Jiajing Wang | Department of Anthropology

Biography

J.J. Wang is an anthropological archaeologist whose research reconceptualizes long-standing interpretations of history as "human" history by drawing attention to the critical role nonhuman agents played in transforming and directing human actions. Specializing in archaeobotany—the analysis of plant remains in archaeological contexts—her research demonstrates how nonhuman entities like plants, animals, and material tools co-directed major global historical transformations. Wang's research projects include studying the origins of farming in China, human-animal relationships, and ancient fermentation. Her recent research also involves foodways in Chinese diaspora archaeology.

Education

B.A. Smith College

Ph.D. Stanford University

Publications

Wang, J., Y. Tang, Y. Zheng, L. Jiang, X. Ma, Y. Hou, G. Sun (2025). Early evidence for pig domestication (8,000 cal. BP) in the Lower Yangtze, South China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122, no. 24: e2507123122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2507123122

Wang, J. L. Liu, X. Qin (2024). Reconstructing Late Neolithic animal management practices in North China using microbotanical analysis of dental calculus: A case study of Kangjia. Antiquity. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.43

Wang, J. (2023) A posthumanist approach to the origins of rice agriculture in southern China. Current Anthropology 64(3). https://doi.org/10.1086/725100

Wang, J. L. Ng, T. Serrao-Leiva (2023). Self-reliance and pig husbandry in Los Angeles Chinatown (1880-1933): New evidence from dental calculus analysis and historical records. American Antiquity. https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2023.79

Wang, J., Y. He, Y. Tang, L. Liu, Y. Li (2023). An interplay of dryland and wetland: millet and rice cultivation at the Peiligang site (8000 – 7600 BP) in the middle Yellow River Valley, China. Agronomy 13, no. 8: 2130. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13082130

Wang, J., J. Zhu, D. Lei, L. Jiang (2022). New evidence for rice harvesting in the early Neolithic Lower Yangtze River, China. PLOS ONE 17(12): e0278200 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278200

Wang, J. L. Liu (2022). Introduction: alcohol, rituals, and politics in the ancient world. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 65:101397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2022.101397

Wang, J., L. Jiang (2021). Intensive acorn processing in the early Holocene of southern China. The Holocene. https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836211041732

Wang, J., R. Friedman, M. Baba (2021). Predynastic beer production, distribution, and consumption at Hierakonpolis, Egypt. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 64:101347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101347

Wang, J., L. Jiang, H. Sun (2021). Early evidence for beer drinking in a 9000-year-old platform mound in southern China. PLOS ONE 16(8): e0255833. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255833

Wang, J., X. Zhao, H. Wang, L. Liu (2019). Plant exploitation of the first farmers in Northwest China: Microbotanical evidence from Dadiwan, Quaternary International 520(20): 3-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2018.10.019

Wang, J., L. Liu, A. Georgescu, V. Le, M. Ota, S. Tang, M. Vanderbilt (2017). Identifying ancient beer brewing through starch analysis: a methodology, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 15:150-160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.07.016

Wang, J., L. Liu, T. Ball, L. Yu, Y. Li, F. Xing (2016). Revealing a 5000-y-old beer recipe in China, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113(23): 6444–6448. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1601465113