Figure 5 - uploaded by Michael Storozum
Content may be subject to copyright.
Landscape around Shichengzi and new excavations (photographed from north to south with the Tianshan Mountains in the distance). Photograph by Pengfei Sheng.
Source publication
A military garrison or cultural mixing pot? Renewed investigations at Shichengzi, a Han Dynasty settlement in Xinjiang - Pengfei Sheng, Michael J. Storozum, Xiaohong Tian, Yong Wu
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... have also found substantial architectural remains, including the main gate of the city, moats, houses, storage pits and even a kiln (Figures 3-4). In the coming years, the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology will continue their excavations to reveal the site's plan ( Figure 5). In 2018, ten burials believed to belong to a culturally diverse group of people were discovered in the western portion of the site, potentially providing new insights into who the inhabitants of the site at Shichengzi were (Figure 4b). ...
Context 2
... have also found substantial architectural remains, including the main gate of the city, moats, houses, storage pits and even a kiln (Figures 3-4). In the coming years, the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology will continue their excavations to reveal the site's plan ( Figure 5). In 2018, ten burials believed to belong to a culturally diverse group of people were discovered in the western portion of the site, potentially providing new insights into who the inhabitants of the site at Shichengzi were (Figure 4b). ...
Similar publications
Este artículo es el resultado del estudio llevado a cabo como Trabajo de Fin de Grado por parte del autor. Se trata de un estudio transdisciplinar en el que, partiendo desde las humanidades ambientales integradas – haciendo especial énfasis en la Historia de las mentalidades y la Antropología social – se exploran los procesos históricos de la socie...
Citations
... From this point of view, this article believes that the land reclamation culture refers to a culture system of the unique connotation that developed from series culture collision, fusion, and vicissitude processes. The processes went through a long period ever since the central government of the Han Dynasty carried out the agricultural settlement practice in Xinjiang (Sheng et al., 2020). Within this period, land reclamation has been acted as a culture media that enables agricultural settlement migrants to bring in, communicate, and adapt their home culture into Xinjiang's physical and societal environment. ...
... The land reclamation culture is a culture accumulated by the long-term life of the military and civilians who guarded the frontiers and the country in the past (Sheng et al., 2020). The culture of land reclamation continues in Xinjiang, forming independent characteristics and charm, which stimulates the curiosity of tourists and triggers tourism interest and motivation. ...
Distinctive characteristics of land reclamation have formed strong attractions, which inspired people’s curiosity and tourist motives. As a unique and essential resource of tourism activities, land reclamation with its highly patriotic spirit and eclectic heritages presents tremendous value in the Chinese tourism industry. However, there is no comprehensive evaluation system of land reclamation tourism (LRT). To solve this research problem, in this study, we delimit the connotation of land reclamation and propose the classification and resources evaluation system of LRT based on the combination of resource characteristics and tourism mode. The classification, balancing the concerns of unit tourist resources, and comprehensively integrated resources while highlighting the principles of universality and practicality, can be classified into two main types, 10 sub-types, and 46 base types. On this basis, the tourism resource evaluation indicator system of land reclamation resources has been built from the aspects of the value of land reclamation culture and tourism resources, natural and social environment, regional development conditions by the methods of Delphi, and analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The empirical research results of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) provide us with a specific weight distribution prospect of the classification and evaluation system. The conclusions proposed a new way and method to evaluate LRT resources and provided a necessary reference basis for LRT development.
... In addition, recent archaeobotanical research on charred crop remains discovered at Shirenzigou site ( Fig. 1), near Shichengzi site, has shown that these early Iron Age agropastoral communities in the eastern Tianshan Mountains of ancient Xinjiang cultivated a significant volume of cold-resistant naked barley for subsistence at about 230-50 BC (Tian et al., 2017;Ma et al., 2021). However, recent archaeobotanical findings at Shichengzi suggest that Han immigrants integrated a considerable volume of wheat into their naked barley-based agricultural systems (Sheng et al., 2020a;Sheng et al., 2020b). Given that spring wheat varieties have little to no frost tolerance (Klepper et al. 1998;Guedes et al. 2014), one possible explanation for the apparent difference in local agricultural production between the Shirenzigou site and the Shichengzi site, is that improved climate conditions may have helped Han military farmers at Shichengzi to grow an increased volume of wheat crops compared to the prehistoric inhabitants of the northern Tianshan Mountains (see Fig. 8). ...
According to the dynastic chronicles of the Han dynasty, City of Shule (疏勒城) was a large fortress located at in the farthest northwest of the Han Empire. The Shichengzi site was a settlement occupied by Han armies, which was considered as matching the location of City of Shule on the ancient Silk Road in Xinjiang, directly dating to about the first century AD. In the present study, we provide a preliminary investigation on palaeobotanical and palynological evidence recovered from a depositing soil profile at Shichengzi site in northern Tianshan Mountains. Although it shows that natural vegetations around Shichengzi was dominated by desert steppe during the late Holocene period, it can be seen that there was a relatively warm and humid environment when Han armies firstly relocated in the region. This suggests that such an improved climate conditions might have played an important role in supporting the development of Han culture in eastern Central Asia at approximately 2000 BP.
