Haidai Civilization: The Nexus of History, Heritage and Complex Societies

Dear Colleagues,

The Haidai region, centred on Shandong Province along China’s eastern coast, marks the easternmost extremity of the Eurasian continent. Encircled by mountains and fronting the sea, it boasts abundant natural resources and convenient land and water transportation networks and stands as a unique nexus where maritime and continental civilizations converge and intertwine. From the early Neolithic period onward, this region nurtured a continuous, thriving cultural lineage. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, it gave birth to Confucianism—a philosophical and ethical system that would later assume a pivotal leading role in shaping East Asia’s civilizational trajectory. Today, the Haidai region remains a repository of rich and diverse ancient cultural heritage, with new archaeological discoveries regularly expanding our understanding of its past.This Special Issue aims to showcase the region’s magnificent historical evolution through interdisciplinary research grounded in the latest archaeological findings. By doing so, we seek to draw global scholarly attention to the cultural legacy of Confucius’ homeland. We sincerely invite original contributions that explore, through scientific archaeological approaches, the Haidai region’s critical role in the origins and development of Chinese civilization, as well as the far-reaching global influences of its ancient cultures.We welcome both original research articles and review papers addressing themes including, but not limited to, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, paleodietary analysis, ancient technological innovation, cross-regional cultural exchange, provenance studies of artefacts, cultural heritage conservation strategies and innovative case studies of Haidai archaeology. We eagerly anticipate your participation in this important dialogue on the history, archaeology and heritage of the Haidai region.

Dr. Xiaotong Wu
Guest Editor

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