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On the international stage, discussions on theoretical and methodological aspects of settlement archaeology tend to be dominated by Anglo-American scholarship associated with the emergence of the New Archaeology's systemic view of culture and its ecological outlook in which settlement pattern analysis became a crucial approach. Few people are aware that a scholar of Chinese origin, K.C. Chang, contributed substantially to these debates already since the 1950s and introduced western practices of settlement archaeology to China in the 1980s. Since then, numerous international collaborative projects in China have provided a fruitful basis for an exchange of ideas between different scholarly traditions and providing opportunities for methods developed in the West to be tested in a different cultural and environmental context. The present paper traces these developments, highlighting the extent of the Chinese contributions and concluding with some thoughts on the standing of Chinese archaeology within the field of archaeology worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe a preliminary survey of a relatively unknown part of the eastern Himalayas: northwestern Sichuan. This survey revealed that three phases of occupation are represented across the landscape. Large settlements with dense remains characterize the landscape during the Neolithic (3400-2000 cal b.c.). Following a hiatus in occupation, stone-cist graves characterize the region during the Bronze Age (1450-800 cal b.c.). The lack of settlement remains from this period indicates that mobile pastoralism increased in importance. Finally, between a.d. 500 and 1500, dense scatters of ceramics over a wide altitudinal range correspond to a fragmentation in Tibetan history, when local warlords established themselves in the region. While some changes in occupation and subsistence practices are linked to climate change, others relate to changes in political power. We argue that further survey work is needed to expand our understanding of past land use and the development of pastoralist practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greater Liangshan is one of the few regions of China where, among 70–80% of Nuosu, the Han are a minority. Instead of the much more common phenomenon of ‘Hanification,’ here we can observe Han absorbing traits of other ethnic groups. Based on two seasons of fieldwork combined with historical texts and previous ethnographic research, this paper discusses this phenomenon, raising issues of ethnic identity and the influence of local circumstances on interethnic relations. Throughout the paper, it becomes clear that there is no simple dichotomy between Han and Nuosu, but that the situation is considerably more complex. The Nuosu fall into several castes, and the Han settlers had two different experiences. Some were captured as slaves and tried to become fully Nuosu. Ethnic relations in the Greater Liangshan are thus highly complex and require more research to be thoroughly understood. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]