... Our new data from Shichengzi, a settlement to the north of the Tianshan mountains, will help address how Han dynasty garrisons were capable of sustaining production at the northwestern-most reaches of the Han dynasty's empire (Sheng et al., 2020). Shichengzi (43°36′59.1″N, ...
Recent archeobotanical work has shed light on prehistoric food globalization across the Eurasian landmass; however, much less research has focused
on the foodways of the historical cities and settlements found throughout Central Asia on various portions of the ‘Silk Road’. Here, we present
archeobotanical and isotopic results from recent excavations at Shichengzi, a Han dynasty (202 BC–AD 220) military garrison. Our archeobotanical
results recovered from 11 samples reveal that four types of cereals, naked barley, wheat, common millet, and foxtail millet, were the most common
crops at the site. Naked barley, a drought and cold resistant crop, comprised 79% of the crop assemblage recovered from Shichengzi, and the rest of
the assemblage is composed of wheat and millet. The reliance on drought resistant crops indicates that people at Shichengzi oriented their agricultural
strategy toward mitigating environmental risks. In addition, our isotopic analyses (δ13C and δ15N) of charred cereal grains (n = 22), animal and human
remains (n = 12) recovered from excavations at Shichengzi suggests that the δ15N values of cereals were enriched by human or livestock dung. Moreover,
the calculated Δ13C values from Shichengzi suggest that farmers preferentially planted their crops in wide areas that would have received a large amount
of water available on the northern piedmont of the Tianshan mountains. Our research contributes to the growing understanding of the diversity of
agricultural strategies used along the Silk Road.
La situation au Xinjiang, région du Nord-Ouest de la Chine, a ces dernières années suscité une attention internationale croissante. Les rapports sur les internements massifs de Ouïghours et d’autres groupes ethniques dans des camps de rééducation, le travail forcé, les stérilisations forcées et autres atteintes aux droits humains font la une de l’actualité et affectent les relations entre la Chine et ceux qui la critiquent. Le gouvernement chinois, en revanche, justifie sa manière d’agir par la lutte contre le terrorisme, l’extrémisme islamique et le séparatisme ethnique. << Le Xinjiang – la Chine et les Ouïghours >> présente pour la première fois en français une analyse scientifique plus approfondie de ce sujet très controversé. La première partie du livre constitue une introduction prégnante, claire et vivante de l’histoire complexe de la région. La deuxième partie présente l’évolution au XXIe siècle, dressant un tableau à multiples facettes du développement économique, de l’identité ethnique et de la politique linguistique et religieuse. La troisième partie remet en question les interprétations courantes du conflit au Xinjiang, analyse les protestations et les actes de terrorisme de même que les mesures de répression de l’État et la dimension internationale du conflit. Proche des sources, basé sur les résultats de la recherche la plus récente et avec un souci constant de neutralité, << Le Xinjiang – la Chine et les Ouïghours >> offre une image équilibrée des conflits actuels.
Die Situation in Chinas nordwestlicher Region Xinjiang hat in den letzten Jahren zunehmende internationale Aufmerksamkeit erfahren. Berichte über Masseninternierungen von Uiguren und anderen ethnischen Gruppen in Umerziehungslagern, Zwangsarbeit, Zwangssterilisation und weitere Menschenrechtsverletzungen beherrschen die Schlagzeilen und belasten die Beziehungen zwischen China und seinen Kritikern. Die chinesische Regierung rechtfertigt ihr Vorgehen hingegen als Kampf gegen Terrorismus, islamistischen Extremismus und ethnischen Separatismus. „Xinjiang – China und die Uiguren“ präsentiert erstmalig in deutscher Sprache eine tiefergehende wissenschaftliche Auseinandersetzung mit diesem kontroversen Thema. Prägnant und anschaulich führt der erste Teil des Buchs in die komplexe Geschichte der Region ein. Der zweite Teil stellt die Entwicklungen im 21. Jahrhundert dar. Hierbei zeigt sich ein facettenreiches Bild der sozioökonomischen Entwicklung, der ethnischen Identität sowie der Sprach- und Religionspolitik. Der dritte Teil hinterfragt die gängigen Deutungen des Xinjiang-Konflikts, analysiert Proteste und Terrorismus ebenso wie die staatlichen Repressionsmaßnahmen und die internationale Dimension der Auseinandersetzung. Quellennah, basierend auf den Ergebnissen der neuesten Forschung und in einem unaufgeregten Ton vermittelt „Xinjiang – China und die Uiguren“ ein ausgewogenes Bild der aktuellen Konflikte.
