Rebecca O'Sullivan (苏蓓) | University of Liverpool (original) (raw)

Articles by Rebecca O'Sullivan (苏蓓)

Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2023

The ever-growing body of research on trans-Eurasian exchange during the third–first millennium BC... more The ever-growing body of research on trans-Eurasian exchange during the third–first millennium BCE continues to improve understanding of mechanisms that facilitated the movement of objects, materials, ideas, and even people. However, whether bronze mirrors in Central Asia and China represent the exchange of technological knowledge or movement of the objects themselves remains unresolved, as researchers require extensive knowledge of huge quantities of data generated during the Soviet Central Asia campaigns of the mid twentieth century. The often confusing, impenetrable excavation reports, combined with required knowledge of Chinese, Russian and English, have caused much confusion about dates and contexts. This article presents and compares data published in Russian and Chinese reports. By clarifying the chronology for mirrors in Central Asia and China, we challenge simplistic theories of object diffusion and spread that persist in studies of trans-Eurasian exchange. We argue that the early second-millennium BCE appearance of mirrors in western and northwestern China resulted from different exchange mechanisms specific to each local socio-cultural context. This demonstrates not only the complexity of interactions at the group and individual levels, but also how these factors can be integrated with data-driven analyses to explore the role they played in large-scale Bronze Age exchange networks.

Journal of Rock Art (JRA), 2022

新疆阿勒泰地区在中亚占据着非常重要的地位，其北部的阿尔泰山横跨哈萨克斯坦、蒙古、俄罗斯和中国 4个国家，是东西方文化交流的关键区域。但由于学术界关注较少和语言限制等各种原因，该地区岩画的相关研... more 新疆阿勒泰地区在中亚占据着非常重要的地位，其北部的阿尔泰山横跨哈萨克斯坦、蒙古、俄罗斯和中国 4个国家，是东西方文化交流的关键区域。但由于学术界关注较少和语言限制等各种原因，该地区岩画的相关研究很少。本文将从欧亚草原的视角，全面梳理新疆阿勒泰地区岩画遗存，对岩画的分布和断代等问题进行综合讨论，为国际岩画研究提供重要的参考。

Rock Art Research, 2022

Xinjiang's Altay Prefecture sits at a key position in central Asia, encompassing the southern Alt... more Xinjiang's Altay Prefecture sits at a key position in central Asia, encompassing the southern Altai mountains, which also straddle Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia. For various reasons, such as publication bias and language barriers, this region's rock art is poorly understood outside of China. This article presents an overview of the history of rock art research in Altay Prefecture, as well as a list of sites with coordinates and a critique of current dating theories. In doing so, it contextualises the Bronze and Iron Age rock art in relation to international scholarly debates and introduces the reader to key themes in Chinese rock art studies.

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2021

Bronze vessels are the hallmark of the Chinese Bronze Age, and the formation of the Western Zhou'... more Bronze vessels are the hallmark of the Chinese Bronze Age, and the formation of the Western Zhou's (1046-772 BC) extensive metallurgical network has been the subject of much scholarly interest. However, what remains unclear is the dynamic circulation of metal within the Zhou realm and its connections with neighbouring regions. Here, the authors utilise published lead isotope data from artefacts and ore bodies to elucidate important spatial-temporal changes in metal supply. While the early Western Zhou demonstrate centralised control over metal resources (primarily lead) taken from its previous Shang Dynasty (1250-1046 BC) as well as from new mining regions in the Yangtze River basin, a major change occurred from the mid-Western Zhou onward, when metal sources in the Yangtze River basin were increasingly exploited, resulting in a shift in bronze-producing system to regional powers. These findings regarding metal circulation broaden our understanding of processes contributing to Zhou politics and the economy, as well as the relationships between the constituent parts of the Zhou realm in addition to neighbouring communities.

Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2021

Change to rock art has been treated as an unforgiveable act in many contemporary cases; however, ... more Change to rock art has been treated as an unforgiveable act in many contemporary cases; however, rock art in many parts of the world was most likely not created with the intention that it would endure for eternity unaltered. This paper highlights three ways in which the rock art creation process has been ‘replicated’ in the past and present. These forms of replication behaviours—of form, place, and action—are identified in the case study of the rock art of the Bronze Age and Iron Age Mongolian Altai. Additionally, examples of modern imagery that represent continuity of tradition are also presented. I argue that the cognitive processes suggested by these forms of replication have been influential in forming the rock art record, and they can be used to explore contemporary, regional worldviews. In eastern Eurasia, replication behaviours in rock art reference place-making strategies and regional cosmological traditions that see the landscape as occupied by non-human beings. The goal is to provide a constructive framework by which alteration and change can be considered innate aspects of the archaeological record, as opposed to mere vandalism, in our interpretation of prehistoric rock art.

Archaeological Research in Asia, 2020

The ritual system of China’s Late Shang dynasty is commonly described as ‘mature’ in Mainland Chi... more The ritual system of China’s Late Shang dynasty is commonly described as ‘mature’ in Mainland Chinese scholarship, meaning that the leading role of bronze vessels in ancestral rites is recognisably similar to the practices of later dynasties. Such an assumption depicts ritual artefacts—particularly those from mortuary contexts—from the Early and Middle Shang periods as precursors to the Late Shang ones in a predictable evolutionary framework. This paper examines changes in the use of ceramic and bronze across the Shang period, showing that ceramics—specifically proto-porcelain and hard pottery—played more of a key role in Early and Middle Shang ritual, though the types of vessels required were not yet strictly formalised. By contrast, the huge number of bronzes in the Late Shang corresponds to an apparent emphasis on quantity and conspicuous consumption in a ritual economy. This occurred despite the Late Shang’s theoretical loss of territory in the west and south, which necessitated exchange networks with neighbouring polities, particularly those south of the Central Plains, be adapted.

Journal of Archaeological Sciences: Reports, 2019

The Altai Mountains stand at the crossroads between the four nations of China, Russia, Kazakhstan... more The Altai Mountains stand at the crossroads between the four nations of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. Whilst its location means that it has been conceptualised as a locus for interaction in prehistory, language barriers and sensitivities towards national borders mean that holistic research on archaeology here is difficult to conduct. By integrating Russian, English, and Chinese language data, with reference to Kazakh and Mongolia publications, this paper analyses theories of interaction in the 2nd–1st millennium BCE. Paths of least-cost modelled between a grid of points in GIS were used to create an accessibility map of the Altai, which was then compared with the locations of rock-art sites, themselves purportedly created along major routes by people practising mobile lifeways. The analyses show that movement in the Altai was likely concentrated at higher altitudes, with the majority of main paths running north-west to south-east. A large number of paths also traverse the modern borders, such as one that coincides with a modern Mongolian–Chinese pass. Its prehistoric usage is supported by the large number of comparable, contemporary rock-art at either end on both sides of the border. Rock-art sites overall are located either on or near routes that experienced medium to high frequency traffic. Though rock-art seems more likely to have been created along frequented routes, not all major routes have sites located nearby, lending support to theories that rock-art was created after significant experiences embedded in the variable political, social, and spiritual factors governing the physical act of its creation.

Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2018

Book Chapters by Rebecca O'Sullivan (苏蓓)

Women in Historical and Archaeological Video Games, 2022

Art in the Eurasian Iron Age: Context, connections and scale, 2020

The Iron Age art of groups inhabiting the Eurasian steppe features many examples of composite cre... more The Iron Age art of groups inhabiting the Eurasian steppe features many examples of composite creatures and animal transformations. While there is no shortage of research comparing Celtic art to that of regions further east, the problems inherent to drawing links and detecting directions of influence using motifs remain salient. This chapter thus approaches composite creatures, prominent in both Celtic art and that of wider north Eurasia, as a means to examine the underlying ideas that inform the creation of images. Examining creations such as the griffins of early Iron Age Scythian art, the flying deer of the later Bronze Age in the eastern steppe, and the marvellous yet monstrous creatures of the Okunev culture in the Minusinsk Basin, this chapter pursues fantastic beasts as an idea, anchoring them firmly within the discourse of the social role of art, as well as northern Eurasian cosmologies. This chapter further outlines the utility of comparing distinctive art traditions, demonstrating that the presence of composites in both Celtic and Scythian art should not be viewed as a reflection of interaction with the ‘civilisations’ of the Mediterranean world, Western Asia, or China, but instead represent active processes of adoption into a pre-exisitng conceptual space.

