states, the past is often used to inform public opinions and legitimate the political regime. This article examines two examples of archaeological exhibitions in China: at the National Museum of China (中国国家博物馆) in Beijing and the Liaoning Provincial Museum (辽宁省博物馆) in Shenyang. It discusses the development and change over time in the content of these archaeological exhibitions, the way they were …
Sanzuodian
The authors present new research on the Chifeng area of north-eastern China where they have been studying the remains of a society of the second millennium BC. This northern region, which saw the introduction of agriculture at the same time as the Yellow River basin experienced a brief and intensive period of fortification in the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age: natural ridges above the valleys were ringed with double stone walls and semicircular…
Shimao and the Rise of States in China
The Shimao (石峁) site, located in northeastern Shaanxi Province, is the focus of some of the most exciting work being done in Chinese archaeology today. Since 2012, the site has been included several times in the list of the most important discoveries of Chinese archaeology and was even selected by the first Shanghai Archaeology Forum as one of the top 10 archaeological discoveries in the world. Because of its unique nature and the exemplary work …
Predictive modeling for archaeological site locations
Economy, sharing strategies and community structure in the early Neolithic village of Chahai, Northeast China
Human adaptation and socioeonomic change in northeast China
Northeastern China is one of the centers of early development of agriculture and sedentary life, as well as of the subsequent development of social complexity and distinct cultural attributes. While the outlines of this trajectory are clear, its important details are still elusive. Like all other regions of northern China, there is little data on the all-important transition from nomad hunter-gatherers to sedentary agriculturalists. The Fuxin Reg…
Apples and Oranges? A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Burial Data from Northeast China
Brill is delighted to announce that it has renewed its Transformative Agreement with Jisc in the UK for 2023-2024. Brill is one of the leading academic publishers in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Biology, with a broad Open Access portfolio consisting of more than 1,100 books and several thousand journal articles
Medieval long-wall construction on the Mongolian Steppe during the eleventh to thirteenth centuries AD
The long walls of China and the Eurasian Steppe are considered to have functioned as either defensive structures against aggressive nomadic tribes, or as elements to control the movement of local nomadic groups following imperialist expansion. This article focuses on a hitherto understudied 737km-long medieval wall running from northern China into north-eastern Mongolia. Built by either the Liao or Jin Dynasties, the wall features numerous auxili…
Food, pots and socio-economic transformation
Early Complex Societies in NE China
Katheryn M. Linduff, Robert D. Drennan, Gideon Shelach, Early Complex Societies in NE China: The Chifeng International Collaborative Archaeological Research Project, Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 29, No. 1/2 (Spring, 2002 - Summer, 2004), pp. 45-73
A settlement pattern study in northeast China
Chinese scholarship well illustrates how research attitudes direct the spirit of research, and the tenor of the archaeological story which results. What happens when non-Chinese theory, approaches and field methods are brought to bear in a Chinese regional study
Breaking it down
Life along the medieval frontier
The Medieval Wall System (MWS), constructed in the tenth-thirteenth centuries AD across parts of Mongolia, China and Russia, was one of several long walls built along ancient frontiers in Asia. Despite a growing body of literature about this network of walls and trenches, many questions still surround its construction and function. Here, the authors present results of archaeological investigations on the Mongolian Arc of the MWS, revealing new co…
An elite grave of the pre-Mongol period, from Dornod Province, Mongolia
On the Mongolian plateau, the period between the collapse of the Kitan Empire (c. 1125 CE) and the rise of the Mongol empire (1206 CE) is still poorly understood. Although events leading up to the rise of Chinggis Khan's initial Mongol state are recorded in a number of historical sources, these accounts often look backwards over decades or even centuries from the perspective of a mature empire already made. Archaeology provides one path towards a…
Unraveling the Mongolian Arc
This paper explores, for the first time, a 405 km long wall system located in eastern Mongolia: the "Mongolian Arc" consists of an earthen wall, a trench, and 34 structures. It is part of a much larger system of walls built between the 11th and 13th centuries a.d. The Mongolian Arc, despite its magnitude, has been largely overlooked in existing academic discourse. Our team collected remote sensing data of different types and conducted an archaeol…
How Neolithic farming changed China
Short-Term Climatic Catastrophes and the Collapse of the Liao Dynasty (907-1125)
Short-term disasters such as clusters of droughts or cold spells, lasting for just a decade or two, can induce food shortages, famines, and violence and create waves of refugees. Climatically enforced migrations can affect complex societies and, in extreme cases, even topple established bureaucracies. But the measurement of indirect signals (proxies), which is limited by the multidecadal range of radiometric dating or by the poor distribution of …
A settlement pattern study in northeast China
Chinese scholarship well illustrates how research attitudes direct the spirit of research, and the tenor of the archaeological story which results. What happens when non-Chinese theory, approaches and field methods are brought to bear in a Chinese regional study
The Earliest Neolithic Cultures of Northeast China
Apples and Oranges? A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Burial Data from Northeast China
Brill is delighted to announce that it has renewed its Transformative Agreement with Jisc in the UK for 2023-2024. Brill is one of the leading academic publishers in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Biology, with a broad Open Access portfolio consisting of more than 1,100 books and several thousand journal articles
