
Unlocking
THE ANCIENT RECIPES
NEWS
Discovering Ancient Food
at Stanford University...

Our
Themes
Our lab explores many aspects of foodways in ancient societies worldwide, with a focus on China.
Transitioning from foraging to agriculture under microscopes
China is one of the few centers in the world where plant domestication evolved independently, but its developmental trajectory is not sufficiently understood.
The Quest for Alcohol
in Ancient World
Fermented and alcoholic beverages played a pivotal role in feastings and social events in past agricultural and urban societies across the globe, but the origins of the sophisticated relevant technologies remain elusive.
Subsistence strategies and development of social complexity
Subsistence strategies are the essence of a political-economic system, and may predict other forms of behavior, such as population size, division of labor, and social structure.
TIMELINE
ASL Current Projects
INNER MONGOLIA
PROJECT

SHIMAO
PROJECT


XIPO
PROJECT

EGYPTIAN POTS
PROJECT

YELLOW RIVER
PROJECT
SICHUAN
PROJECT

ALCOHOL IN
HOLY LAND


COPAN
PROJECT
1,046-711 B.C.
ZHOUYUAN
PROJECT


YINXU
PROJECT
1,300-1,046 B.C.

SHANGSHAN PROJECT

Archaeological Science Lab
OUR PROJECTS IN
THE NEWS

STANFORD
NEWS
"An ancient thirst for beer may have inspired agriculture, Stanford archaeologists say"



Our Group
We are a team of archaeologists from Stanford University discovering ancient food cultures around the world.

STANFORD ARCHAEOLOGY CENTER

DEPARTMENT OF EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES

Collaborative Institutions





Inner Mongolia Institute of Cultural Relics and
Archaeology
Ulanqab Museum





