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Adunqiaolu: new evidence for the Andronovo in Xinjiang, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2017

Peter W. Jia
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and China Studies Centre, Old Teachers College, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Alison Betts*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and China Studies Centre, Old Teachers College, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Dexin Cong
Affiliation:
Archaeological Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Science, 27 Wangfujing Dajie, Beijing 100010, China
Xiaobing Jia
Affiliation:
Archaeological Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Science, 27 Wangfujing Dajie, Beijing 100010, China
Paula Doumani Dupuy
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Nazarbayev University, 53 Kabanbay Batyr Avenue, Astana 010000, Kazakhstan
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: [email protected])

Abstract

Bronze Age social and cultural interconnections across the Eurasian steppe are the subject of much current debate. A particularly significant place is occupied by the Andronovo Culture or family of cultures. Important new data document the most easterly extension of Eurasian Bronze Age sites of Andronovo affinity into western China. Findings from the site of Adunqiaolu in Xinjiang and a new series of radiocarbon dates challenge existing models of eastward cultural dispersion, and demonstrate the need to reconsider the older chronologies and migration theories. The site is well preserved and offers robust potential for deeper study of the Andronovo culture complex, particularly in the eastern mountain regions.

Type
Research
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2017 

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