The two-day international workshop, “New Research on the Eurasian Proto Silk Roads,” successfully concluded on 26 March 2026 at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). The event brought together leading researchers from a wide network of collaborations, including the Palace Museum, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Science and Technology of China, the German Archaeological Institute, the CNRS (France), the University of Oxford, the University of Liverpool, and the University of Nottingham UK.
Organised by the School of International Studies, the Global Institute for Silk Roads Studies, and the Sino-European Humanities and Social Sciences Exchange and Cooperation Key Laboratory, the workshop provided a dynamic forum for exploring how interdisciplinary scientific methods can reshape our understanding of prehistoric trans-Eurasian exchange networks — long before the formal Silk Roads emerged.
Interdisciplinary Dialogue Across Five Thematic Sessions
The programme featured five thematic sessions spanning state formation, glass technology, faience and ceramics, climate and crop diffusion, and early metallurgy. Over the two days, participants presented cutting-edge research that integrated archaeology, archaeometry, palaeoclimatology, and materials science.
Day 1 (25 March) opened with a session on early state formation, followed by Session 2 on ancient glass, where Professor Julian Henderson, Visiting Professor of International Studies from the University of Nottingham UK presented new findings on third-century BCE glass production at Ai Khanoum, Afghanistan, highlighting new evidence for localised and interactions as far as China across the Central Asian Silk Roads. Session 3 addressed faience and ceramics.
Day 2 (26 March) began with Session 4 on climate and crops, featuring evidence of multiple waves of agropastoral diffusion and 8,000 years of hydroclimatic change in Central Asia. Session 5 focused on early metallurgy in Xinjiang, the Southeast Asian Massif, and upland Southwest China.
Visit to Hemudu Archaeological Site
In the afternoon, participants visited the Hemudu archaeological site and museum near Ningbo — one of China’s most significant Neolithic settlements — stimulating discussions on early coastal agriculture and material culture along eastern Eurasia.
Wider Impact and Future Collaboration
Beyond the insightful presentations, the workshop served as a catalyst for expanding an already extensive Sino-European research network. Professor Julian Henderson noted that by combining studies of climate change, environment, the formation of early states, early agriculture, society and cermaics, glasses and metal technologies we became aware of exciting connections between these areas leading to fascinating discussions.
The organisers plan to publish the workshop presentations in a special volume of a journal, highlighting the value of cross-institutional cooperation in the humanities, heritage sciences, and social sciences. This event underscored UNNC’s growing role as a hub for interdisciplinary archaeological research.