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This volume examines the role of objects in the region north of early dynastic state centers, at the intersection of Ancient China and Eurasia, a large area that stretches from Xinjiang to the China Sea, from c.3000 BCE to the mid-eighth century BCE. This area was a frontier, an ambiguous space that lay at the margins of direct political control by the metropolitan states, where local and colonial ideas and practices were reconstructed transculturally. These identities were often merged and displayed in material culture. Types of objects, styles, and iconography were often hybrids or new to the region, as were the tomb assemblages in which they were deposited and found. Patrons commissioned objects that marked a symbolic vision of place and person and that could mobilize support, legitimize rule, and bind people together. Through close examination of key artifacts, this book untangles the considerable changes in political structure and cultural makeup of ancient Chinese states and their northern neighbors.

Fitful Histories and Unruly Publics re-examines the relationship between Eurasia's past and its present by interrogating the social construction of time and the archaeological production of culture. Traditionally, archaeological research in Eurasia has focused on assembling normative descriptions of monolithic cultures that endure for millennia, largely immune to the forces of historical change. The papers in this volume seek to document forces of difference and contestation in the past that were produced in the perceptible engagements of peoples, things, and places. The research gathered here convincingly demonstrates that these forces made social life in ancient Eurasia rather more fitful and its publics considerably more unruly than archaeological research has traditionally allowed.Contributors are Mikheil Abramishvili, Paula N. Doumani Dupuy, Magnus Fiskesjö, Hilary Gopnik, Emma Hite, Jean-Luc Houle, Erik G. Johannesson, James A. Johnson, Lori Khatchadourian, Ian Lindsay, Maureen E. Marshall, Mitchell S. Rothman, Irina Shingiray, Adam T. Smith, Kathryn O. Weber and Xin Wu.

Die Reihe Topoi. Berlin Studies of the Ancient World versammelt Beiträge aus allen altertumswissenschaftlichen Disziplinen, von der Ur- und Frühgeschichte über die Klassische Archäologie bis zur antiken Philosophie, Wissenschaftstheorie und Theologie. Einen Schwerpunkt bilden Monographien und Sammelbände, in denen die Forschungsergebnisse des Exzellenzclusters Topoi vorgestellt werden. Weitere Schwerpunkte sind in Planung. Das Exzellenzcluster Topoi untersucht die Formation und Transformation von Raum und Wissen in den antiken Zivilisationen. Topoi wird von der Freien Universität Berlin und der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin gemeinsam getragen. Partner sind die Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, das Deutsche Archäologische Institut, das Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte und die Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Topoi ist darüber hinaus mit vielen weiteren universitären und außeruniversitären Einrichtungen vernetzt. Näheres unter www.topoi.org. Ausgewählte Titel aus der Reihe Topoi. Berliner Studien der Alten Welt werden gleichzeitig mit dem Erscheinen als Buch auch in digitaler Form im Internet frei zugänglich gemacht. Die Reihe versteht sich als Pilotprojekt für eine Verbindung des open-access-Gedankens mit der verlegerischen Betreuung von wissenschaftlichen Publikationen. Siehe Presseinformation vom 23. Juni 2009.

Social Complexity in Prehistoric Eurasia challenges current interpretations of the emergence, development, and decline of social complexity in the steppe region of China and the former Soviet Union. Through a thematic investigation of archaeological patterns ranging from monument construction and use and production and consumption of metals to the nature of mobility among societies, the essays in this volume provide the most up-to-date thinking on social and cultural change in prehistoric Eurasia. Collectively, they challenge broader theoretical trends in Anglo-American archaeology, which have traditionally favored comparative studies of sedentary agricultural societies over mobile pastoralist or agro-pastoralist communities. By highlighting the potential and limitations of comparative studies of social complexity, this volume sets the agenda for future studies of this region of the world. It emphasizes how the unique nature of early steppe societies can contribute to more comprehensive interpretations of social trajectories in world prehistory.

Are All Warriors Male? is a lively inquiry into questions of gender on the ancient Eurasian steppes. The book's contributors are archaeologists who work in eastern Europe, Central Asia, and eastern Asia, and this volume is the result of their field research in this vast. As little has been written about the evidence of gender roles in ancient—or modern—pastoralist societies, this book helps to fill an empty niche in our understanding of how sexual roles and identities have shaped and been shaped by such social and cultural circumstances. Are All Warriors Male? is a groundbreaking work that challenges current conceptions about the development of human societies in this great cauldron of humanity.