Conferences by Rebecca O'Sullivan (苏蓓)

WAC 2020 Theme 1. Global Perspectives on Rock Art Session 2

Call for abstracts Rock art research over past decades has seen a growing plurality in interpret... more Call for abstracts
Rock art research over past decades has seen a growing plurality in interpretations and approaches that acknowledge the complex natures of the images and sites and their ties to current events and wider landscapes. In many instances, a rock art assemblage or individual motif has been used as evidence for human-animal-object-environment relations, changes in social and cultural networks, and long-distance connections. Also embedded in discussions of the multidimensional nature of rock art is the idea of change-namely that the meaning, behaviour, and nature of rock art changes as the communities that engage with it also change. This directly challenges approaches that place rock at interpretations in a static setting. For instance, Bronze Age petroglyphs in Korea were integrated into state-founding myths in the sixth century, in South Africa rock art was incorporated into the new coat of arms, and in Australia the preservation or state of rock art is sometimes used as a symbol referencing the contemporary health and well-being of Indigenous communities and their Country. Engaging with ideas of multidimensionality and change also demands attention be paid to the mechanisms that potentially drive this process (e.g. political, ideological), and the chronological and geographical scales at which this process occurs. Thus, in this session, we challenge contributors to consider the complex relationship between the interpretation and significance of rock art, and aspects of change (or lack of) to better understand rock art's dynamic role(s) in understanding the past and present. We encourage participants to consider rock art at a range of scales and draw on prehistoric, historical/contact-themed, and contemporary rock art. In considering rock art as a multidimensional material, we also ask contributors to think about the potential implications of identifying the changing role(s) of rock art and what that might mean for rock art research more generally. Deadline for abstract submissions is Saturday 21 March 2020 Submit abstracts through the website: https://www.wac-9.org/call-for-papers/

Call for Papers for the session "Multidimensional Materials: Rock Art, Relationality, and Change ... more Call for Papers for the session "Multidimensional Materials: Rock Art, Relationality, and Change Through Time and Space" (Theme 1, Session 2) to take place at the rescheduled WAC-9 on ̶4̶–̶9̶ ̶J̶u̶l̶y̶ ̶2̶0̶2̶1̶ 3–8 July 2022 in Prague, Czech Republic.

Books (Edited) by Rebecca O'Sullivan (苏蓓)

This volume brings together two Graduate Archaeology at Oxford (GAO) conferences held in 2015-201... more This volume brings together two Graduate Archaeology at Oxford (GAO) conferences held in 2015-2016 to present the work of early-career researchers from across the globe. The papers cover a range of periods and regions, but all share the focus of bridging boundaries, whether these are theoretical, methodological or geographic. Some contributors traverse traditional divisions between subjects by integrating computational approaches with early excavation data or archaeology with historical sources to produce 'thick interpretations' of the past. Several papers approach the past as a bilateral process, examining how people shaped and were in return shaped by their interactions with the world around them. In addition, many authors have directly tackled the modern political divides that influence our research. Building on a strong tradition of novel approaches and interdisciplinary methods, these proceedings present current research on directly tackling issues of division head on.

Archaeology in the past century has seen a major shift from theoretical frameworks that treat the... more Archaeology in the past century has seen a major shift from theoretical frameworks that treat the remains of past societies as static snapshots of particular moments in time to interpretations that prioritise change and variability. Though established analytical concepts, such as typology, remain key parts of the archaeologist’s investigative toolkit, data-gathering strategies and interpretative frameworks have become infused progressively with the concept that archaeology is living, in the sense of both the objects of study and the discipline as a whole. The significance for the field is that researchers across the world are integrating ideas informed by relational epistemologies and mutually constructive ontologies into their work from the initial stage of project design all the way down to post-excavation interpretation.

This volume showcases examples of such work, highlighting the utility of these ideas for exploring material both old and new. The illuminating research and novel explanations presented contribute to resolving long-standing problems in regional archaeologies across Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and Oceania. In this way, this volume reinvigorates approaches taken towards older material while also acting as a springboard for future innovative discussions of theory in archaeology and related disciplines.