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 state research institute and think tank. It is a ministry-level institution under the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The CASS is the highest academic institution and c ...

(CASS), based in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

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

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

. Its original 20 or so researchers came from the Beiping Research Academy and the Institute of History and Philology,

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...

of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. 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'' (''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, in

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

* Miaodigou, in Shan County, Henan * Qujialing, in Jingshan County,

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

* Liuwan, in Ledu,

Qinghai Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...

* Erlitou, 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-11t ...

, Henan *

Yinxu Yinxu (; ) is a Chinese archeological site corresponding to Yin, the final capital of the Shang dynasty (). Located in present-day Anyang, Henan, Yin served as the capital during the Late Shang period () which spanned the reigns of 12 Shang ki ...

, in

Anyang Anyang ( zh, s=安阳, t=安陽; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan, China. Geographical coordinates are 35° 41'~ 36° 21' north latitude and 113° 38'~ 114° 59' east longitude. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the eas ...

, Henan * Fenghao, in Shaanxi *

Eastern Zhou The Eastern Zhou (256 BCE) is a period in Chinese history comprising the latter two-thirds of the Zhou dynasty. The period follows the Western Zhou era and is named due to the Zhou royal court relocating the capital eastward from Fenghao ...

dynasty

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

, in Henan *

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

, in Shaanxi * Mancheng Han tomb in

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

*Han and Wei dynasty Luoyang * Sui and

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

Daxing-Chang'an *Sui and Tang dynasty Luoyang *

Khanbaliq Khanbaliq (; , ''Qaɣan balɣasu'') or Dadu of Yuan (; , ''Dayidu'') was the Historical capitals of China, winter capital of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty in what is now Beijing, the capital of China today. It was located at the center of modern ...

, capital of the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

, in

* Dingling Mausoleum of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

List of directors

* Zheng Zhenduo (deputy directors: Liang Siyong and Xia Nai) * Yin Da () * Xia Nai * Wang Zhongshu (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, discoverer of the

Erlitou culture The Erlitou culture () was an early Bronze Age society and archaeological culture. It existed in the Yellow River valley from approximately 1900 to 1500 BC. A 2007 study using radiocarbon dating proposed a narrower date range of 1750–15 ...

Zheng Zhenxiang Zheng Zhenxiang (; 1929 – 14 March 2024) was a Chinese archaeologist most famous for excavating the Bronze Age tomb of Fuhao at Anyang in 1976. She has been referred to as the 'First Lady of Chinese Archaeology'. Zheng died on 14 March 2024, a ...

, discovered the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou d ...

tomb of

Fuhao Fu Hao () died 1200 BC, posthumous temple name Mu Xin (), was one of the many wives of King Wu Ding of the Shang dynasty and also served as a military general and high priestess. Fu Hao's life and military achievements are known almost entirely ...

* Chen Mengjia, authority on

oracle bones Oracle bones are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron which were used in pyromancya form of divinationduring the Late Shang period () in ancient China. '' Scapulimancy'' is the specific term if ox scapulae were used for the divination, '' ...

and ancient Chinese bronzes * Guo Baojun () * Huang Wenbi * Huang Zhanyue * Su Bingqi

References

External links

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