The Institute of Archaeology (IA; ) is a constituent institute of the

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese research institute and think tank. The institution is the premier comprehensive national academic research organization in the People's Republic of China for the study in the fields of ...

(CASS), based in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China. It was founded on 1 August 1950, as part of the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...

. Its original 20 or so researchers came from the Beiping Research Academy and the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica of the Republic of China. In 1977, the institute became part of the newly established CASS.

Academic departments

*Department of Prehistoric Archaeology, established 1953 *Department of Xia, Shang and Zhou Archaeology, established 1953 *Research Department of Han to Tang Archaeology, established 1953 *Research Center for Frontier Archaeology and Foreign Archaeology, established 2002 *Center for Scientific Archaeology, established 1995 *Archaeology Press, established 1955 *Center for Archaeological Data and Information, established 1996 In addition, the Research Center for Ancient Civilizations and the Conservation and Research Center of Cultural Heritage are also affiliated with IA CASS. The institute is also responsible for the Department of Archaeology of the Graduate School of CASS.

Journals

The institute publishes several academic journals in Chinese: *''

Kaogu ''Kaogu'' () is a peer-reviewed monthly academic journal of Chinese archaeology, published by the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. History The predecessor to what would become Kaogu was published from 1934-1 ...

'' (''Archaeology''), monthly *'' Acta Archaeologica Sinica'' (''Kaogu Xuebao''), quarterly * ''Kaoguxue jikan'' (''Archaeology Periodicals''), annually * ''Kaoguxue cankao ziliao'' (aperiodically) * ''Zhongguo kaoguxue nianjian'' (''Annals of Chinese Archaeology'') It also publishes China's only English-language archaeological journal, ''Chinese Archaeology''.

Major excavations

Banpo Banpo is an archaeological site discovered in 1953 by Shi Xingbang, and located in the Yellow River Valley just east of Xi'an, China. It contains the remains of several well organized Neolithic settlements, like Jiangzhai, carbon dated t ...

, in

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

* Miaodigou, in Shan County, Henan *

Qujialing The Qujialing culture (3400–2600 BC) was a Neolithic civilisation centered primarily on the middle Yangtze River region in Hubei and Hunan, China. The culture succeeded the Daxi culture and reached southern Shaanxi, northern Jiangxi and southwes ...

, in

Jingshan County Jingshan is a county-level city of Jingmen City, in central Hubei Province, People's Republic of China. It is named after nearby Mount Jingyuan (). It is bordered on the north by the Dahong Mountain and on the south by the Jianghan Plain. The co ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...

* Liuwan, in Ledu,

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

Erlitou The Erlitou culture was an early Bronze Age urban society and archaeological culture that existed in the Yellow River valley from approximately 1900 to 1500 BC. A 2007 study of radiocarbon dating proposed a narrower date range of 1750 to 1530 B ...

, in

Yanshi Yanshi District () is a district in the prefecture-level city of Luoyang in western Henan province, China. Yanshi lies on the Luo River and is the easternmost county-level division of Luoyang. History After the Zhou conquest of Shang in mid-11th ...

, Henan *

Yinxu Yinxu (modern ; ) is the site of one of the ancient and major historical capitals of China. It is the source of the archeological discovery of oracle bones and oracle bone script, which resulted in the identification of the earliest known Chine ...

, in Anyang, Henan *

Fenghao Fenghao () is the modern name of the twin city formed by the Western Zhou capitals of Feng and Hao on opposite banks of the Feng River near its confluence with the Wei River in Shaanxi, China. History As Duke Wen (ruled c. 1099–1050 BCE) ex ...

, in Shaanxi *

Eastern Zhou The Eastern Zhou (; zh, c=, p=Dōngzhōu, w=Tung1-chou1, t= ; 771–256 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the second half of the Zhou dynasty. It was divided into two periods: the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States. History In 770 ...

dynasty

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang ...

, in Henan *

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin S ...

, in Shaanxi * Mancheng Han tomb in

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

*Han and Wei dynasty Luoyang * Sui and

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

Daxing-Chang'an *Sui and Tang dynasty Luoyang * Khanbaliq, capital of the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...

, in

* Dingling Mausoleum of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

List of directors

Zheng Zhenduo Zheng Zhenduo (Cheng Chen-to; December 19, 1898 – October 17, 1958), courtesy name Xidi, was a Chinese journalist, writer, archaeologist and scholar. His pen names were Baofen (寶芬), Guo Yuanxin (郭源新) and CT. He made a significant con ...

(deputy directors: Liang Siyong and

Xia Nai Xia Nai (Wade–Giles: ''Shiah Nae''; 1910–1985) was a pioneering Chinese archaeologist. He was born in Wenzhou, southern Zhejiang province. He was the second son of Xia Yuyi (夏禹彝) who was a wealthy farmer. Xia was given the first nam ...

) * Yin Da () *

Wang Zhongshu Wang Zhongshu (; 15 October 1925 – 24 September 2015) was a Chinese archaeologist who helped to establish and develop the field of archaeology in China. One of the most prominent Asian archaeologists, he was awarded the Grand Prize of the Fuk ...

(1982–1988) * Xu Pingfang (徐苹芳, 1988–1992) * Ren Shinan (任式楠, 1992–1998) * Liu Qingzhu (刘庆柱, 1998–2006) * Wang Wei (王巍, 2006–2017) * Chen Xingcan (陈星灿, 2017–present)

Other prominent archaeologists

Xu Xusheng Xu Xusheng, also known by his courtesy name Xu Bingchang, (1888 – January 4, 1976) was a Chinese archaeologist, historian, and explorer born in Tanghe, Henan Province. Best known for his discovery of the Erlitou culture in 1959, he was one of C ...

, discoverer of the

Erlitou culture The Erlitou culture was an early Bronze Age urban society and archaeological culture that existed in the Yellow River valley from approximately 1900 to 1500 BC. A 2007 study of radiocarbon dating proposed a narrower date range of 1750 to 1530 B ...

Zheng Zhenxiang Zheng Zhenxiang () is a Chinese archaeologist most famous for excavating the Bronze Age tomb of Fuhao at Anyang. She has been referred to as the 'First Lady of Chinese Archaeology'. Career After completing her undergraduate degree at Peking ...

, discovered the

Shang Dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...

tomb of Fuhao *

Chen Mengjia Chen Mengjia (; 20 April 1911, in Nanjing – 3 September 1966, in Beijing) was a Chinese scholar, poet, paleographer and archaeologist. He was considered the foremost authority on oracle bones and was Professor of Chinese at Tsinghua University ...

, authority on

oracle bones Oracle bones () are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron, which were used for pyromancy – a form of divination – in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. ''Scapulimancy'' is the correct term if ox scapulae were used for th ...

and ancient Chinese bronzes * Guo Baojun () * Huang Wenbi *

Huang Zhanyue Huang Zhanyue (; August 1926 – 22 April 2019) was a Chinese archaeologist. He was a professor at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and an honorary academician of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. His research ...

* Su Bingqi

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control 1950 establishments in China Organizations based in Beijing Research institutes in China Organizations established in 1950 Chinese Academy of Social Sciences