The eighth edition of an academic symposium on China's frontier archaeology was held on Wednesday in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, bringing together more than 80 experts and scholars from relevant universities and research institutions nationwide.
The symposium was jointly organized by the Society for Chinese Archaeology, the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the National Centre for Archaeology, and the Inner Mongolia Academy of Social Sciences.
This year's symposium centered around five major themes: consolidating the sense of community for the Chinese nation through frontier archaeology; ancient societies on the Mongolian Plateau from an archaeological perspective; the interaction between agriculture and pastoralism and the formation and development of the pluralistic and integrated pattern of Chinese civilization; the grassland Silk Road and exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations; and the protection and revitalization of frontier cultural heritage. The symposium was structured around two main sessions: keynote speeches and parallel sub-forums, featuring 45 academic presentations.
The keynote speeches focused on frontier academic topics, including in-depth discussions of the historical practice of frontier governance and the contemporary mission of frontier archaeology; paradigms of archaeological research; and population migrations and cultural exchanges in frontier regions from the perspective of ancient genomics.
The parallel sub-forums, based on the archaeological research priorities of different regions, covered a wide range of research areas, including prehistoric environment and human-environment relationships, agricultural-pastoral social interactions, the history and archaeology of northern frontier regions, regional ethnic history, cultural exchanges, and scientific and technological archaeology. The presentations collectively showcased discoveries, new materials, and new insights from China's frontier archaeological research in recent years.
Experts and scholars say this symposium provides a valuable opportunity for cross-regional and interdisciplinary academic exchange. The collaborative research involving archaeology, history, ethnology, and scientific and technological archaeology will help deepen the understanding of the historical and cultural development of China's frontier regions, further reveal the historical facts of interactions, exchanges, and integration among various regions and ethnic groups, and provide richer archaeological materials and solid academic support for advancing research on the pluralistic and integrated pattern of Chinese civilization.
Since its inception, the symposium has continuously brought together the nation's frontier archaeological research forces. It has become an important platform for strengthening academic exchanges and showcasing new research achievements in frontier archaeology.
