As we enter the 21st century the pivotal role of China in world affairs is once again asserting itself. The world is beginning to appreciate anew China's centrality to the human experience. At present, however, the significance of China's role in mankind's past is not clearly perceived by many in the West. This is due in large part to a continuing focus on fossil human material discovered in Africa over the past few decades. This focus, while understadable and well-deserved, has had the effect of relegating Asia, including China, to something of a palaeoanthropological backwater. For those of us familiar with the human fossil and Palaeolithic archaeological record of China this is both mistaken and unfortunate. The human fossil record of China is in actual fact of decisive importance for understanding the process of human evolution world-wide during the past million years. China has the potential to serve as both a testing ground and analytic laboratory, where ideas and paradigms developed elsewhere in the world can be independently tested and verified or falsified as the case may be.Lack of knowledge of the Chinese human fossil record is not, however, due to any lack of interest; nor is it due to the inability of foreign and Chinese colleagues to work together in harmony and with mutual respect. The problem lies primarily with the exigencies of communication and access. Foreign scholars without a knowledge of Chinese find it difficult to absorb the wealth of material emanating from Chinese journals and periodicals. Travel to China while immeasurably more convenient today than in the past is still arduous, particularly when one is interested in visiting sites that may be well off the beaten track in China's rural hinterland.
My decade long experience working in China as a palaeoanthropologist in close collaboration with Chinese Palaeolithic archaeologists and paleontologists has demonstrated to me the need for the creation of a center that will help coordinate joint foreign/ Chinese research into Chinese prehistory. I have already established a network of contacts in China at the local, provincial and central levels. Combined with resources developed by other western prehistorians and anthropologists working in China with whom I have close ties, I am in the process of assembling a comprehensive data base on who is doing what in prehistoric research in China. This will be an invaluable aid in helping to identify those scholars and research projects that need the most support in China.
I also envision a semi-annual newsletter that will offer reports on on-going research in China and abstracts of articles concerning the prehistory of China published in Chinese journals. In so doing I hope to facilitate networking between Chinese and foreign scholars essential for the furtherance of modern scientific research.
A key part of this endeavor is outreach to the world community. This site on the World Wide Web will serve to introduce and explain the role and significance of Asia and its people to the human endeavor from its earliest beginnings to the advent of Chinese culture and civilization. This site can also serve as a forum for anyone who would like to enter into a dialogue with others who share an interest in Chinese prehistory and human origins in general. In the near future I will establish a Newsgroup. In the meantime all are welcome to post messages to me directly.
Sincerely,