Ziyi Shao

Education

Master of Science, Archaeology, University of Oxford, 2026

Bachelor of Arts, Archaeology, University of Toronto, 2025

Areas of Interest

Neolithic and Bronze Age China; landscape archaeology; Geographic Information Systems (GIS); spatial analysis; human-environment interactions; urbanism; ceramic analysis; photogrammetry

Profile

Ziyi (Quella) Shao is a PhD student at UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. She received her B.A. in Archaeology with High Distinction from the University of Toronto and her MSc in Archaeology from the University of Oxford. Her MSc thesis examined ceramic production at Sanxingdui and Jinsha in the Chengdu Plain, China, through petrographic and compositional analysis, aiming to contribute to broader discussions about the relationship between the two sites from a technological perspective. Her research focuses on Neolithic and Bronze Age China, with a particular interest in how archaeological sites, material culture, and patterns of human activity interacted with their wider spatial and environmental settings. At UCLA, she hopes to build on her interdisciplinary training and develop an integrated approach to investigate these questions.

Field Experience

Xiacaopu Iron Production Site, Fujian, China. School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University.

Yangguanzhai Archaeological Field School, Shaanxi, China. Institute for Field Research, Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology, and Northwest University.

Zion Congregational Church Archaeological Survey, Toronto, Canada. Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto.

Selected Publications

2026. Cunard Center Graduate Fellow, UCLA Jeffrey P. Cunard Center for Global Antiquity.

Presentations

2026. “Photogrammetric Documentation of Small Lithic Finds: A Workflow-Based Case Study of Chalcolithic Axes and Adzes from Northern Jordan.” 32nd Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), Athens, Greece.

Advisors

Min Li

Lothar von Falkenhausen