Courses
From Ancient Worlds to Contemporary Practice, Introduction to Asian Art, Chinese Art & Culture

Research Interests
Professor Bennett's work explores the rise of social complexity during China's Late Neolithic and Early Bronze age period (ca. 3500-1500 B.C.E.). China, with its long history and culture, is an ideal location to study the processes that transformed human society on the road to civilization. Several of the field projects she has worked on have been collecting data to address these issues through both regional survey and excavation. The survey projects have identified hundreds of previously unknown prehistoric and historic period settlements whose locations have been mapped to identify changes in settlement patterns through time, which are thought to reflect changes in demographics and sociopolitical organizations, or in other factors affecting settlement location choice. While the surveys have provided regional scale data from different time periods, their associated excavations have allowed more intense examinations of inter settlement organization and material culture.

Professor Bennett uses the lithic data from these survey and excavation projects to examine the organization of lithic production, craft specialization, and exchange in China's Late Neolithic-Early Bronse Age period (ca. 3500-1500 B.C.E.). She is also very interested in the social and ideological roles that lithics and other material culture played in society, and the non-economic aspects of material culture production. Landscape and environment archaeology, architectural and space-use analysis, regional survey, field methods, and the history of archaeology in China are also areas of interest.

She is currently working on two joint US-China archaeological projects: one researching the origins and history of salt production in Sichuan Province and the other using regional saver and analysis to investigate changing settlement patterns in the Chifeng region of INner Mongolia. In addition to these projects, Professor Bennett participated for five years in a joint Us-China regional survey and excavation project in Shandong Provence, and for three years in Chinese excavation in Kalaqin Banner, Inner Mongolia.

Selected Publications:

1997

(with F.S. Cai, H.G. Yu, F.S. Luan, H. Fang, A. Underhill, G. Feinman, and L. Nicholas) Shandong Rizhao Shi Liangcheng Diqu de Kaogu Diaocha. Kaogu 1997(4): 1-17

1998

(with A. Underhill, G. Feinman, L. Nicholas, F.S. Cai, H.G. Yu. F.S. Luan, H. Fang) Systematic regional survey in southeastern Shandong Provience, China. Journal of Field Archaeology (25):453-474

2002

(with A. Underhill, G. Feinman, L. Nicholas, F.S. Cai, H.G. Yu, F.S. Luan, and H. Fang) Regional survey and the development of complex societies in southeastern Shandong, China. Submitted to Antiquity.