The Ancient Highlands of Southwest China: From the Bronze Age to the Han EmpireAlthough long considered to be a barren region on the periphery of ancient Chinese civilization, the southwest massif was once the political heartland of numerous Bronze Age polities. Their distinctive material tradition intricately cast bronze kettle drums and cowrie shell containers has given archaeologists and historians a glimpse of the extraordinary wealth, artistry, and power exercised by highland leaders over the course of the first millennium