ABSTRACT
The concept of synthesizing linguistics, archaeology and genetics in the reconstruction of the past is becoming a commonplace; but the reality is that each discipline largely pursues its own methods and what little interaction there is remains marginal. Hence many of the questions asked are internal to the discipline, addressed to colleagues, not the larger sphere of understanding the past. China and East Asia in general represent a particularly difficult case because so much of the linguistics and archaeology is driven by an emphasis on high culture. Major archaeological texts refer neither to linguistics nor genetics and speculation about the identity of non-Chinese groups mentioned in the texts tends to be unanchored. In addition, ideology surrounding the definition of minorities in China has confused the analysis in genetics papers. This situation has begun to change and a review of the current situation may be useful. 1
