ABSTRACT
The archaeology of East Asia has produced many artifacts and sites that cannot be entirely explained in terms of economy and ecology. Some artifacts seem to have nothing to do with acquiring food, staying out of bad weather, or other practical concerns. These unusual objects or unexplained features in archaeological sites tend to be labeled as shamanistic, a trend that runs throughout East Asia. The largest numbers of sites believed to reflect shamanism in the Neolithic and Bronze Age are found in China, but China does not have a monopoly on apparent ritual. Many sites and artifacts in the rest of East Asia and contiguous regions are also designated as shamanistic. It is a familiar term with too many meanings or better, a potpourri of practices. This makes the archaeology of shamanism an even more slippery subject than 'sloppily applied' ethnographic attributions may suggest.
