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China     Ancient wine found in China    BBC News    6/21/2003 Artifacts add to study of early Chinese civilization    The Star   Malaysia  6/16/2003 China   Old Chinese Kingdom site discovered in SW China    Xinhuanet    6/11/2003 China   Site for ancient sacrifice found in west China province    Xinhuanet   6/9/2003 China   Mysteries About Boat of Ancient Ba People (3rd c. BC)     China.org    5/30/2003 China   Prehistoric stone tools found on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau   Xinhuanet   5/30/2003 Yangtze River's oldest iron foundary (7th-3rd c. BC) found   5/27/2003 Archeologists in in central China's Hubei province have found remains of an iron casting workshop along the Yangtze River, dating back to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 BC-256 BC) and the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-207 BC).  The foundary remains, the first known from the Yangtze River, were unearthed at a highway construction site in Yaojiawan in Qiantang village of Xishui county. An excavation layer 150-250 cm thick contained numerous red pottery sherds and fragments of molds, red soil furnace walls, cinders, slag, and various forms of casting tools, according to Wu Xiaosong, curator of the Huanggang Municipal Museum. He noted that iron was first widely used in central China in making farming instruments and weaponry. Researchers from Beijing University of Science and Technology and the Chinese University of Science and Technology found that the molds were used in making everyday iron appliances such as kettles. Archaeologists are exploring residential and burial sites around the iron casting workshops, seeking further information on  ancient iron casting process and crafts. Ruins of mines have been found in Hubei province and its adjacent Hunan province. This discovery disclosed where the plentiful ore resources in the area finally went and the iron products might have been shipped through the Yangtze to other parts of China, said Li Taoyuan, a noted researcher with the Hubei Provincial Archeology Institute.  Archeologists have already excavated a wealth of iron casting relics along the Yellow River in northern China.   (People's Daily) China   History and Development of Xinjiang    People’s Daily    5/26/2003 China   Stone table used in an ancient temple found in Northern China   People’s Daily   5/23/2003 China   DNA extracted from Han Dynasty woman in Chinese tomb   People’s Daily   5/20/2003 China   NW China Unearths 17 Ancient Tombs   People’s Daily   5/18/2003 China   Terracotta army of Qin emperor (221-207 BC) shown in China's ancient capital of Xi'an   China.org  5/14/2003 China   Tang Dynasty Buddhist shrines found in Henan province caves   People’s Daily   5/12/2003 China   Two Tang Dynasty mummies recreated using 3-D Technology    China.org   4/30/2003 China   Geological park at Nihewan sites in Hebei province to preserve Stone Age remains   People’s Daily 4/23/2003 China    Tons of Ancient Northern Song Dynasty Coins Fished out of Yangtze tributary   People’s Daily   4/19/2003 China   Chinese signs carved into 8,600-year-old tortoise shells may be earliest writing   BBC News   4/18/2003 China    China's top ten archeological finds in 2002   Xinhuanet    4/13/2003 China   Shang Oracle Bones unearthed in Daxinzhuang a centery after first Shang finds    People’s Daily   4/09/2003 China   Archaeology from the Qin to the Tang (221 BC - AD 907)   China.org   4/07/2003 China   Fish preserved in bronze cooking vessel in Warring States tomb (475-221 BC)   Xinhuanet   4/05/2003 China   Ancient Tang Dynasty grave group discovered in NW China   Xinhuanet   4/01/2003 China   Neolithic settlement (5000-4000 BC) found in Guangxi province, S. China    People’s Daily   3/27/2003 China   Qin Dynasty Grave Pit Unearthed in China's Xi'an   People’s Daily    3/26/2003 China   Loulan, mysterious desert city on the silk road of northwest China   People's Daily   3/21/2003 China   Chinese lived in Hong Kong as early as 6,000 years ago   China.org   3/19/2003 China   Six ancient carriages over 2,200 years old unearthed in China's Hubei province   IOL.com   3/18/2003 China   27 bronzes from late Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 to 771 BC) saved by farmers  Xinhuanet 3/14/2003 China    2,000-year-old Han Dynasty well discovered in eastern China   People’s Daily    3/11/2003 China    Ancient kilns used for Tang three-color ceramics discovered   Xinhuanet   3/04/2003

Japan     DNA from Yayoi ruins shares same group as modern S Koreans     Japan Today    6/24/2003 Most sites of disgraced archaeologist Fujimura discredited    Japan Today     5/25/2003 Were Jomon and Yayoi two separate periods?   The Asahi Shimbun    5/22/2003  Yayoi finding stuns archaeologists    The Asahi Shimbun    5/21/2003  Weapons of Wonder-The History of the Japanese Sword   Japan Times    3/15/2003

Mongolia      1,000-year-old coffin opened from Inner Mongolia      6/12/2003 Chinese archaeologists have opened a 1,000-year-old casket live on national television, revealing what they believe to be the body of an ancient tribal nobleman from Inner Mongolia.   Opening the inner coffin revealed a body covered in a silk blanket and wearing a necklace, with bells around the ankles and a metal-studded mask and helmet. Both inner and outer caskets were made of thick slabs of wood with brass handles, and were decorated with gilt designs of birds, servants, and swirling patterns.  While the identity of the deceased remains unknown, the coffin dates to the Liao dynasty, established by warriors from the Khitan tribe  who seized power in northern China in 907 AD during the decline of the Tang dynasty. The casket was found in a grave with rich burial offerings, on the side of Inner Mongolia's Tuerji mountain. (Associated Press; Ananova)

Korea

Central Asia: A new Khazarian fortress (AR 2,4) Buddhist monuments destroyed by Taliban in Afhanistan  (AR 3,1) Rebuilding the Buddhas of Bamiyan  (AR 3,2) Far East: Cambodia: New Angkor sites discovered from the Air: Kapilapura mound and Sman Teng temple group (AR 1,4) China: Earliest rice in China on Yangtze River; may be hearth of the world’s oldest major food crop (AR 1,3) Japan New Ainu village site identified at Onekotan, Kuril Islands (AR 2,2) Siberia Fluted point found In Siberia, whose Late Paleolithic sequence becomes more complex (AR 1,3)

Tibet

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The news articles on this website are in abbreviated form; selected full articles are in the Recent Finds in Archaeology section of Athena Review.