International Archaeology Day & Opening Day Distinguished Lecture- China's Lost Civilization: The Mystery of Sanxingdui

Dr. Suzanne Cahill, Guest Curator, Professor of Chinese History, UCSD, raises provocative questions prompted by the recent finds from the historical sites at Sanxingdui and Jinsha, such as the meaning of the objects buried there, the source of the elephant tusks, and the cause of the rather sudden disappearance of people at both sites. Mask-making workshop follows in the John M. Lee Court from 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM.

Suzanne Cahill received her BA from UC Berkeley in Chinese Art History in 1968, her MA from UC Berkeley in Chinese Literature (Tang Dynasty Poetry) in 1976, and her PhD in Chinese Literature (Tang Daoist scriptures) from UC Berkeley in 1982. Important interruptions include a year at Taiwan Normal University's Mandarin Training Center (1968-69), a year in Buddhist Studies at the University of Wisconsin (1969-70), a term in the Peace Corps, Afghanistan (1970-71), and two years at Beijing University (1980-82). She is a Tang dynasty (618-907) specialist, and has published books and articles on history, religion, literature, gender studies, and material culture. Suzanne Cahill's current long-term project is a study of material culture, specifically vehicles and clothing, during the Tang dynasty, starting with the monographs on vehicles and clothing in the two official Tang histories, and moving on to consider material remains and other texts.

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