Talk by Li Zhang, Zhengzhou University.
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
9:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Dodd Hall 275
Building on a concise review of previous scholarship on prehistoric silk routes, this paper synthesizes recent discoveries and offers an updated assessment of current research. The reassessment focuses first on a refined reconstruction of specific routes involved in prehistoric trans-Eurasian interactions. It further emphasizes the role of shifting political, economic and environmental dynamics in shaping these networks, demonstrating how the relative importance of different routes changed over time, from the Neolithic period through the Late Shang period. To better understand the mechanisms underlying the formation of prehistoric silk routes, the paper highlights key categories of material culture and examines how they can be used to identify the roles of migrants and population mobility. Finally, it outlines directions for future research and identifies areas where collaborative work is especially needed, while stressing the importance of marginal regions alongside the Central Plains in the making of prehistoric silk routes.
Li Zhang (Li Jaang) is a Professor at the School of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, Zhengzhou University. Her research focuses on the archaeology, history, and art of the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age, with particular interests in Bronze Age Eurasian interactions, Upland-Lowland dynamics, state formation, and the economy of craft production. She received her PhD from the School of Archaeology and Museology at Peking University and was a visiting student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She subsequently held two postdoctoral fellowships, one at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW), New York University, and another at the Forum Transregionale Studien in Berlin, Germany. She has published in journals including Journal of Archaeological Research, Antiquity, Journal of World Prehistory, Current Anthropology, Wenwu, and Kaogu yu Wenwu. She also serves as co-editor of the Elements series at Cambridge University Press and as an editorial board member of the Journal of Archaeological Research.
This talk is part of course ART HIS M258B - Topics in Asian Archaeology. Co-sponsored with Global Antiquity - UCLA.
Sponsor(s): Center for Chinese Studies, Global Antiquity