On September 26, the international academic conference ‘From Baikal to the Bohai Bay, Building Cultural Bridges: Exchange on Prehistoric Culture in Northeast Asia 2024’ was successfully held at Liaoning University (LNU). Attending the conference were Yu Miaojie, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee and President of Liaoning University, Yulia Elokhina, Director of the International Office of Irkutsk State University, Ekaterina Lipnina, Director of the Baikal Regional Scientific Research Center of Irkutsk State University, Natalia Sokolova, Junior Researcher at the Baikal Regional Scientific Research Center of Irkutsk State University, Damchaabadgar Sodnomjamts, Researcher from the Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Yang Jianhua, Professor from the School of Archaeology at Jilin University, Wang Lixin, Professor from the School of Archaeology at Jilin University, Wang Tiejun, Deputy Director of Faculty of History and Dean of the School of History at Liaoning University, Qu Yi, Deputy Director of the Office of International Affairs at Liaoning University, Yin Ruyu, Deputy Director of the Office of International Affairs at Liaoning University, Shi Yun, Deputy Dean of the Institute of Social Sciences at Liaoning University, as well as more than 50 experts, scholars, and faculty and student representatives from the School of History at Liaoning University. The opening ceremony was hosted by Zhang Hongjie, Secretary of the CPC Committee of the School of History.
At the opening ceremony, President Yu Miaojie extended congratulations on the convening of the conference and a warm welcome to all the guests. He pointed out that this year marks the 11th anniversary of President Xi Jinping proposing the Belt and Road Initiative. China’s connection with the world has become closer. While promoting policy connectivity, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and people-to-people connectivity, China also pays attention to cultural exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. From Baikal Lake to the Bohai Sea, despite spanning three countries and being far apart, cultural exchanges in history have never been interrupted. He said that in the face of opportunities, we need to work together, stay true to our original aspiration and make innovations, establish a “big archaeology” working approach, have a big picture, a big vision, and big development, comprehensively promote cooperation in archaeological research between China, Mongolia, and Russia, and explore and establish a long-term cooperative mechanism for archaeological research in Northeast Asia. Liaoning University is willing to continuously expand cooperation fields with Northeast Asian countries, intensify cooperation, and constantly promote the development of international cooperation to a deeper and broader level. He hoped that experts and scholars would uphold an open attitude and a spirit of brave exploration, actively build bridges of mutual learning among different civilizations, strengthen collaboration, jointly create a professional, efficient, and influential cultural brand, form a diversified and interactive cultural exchange pattern, and build a spiritual bridge and cultural bond for people-to-people connectivity along the Belt and Road.
During her speech, Director Yulia Elokhina expressed heartfelt thanks to Liaoning University on behalf of Irkutsk State University for organizing this conference. She noted that Irkutsk State University and Liaoning University have maintained a good cooperative relationship since 1993. Archaeology is a very important discipline for both universities, and through their cooperation, they can explore questions related to ancient human cultures, leading to new insights and conclusions.
Prior to the conference, Vice President Huo Chunhui of Liaoning University and Director Ma Shuang of the Office of International Affairs received the foreign guests.
The keynote session of the conference was chaired by Professor Wang Lixin from Jilin University and Professor Hua Yubing from the School of History, Liaoning University. Natalia Sokolova, Junior Researcher, presented a report titled ‘The Development Dynamics of the Neolithic Culture of the Baikal-Yenisei Siberia in the Context of the Paleolithic Era in Northern Asia and Neighboring Regions’; Ekaterina Lipnina presented a report titled ‘The Venus Statues of the Paleolithic Era in Northern Asia: A Study of Anthropomorphic Sculptures from the Maltese Paleolithic Site (Siberia, Baikal) Based on Morphology, Planimetry, and Stratigraphy’; Professor Zhang Xingde from the School of History presented a report titled ‘The Prehistoric Culture of Western Liaoning in Collision and Exchange’; Associate Professor Xu Ting from the School of History presented a report titled ‘Archaeological Evidence of the Evolution and Dispersion of Ancient Humans in Northeast Asia at the Dalong Site in Helong, Jilin’; D. Sodnomjamts presented a report titled ‘Newly Discovered Neolithic Sites in the Kerulen River Basin, Mongolia’; and Professor Yang Jianhua from Jilin University gave the closing remarks.
