The picture is a bird’s-eye view of the Nateswar site, one of the most important areas in Somapura Mahavira.

In 1042, Atiśa Dīpa kara Śrījñāna (982-1054) was invited by the King of Guge to Tibet. His visit profoundly affected the later development of Tibetan Buddhism. In the 1960s, some of Atiśa’s Buddhist relics were enshrined in China thanks to the efforts made by the late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. Today, the bilateral relationship between China and Bangladesh is growing stronger through the joint excavation project in Somapura Mahavira, where Atiśa was born. It has provided Chai Huanbo, an archaeologist from the Hunan Institute of Archaeology, and his colleagues a valuable opportunity to access new research materials.

In Bangladesh, Chinese archaeologists conducted their first field work in the South Asian subcontinent. Due to frequent rain and high humidity, the site had to be preserved as soon as possible after a large area was excavated. China and Bangladesh are maintaining close contact and reinforcing coordination to make sure the archaeological excavation follows high standards for preservation. The project is supported by the heritage sector and Chinese government agencies at all levels. The Hunan provincial government and the Chinese embassy in Bangladesh have provided financial aid.
 

The excavation and investigations in Somapura Mahavira represent a trend toward more cross-border projects in Chinese archaeology. The project comes at a time when China’s research and technical capabilities in the field are growing. During the past 10 years, Chinese archaeology has developed steadily. Chinese archaeologists have participated in various excavations of locations ranging from the Mongolian Plateau to the Central American rainforest and African Coast, gaining recognition from their international counterparts.
 

As the major force of cross-border cooperation, the innovation project Maya Civilization Center – Copan Archaeology and Central American Civilization Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS) has kept making new progress and discoveries, many of which have exerted extensive influence thanks to news reports. Archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology at CASS excavated the Mingtepe Site for the fourth time at the Fergana basin in Uzbekistan in 2015. They initially confirmed the existence of a road system at the site, and gained new knowledge on the surrounding natural environment. Next, archaeologists from CASS will head to Egypt for cooperation on field archaeology and relics preservation projects.

Headed by Qin Dashu, a professor from the School of Archaeology and Museology at Peking University, a Kenyan archaeological team from Peking University has visited Kenya several times for large-scale archaeological excavation and investigation fieldwork. The team has yielded many fruits in searching the Malindi Kingdom in East Africa and the traces left behind by Zheng He’s fleet, and in restoring the history of China-Africa cultural exchanges.
 

The Institute of Culture Relics and Archaeology of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has pioneered new projects in cross-border archaeology cooperation. In 2005, the institute launched the project “Archaeological Investigation, Exploration and Excavation on Ancient Nomadic Cultural Relics in Mongolia” with the Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. By the start of 2015, the China-Mongolia joint archaeological team had traversed more than 23,000 kilometers and investigated more than 150 sites in 12 provinces and cities and 60 counties. The excavation area totaled about 12,000 square meters, covering a time span from the Stone Age (6000-2000 BCE) to the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911).
 

The decades-long cooperation between Chinese and Mongolian archaeologists demonstrated China’s strength in archaeological research. With the joint efforts, an ancient tomb of the Rouran Khaganate period was discovered for the first time on the Mongolian Plateau. Other achievements included the discovery of the first mural tomb in Mongolia, anthropological data of the Uighurs, and barracks ruins from the Qing Dynasty. Chen Yongzhi, director of the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Inner Mongolia, said that the publication of the “Report of Archaeological Investigation on Ancient Nomadic Cultural Relics in Mongolia” indicated that China-Mongolia archaeological cooperation has entered a new stage. The cooperation offers important cultural and theoretical support for the “Belt and Road” initiative and better serves China’s opening-up policy towards the north and the west.

Zhang Chunhai is a reporter at the Chinese Social Sciences Today.