Leadership Strategies, Economic Activity, and Interregional Interaction
1. Introduction. 2. Reconciling the Dichotomies. 3. The Paradigm of Chinese Archaeology and the Archaeology of Northeast China. 4. Hongshan and Related Cultures (c. 4500-200 B.C.). 5. Lower Xiajiadian Period (c. 2300-1600 B.C.). 6. Upper Xiajiadian Period (c. 1000-600 B.C.). 7. Warring-States to the Han (5th Century B.C. to 3rd Century A.D.) and Liao (10th to 12th Century A.D.) Periods. 8. Diachronic Analysis of Processes in the Chifeng Area and …
Early Complex Societies in NE China
Katheryn M. Linduff, Robert D. Drennan, Gideon Shelach, Early Complex Societies in NE China: The Chifeng International Collaborative Archaeological Research Project, Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 29, No. 1/2 (Spring, 2002 - Summer, 2004), pp. 45-73
Secondary State Formation and the Development of Local Identity
Economic adaptation, community structure, and sharing strategies of households at early sedentary communities in northeast China
The paleolithic site of Longwangchan in the middle Yellow River, China
Sanzuodian
The authors present new research on the Chifeng area of north-eastern China where they have been studying the remains of a society of the second millennium BC. This northern region, which saw the introduction of agriculture at the same time as the Yellow River basin experienced a brief and intensive period of fortification in the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age: natural ridges above the valleys were ringed with double stone walls and semicircular…
Jiangzhai
Earlier Neolithic Economic and Social Systems of the Liao River Region, Northeast China
This chapter surveys the archaeological data pertaining to the early sedentary agriculturalist lifestyles in the Xilamulun-Liao river basins in northeast China.It surveys archaeological data pertaining to the so-called Xinglongwa and Zhaobaogou material cultures, and evaluates some crucial socioeconomic aspects of these early sedentary societies. The chapter also demonstrates the potential contribution of such research to a better understanding o…
Nomads As Agents of Cultural Change
The Earliest States in China
Fortified settlements and the settlement system in the Northern Zone of the Han Empire
How far are settlement patterns affected by imperial systems of administration and control? The prototype city state consisted perhaps only of the population centre and its surrounding hinterland, but large territorial states, and still more empires, required complex systems of government and defence. Historical sources tell of the Chinese imperial system of 'commanderies' or provinces, and 'county seats' or subordinate centres, but this may conc…
Archaeology of Early China
"This volume aims to satisfy a pressing need for an updated account of Chinese archaeology. The volume's time frame extends from the earliest peopling of China to the unification of the Chinese empire some 2,000 years ago. The spatial coverage includes--but also extends beyond--the traditional focus on the Yellow River basin, with a number of chapters discussing the archaeology of China's northeast, northwest, southeast and southwestern regions. …
The Archaeology of Early China
This volume aims to satisfy a pressing need for an updated account of Chinese archaeology. It covers an extended time period from the earliest peopling of China to the unification of the Chinese Empire some two thousand years ago. The geographical coverage includes the traditional focus on the Yellow River basin but also covers China's many other regions. Among the topics covered are the emergence of agricultural communities; the establishment of…
Human adaptation and socioeonomic change in northeast China
Northeastern China is one of the centers of early development of agriculture and sedentary life, as well as of the subsequent development of social complexity and distinct cultural attributes. While the outlines of this trajectory are clear, its important details are still elusive. Like all other regions of northern China, there is little data on the all-important transition from nomad hunter-gatherers to sedentary agriculturalists. The Fuxin Reg…
Steppe Land Interactions and Their Effects on Chinese Cultures during the Second and Early First Millennia BCE
Food, pots and socio-economic transformation
Geochronology and paleoenvironment of the Taoshan site, northeastern China, and archaeological implications
Predictive modeling for archaeological site locations
Animals and Human Society in Asia
Archaeology and politics in China
In China, as in many other modern and contemporary states, the past is often used to inform public opinions and legitimate the political regime. This article examines two examples of archaeological exhibitions in China: at the National Museum of China (中国国家博物馆) in Beijing and the Liaoning Provincial Museum (辽宁省博物馆) in Shenyang. It discusses the development and change over time in the content of these archaeological exhibitions, the way they were …
Short-Term Climatic Catastrophes and the Collapse of the Liao Dynasty (907-1125)
Short-term disasters such as clusters of droughts or cold spells, lasting for just a decade or two, can induce food shortages, famines, and violence and create waves of refugees. Climatically enforced migrations can affect complex societies and, in extreme cases, even topple established bureaucracies. But the measurement of indirect signals (proxies), which is limited by the multidecadal range of radiometric dating or by the poor distribution of …
Does extra-large equal extra-ordinary? The ‘Wall of Chinggis Khan’ from a multidimensional perspective
This paper focuses on a hitherto little-known long (or “Great”) wall that stretches along 737 km from northern Inner Mongolia in China, through Siberia into northeastern Mongolia. The wall was constructed during the late medieval period (10th to 13th century CE) but is commonly called the “Wall of Chinggis Khan” (or ‘Chingisiin Dalan’ in Mongolian). It includes, in addition to the long-wall itself, a ditch feature and numerous associated fortific…
Archaeology (40 works) · Geography (35 works) · China (34 works) · History (28 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (27 works) · Chinese history and philosophy (18 works) · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies (16 works) · History (14 works) · Art (13 works) · Ancient history (12 works)