The Pre-History Of China: An Archaeological Exploration
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Long before the dynasties of emperors and the chronicles of court historians, China's story was being written in bone, bronze, and earth — and The Pre-History of China: An Archaeological Exploration by Judith M. Treistman masterfully uncovers that buried narrative. Drawing on decades of excavation evidence and anthropological scholarship, this authoritative work presents the sweeping arc of Chinese civilisation from its earliest Palaeolithic origins through the emergence of complex, stratified societies, illuminating the migration patterns, tool cultures, and agricultural revolutions that quietly shaped one of humanity's greatest civilisations. Treistman guides the reader through Neolithic village life, the rise of jade and bronze craftsmanship, and the mysterious transitional period between prehistoric culture and the documented Shang Dynasty, arguing that the roots of Chinese cultural identity stretch far deeper than traditional historiography has acknowledged. Written with the precision of a trained archaeologist and the accessibility of a gifted educator, this work remains a landmark text in East Asian prehistory, situating China's formative millennia within the broader context of global human development. Treistman's analysis of material culture — pottery shards, burial rites, and ritual objects — instructs the reader to see not mere artefacts, but the living fingerprints of societies that thrived in the Yellow River valley millennia before writing began. For anyone who believes they understand China's past, this text poses a quietly radical challenge: how much of that history has never yet been told?
Author: Judith M. Treistman
Format: Hardback
Genre: Archaeology
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Long before the dynasties of emperors and the chronicles of court historians, China's story was being written in bone, bronze, and earth — and The Pre-History of China: An Archaeological Exploration by Judith M. Treistman masterfully uncovers that buried narrative. Drawing on decades of excavation evidence and anthropological scholarship, this authoritative work presents the sweeping arc of Chinese civilisation from its earliest Palaeolithic origins through the emergence of complex, stratified societies, illuminating the migration patterns, tool cultures, and agricultural revolutions that quietly shaped one of humanity's greatest civilisations. Treistman guides the reader through Neolithic village life, the rise of jade and bronze craftsmanship, and the mysterious transitional period between prehistoric culture and the documented Shang Dynasty, arguing that the roots of Chinese cultural identity stretch far deeper than traditional historiography has acknowledged. Written with the precision of a trained archaeologist and the accessibility of a gifted educator, this work remains a landmark text in East Asian prehistory, situating China's formative millennia within the broader context of global human development. Treistman's analysis of material culture — pottery shards, burial rites, and ritual objects — instructs the reader to see not mere artefacts, but the living fingerprints of societies that thrived in the Yellow River valley millennia before writing began. For anyone who believes they understand China's past, this text poses a quietly radical challenge: how much of that history has never yet been told?