BA in North-west University in China; MA in Temple University; PHD in Harvard University.

 

Initially educated in China, Professor Li Liu was a researcher during the early 1980s at the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, Xi'an, China. She came to La Trobe University as a lecturer in 1996, having taught previously at Tufts University and Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

She currently teaches East Asian Archaeology, Chinese Archaeology, and Rise and Fall of Civilisations. Her research deals with Neolithic and Bronze Age China, focusing on topics such as settlement pattern, social complexity, political economy, ritual practice, state formation, craft specialization, and zooarchaeology.

 

Settlement Patterns, Craft Production, and the Rise of Early States in China
Recent results have been published as a special section in the first online issue of Bippa (Volume 27, 2007)

The origins of Asian domestic buffalo and its role in the development of agriculture technology.

 

Publications 

 

 

2004 (Li Liu) The Chinese Neolithic: Trajectories to Early States. Cambridge University Press.

2003  (Li Liu and Xingcan Chen).  State Formation in Early China. Duckworth. It has been translated into Korean by Jae-hoon Shim, and has been published by Hakyon munhwasa Press in South Korea in 2006.

Book chapters in English

In press (2007)

(Xingcan Chen, Li Liu and Chunyan Zhao). Southern Shanxi Salt and the Development of Early States in China. In Salt Production in China in a Comparative Perspective, Salt Archaeology in China, vol. 2. Eds. by Lothar von Falkenhausen and Shuichang Li. Beijing: Kexue Chubanshe.

(Li Liu) Early figurations in China: Ideological, social, and ecological implications. In Material Beginnings: A Global Prehistory of Figurative Representation. Eds. by Renfrew, C. and Morley, I. McDonald Institute Monographs, Cambridge.

2006   

(Li Liu ) Urbanization in China: Erlitou and its hinterland. In Urbanism in the Preindustrial World:  Cross-Cultural Approaches, edited by Glenn Storey, pp.161-189. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.

(Li Liu and Xingcan Chen) Sociopolitical change from Neolithic to Bronze Age China. In Archaeology of Asia.  Edited by Miriam T. Stark, pp.149-176. Blackwell Publishers, Malden, Oxford, and Carlton.

2002

(Li Liu) The First Emperor’s Mausoleum and the Terracotta Army. In Two Emperors – China's Ancient Origins, ed. Ann Delroy. Pp. 44-53. Melbourne: Praxis Exhibitions Australia.

(Li Liu) Yangling and Searching for Immortality in the Han Dynasty. In Two Emperors - China's Ancient Origins, ed. Ann Delroy. 102-107. Melbourne: Praxis Exhibitions Australia.

2001

(Li Liu and Xingcan Chen) China. In Encyclopedia of archaeology: history and discoveries. Volume One A-D, pp.315-333. Tim Murray ed. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.

(Li Liu) Chang, Kwang-chih. In Encyclopedia of archaeology: history and discoveries. Volume One A-D, pp.298-299. Tim Murray ed. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.

 

 

In press (2007)

(Li Liu, Gyoung-Ah Lee, Leping Jiang, Juzhong Zhang) Evidence for the early beginning (c. 9000 cal. BP) of rice domestication in China: a response. The Holocene 17 (8).

In press (2007) (Li Liu and Hong Xu) Rethinking Erlitou: Legend and history in Chinese archaeology. Antiquity 81.

2007

(Li Liu and Xingcan Chen) Multidisciplinary research in the Yiluo Project: After 10 years. Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 27:37-38.

(Li Liu, Xingcan Chen and Baoping Li) Non-state craft in the early state of China: An archaeological view from Erlitou hinterland.  Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 27:93-102.

(Gyoung-Ah Lee, Gary W. Crawford, Li Liu, and Xingcan Chen). Plants and people from the early Neolithic to Shang periods in North China. 2006

(Jiang, Leping and Li Liu) New evidence for the Origins of Sedentism and Rice Domestication in the Lower Yangzi River, China. Antiquity 80: 355-361.

2004

(Li Liu, Xingcan Chen, Leping Jiang) A study of Neolithic water buffalo remains from Zhejiang, China. Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association Bulletin (The Taipei Papers) 23(2): 113-120.

2002-2004

(Li Liu, Xingcan Chen, Yun Kuen Lee, Henry Wright, and Arlene Rosen) Settlement patterns and development of social complexity in the Yiluo region, North China. Journal of Field Archaeology 29 (1-2): 75-100.

2003

(Li Liu) “The products of minds as well as of hands”: Production of prestige goods in the Neolithic and early state periods of China. Asian Perspectives 42(1):1-40.

