On the afternoon of December 1, Professor Yun’ao He, from the School of History, Nanjing University, delivered a lecture on the frontier issues in archaeology in the Guosheng Conference Hall of Kuang Yaming Honors School.

Professor He first pointed out that the characteristics of archaeology are materiality, long duration, and interdisciplinarity. Also, it combines knowledge of both liberal arts and sciences. In the humanities and social sciences, archaeology is the only subject that studies materiality, including artifacts, architecture, sculptures, and other material remains. Professor He then introduced the materials and classification of archaeology. Though archaeology belongs to the humanities and social sciences, it essentially follows logical reasoning and experimental methods, thus possessing the dual characteristics of both natural and social sciences.

Then, Professor He further emphasized that archaeology is human-centered and that research in archaeology is concerned with the origins of human beings. Undoubtedly, cultural creativity as well as the formation and evolution of various cultures reveal the wisdom and creativity of different groups of people.

At the end of the lecture, Professor He quoted the words of President Xi to highlight that we need to conduct archaeological research from East Asia, along the Silk Road, and then around the world to open up the relationship between Chinese archaeology and world archaeology. Professor He also suggested that the students should better integrate different subjects to contribute to the development of archaeology.

This lecture helped us learn about the characteristics of archaeology, the main research areas, and some cutting-edge topics. Even the science students benefited a lot from this lecture.