Introduction of the Association for Trans-Eurasia Exchange and Silk Road Civilization Development

The Silk Road was an exceptional landmark of continental-scale exchanges throughout human history, spanning thousands of years across the vast landscapes of the Gobi Desert, oases, mountains, basins, forests, and steppes in Eurasia. It greatly facilitated long-distance and large-scale exchanges of economy, agriculture, religions, culture, and technology across Eurasia, having a far-reaching impact on the progress and development of human civilization. The mechanisms of early human migrations in the paleolithic periods, agriculture origin and early farming diffusion, and civilization development along the Silk Road have attracted high interest from both natural and social scientists.Inspired by the achievements of the Ministry of Science and Technology in China (MOST) funded key project, an ANSO (Alliance of International Science Organizations) association titled Trans-Eurasia Exchange and Silk Road Civilization Development (ATES) was launched in ۲۰۱۹ to establish an international platform to exchange multi-discipline knowledge and the latest research achievements on the ancient Silk Road. In this presentation, I will introduce the aims and scientific issues for ATES and will present a couple of case studies.