Colloque en Chine sur les sociétés de l'Age du Bronze 8-12 Novembre 2011

Dear All,

the International Centre for Chinese Heritage and Archaeology is organizing
an international conference on the emergence of Bronze Age societies
world-wide, with a particular view on the role that metals played in this
process. Although organized by the ICCHA it is explicitly NOT restricted to
China and Central Asia, but aims to take a world-wide comparative view.


Please find below the text for the official announcement �C and feel free to
contact the organisers for more details!

Thilo Rehren


Emergence of Bronze Age Societies: A Global Perspective

全球视野下的青铜时代



Five-day conference in November 2011, Baoji, Shaanxi province, China



Call for papers



The International Centre for Chinese Heritage and Archaeology (ICCHA),
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, Peking University and
Baoji Municipal People's Government, Shaanxi province, China, invite
scholars to participate in the conference Emergence of Bronze Age Societies:
A Global Perspective.

The conference aims at enhancing our understanding of the background and
development of Bronze Age societies on a global scale. It will trace the
beginnings of the use of copper and bronze throughout Eurasia and beyond,
and investigate the societies that developed metallurgy. Questions to be
raised are: What constitutes a Bronze Age? Which characteristics share early
bronze using cultures? Is the use of bronze sufficient to define a Bronze
Age society? What kinds of artefacts were predominantly produced? Which
technological solutions were found in different bronze-using cultures to
source raw materials and to produce alloys and artefacts? What was the role
of cross-cultural exchange in the development of Bronze Age societies?

The conference especially seeks to provide a platform for integrating the
achievements of Chinese archaeological research on the Bronze Age into a
world-wide context. For this reason the conference will be held in Baoji,
Shaanxi province, China, where a major bronze producing centre was located
3000 years ago, and where one of the largest collections of bronze artefacts
in all of Asia is stored.

The conference will be held from 08 to 12 November 2011. The costs of local
accommodation and conference fees will be met by the organisers. Foreign
participants are responsible for their travel and visa costs.

The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 31 December 2010. Successful
candidates are expected to give a talk of 15 minutes and to present a poster
of their research during a poster session. Individual posters are welcome as
well.



Date:                                 08 to 12 November 2011

Venue:                               Baoji Museum of Bronzes, Shaanxi
province, China

Conference languages:      English/Chinese with translation

The conference proceedings will be published as a peer-reviewed volume.







Lukas Nickel                                                   Tianjin Xu

Institute of Archaeology                                 The School of
Archaeology and Museology

University College London                            Peking University

31-34 Gordon Square                                     5 Yiehyuan Road,
Haidian

London WC1H 0PY, UK                               Beijing, 100871, China

l.nickel@ucl.ac.uk                                            xtj@pku.edu.cn



Intended Topics for conference Emergence of Bronze Age Societies: A Global
Perspective



Bronze metallurgy and complex societies

Demography, socio economic aspects

Scale of production, specialisation of crafts, workshop organisation

Types of commodities produced

What makes a Bronze Age?



Contacts and trade

Cross-Eurasian/long distance contacts and their role in forming Bronze Age
societies

Raw materials and bronze production

Invention, transfer and adaptation of technology and typology

Centre and periphery in metal production and metal use

Technologies

Origin and development of bronze mining, smelting and alloying
Bronze casting technologies

Other metal working technologies


Bronze and ideology

Bronze and religion, mythology, and social hierarchy

Value, standardisation, and status


Abstracts

For researchers from outside China: Abstracts in English should be sent to

ICCHA

Institute of Archaeology, UCL

31-34 Gordon Square

London WC1H 0PY, UK

iccha@ucl.ac.uk



For researchers from China: Abstracts in Chinese should be sent to

Jianli Chen

The School of Archaeology and Museology

Peking University

5 Yiehyuan Road, Haidian

Beijing, 100871, China

jianli_chen@pku.edu.cn

International Centre for Chinese Heritage and Archaeology (ICCHA)

Institute of Archaeology, University College London

School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University

Baoji Municipal People's Government

Five-day conference in November 2011, Baoji, Shaanxi province, China

Call for papers

The International Centre for Chinese Heritage and Archaeology (ICCHA),
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, Peking University and
Baoji Municipal People's Government, Shaanxi province, China, invite
scholars to participate in the conference Emergence of Bronze Age Societies:
A Global Perspective.

The conference aims at enhancing our understanding of the background and
development of Bronze Age societies on a global scale. It will trace the
beginnings of the use of copper and bronze throughout Eurasia and beyond,
and investigate the societies that developed metallurgy. Questions to be
raised are: What constitutes a Bronze Age? Which characteristics share early
bronze using cultures? Is the use of bronze sufficient to define a Bronze
Age society? What kinds of artefacts were predominantly produced? Which
technological solutions were found in different bronze-using cultures to
source raw materials and to produce alloys and artefacts? What was the role
of cross-cultural exchange in the development of Bronze Age societies?

The conference especially seeks to provide a platform for integrating the
achievements of Chinese archaeological research on the Bronze Age into a
world-wide context. For this reason the conference will be held in Baoji,
Shaanxi province, China, where a major bronze producing centre was located
3000 years ago, and where one of the largest collections of bronze artefacts
in all of Asia is stored.

The conference will be held from 08 to 12 November 2011. The costs of local
accommodation and conference fees will be met by the organisers. Foreign
participants are responsible for their travel and visa costs.

The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 31 December 2010. Successful
candidates are expected to give a talk of 15 minutes and to present a poster
of their research during a poster session. Individual posters are welcome as
well.


Date:                                 08 to 12 November 2011

Venue:                               Baoji Museum of Bronzes, Shaanxi
province, China

Conference languages:      English/Chinese with translation

The conference proceedings will be published as a peer-reviewed volume.


Lukas Nickel                                                   Tianjin Xu

Institute of Archaeology                                 The School of
Archaeology and Museology

University College London                            Peking University