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Through an investigation of two recently discovered paper sheets of the Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment from the Silla kingdom, this paper reveals that early Korea had more diverse forms of dhāraṇī practices than previously assumed. Through analyses of these incantation sheets, this paper contributes toward filling the gap in our current understanding of the material practice pertaining to the Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment of medieval East Asia. Previously, all known traces of material dhāraṇīs from early Korea, with just a few exceptions, were related to the Sūtra of the Pure Light Incantation enshrined in the relic crypts of pagodas—a practice that has little connection to contemporaneous Chinese dhāraṇī practice. However, the newly discovered Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment sheets, whose date this paper infers to be between the eighth and ninth century, show that Unified Silla had a dhāraṇī practice closely linked to coeval Chinese practice. The Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment sheets from Silla show the modification and continuation of Chinese dhāraṇī practice. Unlike the Chinese amulet sheets of the Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment that were buried in tombs, the Silla amulet sheets were likely enshrined in one of the pagodas erected on Mount Nam in Silla's capital. At the same time, they were placed in the pagoda to wish for good afterlives of the soldiers who died at the battle, suggesting that they had a mortuary function similar to those buried in Chinese tombs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cliff-burial was an ancient funerary ritual once popular in the Far East Asia (Figure 1), in which the dead were buried high on the cliffs with log coffins (the "hanging coffins") left in the natural caves, excavated grottoes or on some wood piles.In view of the fact that the cliff-burial sites are usually located on the escarpments overlooking the rivers and with great slope, where the conventional 3D survey means, such as ground laser scanning and traditional aerial photogrammetry, is out of option. This study explores the possibility of using UAV (consumer–level drone) with substantial improvement in survey accuracy, range and flight control (Figure 2), which aims to lay the foundation for the global cliff-burial culture heritage research. A survey method extendible on other excavated funeral sites would be tested and codified, as a possible follow up of the research on some study cases in Far East Asia and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, the Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology excavated at Xiaonanshan site on the bank of Ussuri River in southeast Raohe County, Heilongjiang Province. The excavation was conducted in three zones, with nine Neolithic burials recovered in Zone III. Most burials were in northeast-southwest orientation and consisted of two parts: a cairn above ground, and a grave below the cairn. Pottery wares, lithic tools, and jades were unearthed from these burials. The cultural remains represented by these eight early phase burials are the first of their kind discovered in China and represent a new archaeological culture: the Xiaonanshan culture. The 14C data of this culture provided dates of 7,890±30 BP and 8,150±30 BP, preceding Xinkailiu culture. This excavation has filled a blank on early Neolithic cultures in eastern Heilongjiang and provided new materials for the studies on the origination and diffusion of the jade culture in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unearthed artifacts and cultural relics from the Shuidonggou site revealed extensive information and insights regarding the activities of early modern humans. A series of experimental research and physical analysis suggest that stone artifacts from Locality 2 and Locality 12 have undergone heat treatment. The utilization ratio and knapping properties of raw materials were consequently enhanced. Heat treatment technology reflects the production capacities and the survival strategies in the Upper Paleolithic period. This discovery indicates the earliest existence of this technology in the East Asia and thus confirms a wider geographic distribution of this technology which provides new perspectives and evidence for understanding the associated early modern human behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]