2001

(Li Liu and Xingcan Chen) Cities and towns: the control of natural resources in early states, China.” Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 73: 5-47.

(Li Liu and Xingcan Chen) Settlement Archaeology and the Study of Social Complexity in China. Review of Archaeology 22(2):4-21.

2000

(Li Liu) The development and decline of social complexity in China: Some environmental and social factors. Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association Bulletin (Melaka Papers) 20(4):14-33.

(Li Liu) Ancestor worship: An archaeological investigation of ritual activities in Neolithic North China. Journal of East Asian Archaeology 2 (1-2): 129-164.

1999

(Li Liu)Who were the ancestors? -- The origins of Chinese ancestral cult and racial myths. Antiquity 73: 602-613.

1996

(Li Liu) Mortuary ritual and social hierarchy in the Longshan culture, Early China, vol. 21:1-46.

(Li Liu) Settlement patterns, chiefdom variability, and development of early states in northern China. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 15 (3): 237-288.

 

 

待刊Submitted.

(刘莉）《中国早期国家政治格局的变化》《早期中国文明研讨 会论文集》加拿大英属哥伦比亚大学编。(Li Liu)  Changing political Landscapes of early states in China. In Conference Proceedings on Early Chinese Civilization in UBC, Canada. March 2005.

2006

（刘莉）《植物质陶、石煮法及陶器的起源：跨文化的比较》，《西部考古：纪念西北大学考古专业成立五十周年专刊》，西北大学考古系编，32－42页。三秦出版社。

(Li Liu) Fiber-tempered pottery, stone-boiling cooking, and the origins of pottery: a cross-cultural approach, pp.32-42. In Xibu Kaogu Diyiji: Jinian Xibei Daxue Kaoguxue Zhuanye Chengli Wushi Zhounian Zhuankan, ed. Department of Archaeology, Northwest University. Xi’an: Sanlian Press.

2004

（刘莉、陈星灿、蒋乐平）《跨湖桥遗址的水牛遗存分析》，《跨湖桥》。 蒋乐平编，344－348页。文物出版社，北京。(Li Liu, Xingcan Chen and Leping Jiang)  study of water buffalo remains from Kuahuqiao). In Kuahuqiao, edited by Leping Jiang, pp. 344-348. Wenwu Press, Beijing.

(刘莉)《中国新石器和铜器时代早期礼器的生产》，《桃李成溪集：庆祝安 志敏先生八十寿辰》。邓聪、陈星灿编，98－111页。香港中文大学中国考古艺术研究中心，香港。（Li Liu)  Production of early ritual objects in the Neolithic and Bronze Age of China. In  Essays in Honour of An Zhimin, edited by Chung Tang and Xingcan Chen, pp. 98-111. Centre for Chinese Archaeology and Art, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

2002

（刘莉）《古代中国复杂社会的发展与衰落》，《追寻中华古代文明的踪 迹：李学勤先生学术活动五十周年纪念文集》，307－333页。上海：复旦大学出版社。(Li Liu) Development and decline of complex societies in ancient China. In  Searching for the trajectories of Chinese civilization: Festschrift in honor of Li Xueqin’s fifty years of research activities. Shanghai: Fudan University Press. 

(刘莉、陈星灿)《中国早期国家的形成：二里头和二里冈时期中心和边缘 地区之间的关系》，《古代文明》，71－134页。北京：文物出版社。（Li Liu and Xingcan Chen)  State formation in early China: Core-periphery relationships in the Erlitou and Erligang periods). In Ancient Civilization, edited by Center for the Study of Ancient civilization, pp.71-134. Beijing: Wenwu Press. 

1996

（刘莉）《中国新石器时代黄河中下游酋邦社会的发展》，《考古学的历 史，理论，实践》，386-423页。郑州：中州古籍出版社。(Li Liu) Development of chiefdoms in the Yellow River valley, China. In  History, Theory, and Practice of Archaeology. Ed. Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pp.386-423. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou Guji Press. 

1983  

（刘莉）《战国秦动物纹瓦当的艺术源流》，《陕西省考古学会第一届年会论文集》，68-73页。西安：考古与文物编辑部。(Li Liu) Artistic Origin of the Animal Designs in Eave Tiles from Qin State of the Warring States. In  Collected Papers of the First Annual Conference of the Shaanxi Archaeological Association. pp. 68-73,  Xi’an: Kaogu yu Wenwu Bianjibu. 

