Jade Dragon

This teaching novel is an archaeological suspense story set in northeast China at a site that is called the Goddess Temple. Clara, protagonist of Nelson's Spirit Bird Journey, begins work at an excavation at the Temple, only to discover the problems of contemporary looting, government meddling, and excavation interpersonal dynamics. Nelson's story also describes the lifeways of the Neolithic people who used the temple thousands of years ago-their economy, social structure, gender relations, and religious rituals-through the eyes of a young woman living there. Written by a leading American archaeologist specializing in these topics, this volume is both a good read and good archaeology. An ideal starting point to introduce archaeology to college students.

Sarah Milledge Nelson is an archaeologist who first saw the Goddess Temple site in 1987, and has been back many times since. She has several published papers on Chinese archaeology, as well as one edited book. She also co-teaches, with Prof. Robert Stencel, a course in Archaeoastronomy. (If you think that word has the most vowels in a row of any English word, join the queue.) She is also John Evans Professor at the University of Denver.

Prologue, Chapters 1- 46, Epilogue