The Shangshan Archaeological Park is located in Pujiang county, Jinhua, Zhejiang province. [Photo/Tide News]

The English edition of the archaeological monograph Shangshan: The Ten-Millennium Foundation of Chinese Civilization was launched in Beijing on June 17, marking the first English academic work on Shangshan culture.

Named after the Shangshan site in Pujiang county of Jinhua, Zhejiang province, this Neolithic culture dates back 8,500 to 11,000 years and is the oldest known Neolithic culture discovered in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and along China's southeastern coast.

The original Chinese edition, published in 2024, examines the historical significance of early rice cultivation based on findings from sites of Pujiang Shangshan, Yiwu Qiaotou, and Shengzhou Xiaohuangshan.

Authored by Jiang Leping, a leading figure in the study of Shangshan culture, and translated by Xie Liye of the University of Toronto, the book is published by Palgrave Macmillan under Springer Nature and represents a major academic collaboration.

Drawing on decades of extensive archaeological research, Jiang offers insights that vividly reconstruct life in early East Asian agricultural societies from 10,000 to 9,000 years ago.

Myriam Poort, vice-president of Humanities Publishing of Springer Nature, said that with the book's global release, the academic community is encouraged to reassess the diverse origins of civilization, with particular attention to early agricultural and cultural developments. Springer Nature's global distribution network will ensure the book reaches universities and research institutions worldwide, thereby enhancing the international impact of Chinese archaeological research.