 

 

待刊Submitted

（胡松梅、刘莉、尹申平、陈星灿）《陕西近年出土的水牛遗存 就中国本土水牛的进化》(Songmei Hu, Li Liu, Shenping Yin and Xingcan Chen).  Buffalo remains unearthed from Shaanxi in recent years and the evolution of indigenous buffalo in China).

2006

(刘莉、杨东亚、陈星灿)《中国家养水牛的起源》，《考古学报》2：141- 178。（Li Liu, Dongya Yang and Xingcan Chen) The origins of Chinese domestic buffalo. Kaogu Xuebao 2:141-178.

2003

(陈星灿, 刘莉、李润权, 华翰维, 艾琳)《中国文明腹地的社会复杂化进 程：伊洛河地区的聚落形态研究》，《考古学报》2: 161-218. （Xingcan Chen, Li Liu, Yun Kuen Lee, Henry Wright, and Arlene Rosen) Development of social complexity in the heartland of Chinese civilization: Yiluo region settlement patterns. Kaogu Xuebao 2:161-118. 

2001

(陈星灿、刘莉)《夏商周断代工程引起的网上讨论记事》，《古代文明通讯》 9：16-37。 (Xingcan Chen and Li Liu)  Online discussion provoked by the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project. Ancient civilizations review, 9:16-37.

(陈星灿、刘莉) 《深切怀念张光直先生》，《考古》，10：88-92。 (Chen, Xingcan and Li Liu)  In deep memory of Prof. Kwang-chih Chang. Kaogu 10:88-92.

（刘莉）《陕西临潼康家龙山文化遗址1990年发掘动物遗存》，《华夏考 古》1：3-24。 (Li Liu) Faunal remains from the 1990 excavation at Kangjia Longshan site in Lintong, Shaanxi. Huaxia kaogu 1:3-24. 

2000

(刘莉、陈星灿) 《城：早期国家控制资源的问题》，《东南文化》3：45- 60。(Li Liu and Xingcan Chen)  Cities: the control of natural resources in early states. Dongnan wenhua 3: 45-60.

(刘莉）《山东龙山文化墓葬形态研究》，《文物季刊》2：32-49. (Li Liu) Study of mortuary patterns of the Longshan culture in Shandong. Wenwu jikan 2:32-49. 

1998

（刘莉）《龙山文化的酋邦与聚落形态》，《华夏考古》1：88-112. (Li Liu)  Chiefdoms and settlement patterns in the Longshan culture). Huaxia Kaogu 1: 88-112, 60. 

1987

(刘莉)《铜鍑考》，《考古与文物》3：60-65。（Li Liu)  On the Bronze Fu Vessels,  Kaogu yu Wenwu (Archaeology and Cultural Relics). 3: 60-65. 

(刘莉)《传播论与横渡大洋之接触—美国考古学界关于新旧大陆之间文化传播问题的争论》，《史前研究》1：81-84. (Li Liu)  Diffusionism and the Transoceanic Contacts -- the Debate on Cultural Contacts between the Old World and the New World in American Archaeology.  Shiqian Yanjiu (Prehistory). 1: 81-84. 

1984

(刘莉)《中国早期绘画的视觉感受》，《美术研究》1：77-81. （Li Liu)  The Visual Experience of Early Chinese Paintings. Meishu Yanjiu (Studies of Fine Arts). 1: 77-81. 

Non-refereed journal articles in English 

2007 (Li Liu, Goung-Ah Lee, Leping Jiang, and Juzhong Zhang) The earliest rice domestication in China. Antiquity Vol. 81 No. 313 September (Project Gallery). 2005 (Leping Jiang and Li Liu) The discovery of an 8000-year old dugout canoe at Kuahuqiao in the Lower Yangzi River, China. Antiquity Vol 79 No 305 September 2005 (the Project Gallery, on line version).

Non-refereed articles in Chinese

2007

（刘莉、李炅娥、蒋乐平、张居中、蓝万里）《有关中国稻作起源证据的争论》，《中国文物报》 2007年9月28日第七版。Discourse on the origins of rice domestication in China. Zhongguo Wenwubao, 28 Sept., page 7.

（刘莉）《中国史前的碾磨石器和坚果采集》，《中国文物报》6月22日第七版。Grinding stone tools and nut collection in prehistoric China. Zhongguo Wenwubao, 22 June, page 7.

2006

（刘莉）《植物质陶器与石煮法》，《中国文物报》5月26日。(Li Liu) Fiber-tempered pottery and stone boiling. Zhongguo Wenwubao, 26 May, page 7.

2001

（刘莉）《忆张光直先生》，《文物天地》2：7。(Li Liu) Recollecting Professor Kwang-chih Chang. Wenwu tiandi 2:7.