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Abstract: As we write this note in August of 2021, the global Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact communities in Asia and the Pacific Islands. We offer our support to our global community and far-flung colleagues, but also note that archaeological research and publication has survived despite a year in which many countries have been under quarantine and lockdown. This resilience and determination are well represented within the pages of this journal. This issue (volume 61, number 1) of Asian Perspectives spans the width and depth of Asian and Pacific Island prehistory. Beginning with a study of a copper hoard in the Upper Sindh valley of Pakistan (Biagi and Vidale), and an analysis of bronze mirrors from Xinjiang, China ... Read More PubDate: 2022-07-03T00:00:00-05:00
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Abstract: This article presents and discusses some results of a test trench excavated in 1996 at the site of Lakheen-Jo-Daro, a Bronze Age Mature Indus Civilization site discovered in Sukkur, Upper Sindh, Pakistan in 1985 (Fig. 1). The evidence includes a group of minor scrap copper items and one of the few human copper figurines ever found in early urban Indus sites. All objects probably belonged to the floor of a copper processing facility. The figurine was probably unfinished. We assume that hoarded copper scraps might also have been found in other Indus contexts in the past, but because of their unimpressive and fragmentary aspect, such finds did not receive proper attention. The discovery we publish at present is ... Read More PubDate: 2022-07-03T00:00:00-05:00
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Abstract: Variation and change in the Neolithic archaeological record in prehistoric China has received more attention by Chinese and international scholars since the multiregional pattern of archaeological cultures during the Neolithic and multiregional development of civilization in China theories have been proposed (Liu and Chen 2012; Su 2000). In recent decades, within the context of interdisciplinary research and international cooperation, the focus has turned from cultural-historical sequencing to studying human adaptation, social change, and cultural dynamics. A series of new theories, including the Palaeolithic to Neolithic Transition, Neolithization, identity formation, highland Longshan society, and others have ... Read More PubDate: 2022-07-03T00:00:00-05:00
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Abstract: Decades of archaeological excavations have yielded about one hundred circular bronze discs from late prehistoric (2000–200 b.c.) sites in Xinjiang, the northwesternmost region of present-day China.1 Records of the discs are scattered in archaeological reports, many only recently published. These portable and polished objects are identified as mirrors primarily based on their potential reflectivity and formal resemblance to later counterparts.2 Cast in bronze, a precious metal in prehistoric Xinjiang, these mirrors represent some of the most luxurious objects consumed by various groups of nomadic peoples, a point of departure for this study.Xinjiang mirrors have been objects of interest in scholarly debates about ... Read More PubDate: 2022-07-03T00:00:00-05:00
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Abstract: Well-preserved open settlements from sites dated to the Neolithic to Early Metal Age are extremely rare in the Indonesian archipelago. Their existence has only been indicated by well-polished artifacts found with the remains of metal objects and potsherds at the surfaces of some sites. Research on such settlements has been very limited, so it is difficult to date and define the characteristics and any cultural changes for these periods. This article discusses the transition between the Neolithic and the Early Metal Age in western Sulawesi based on the results of my excavations conducted there in 2013, following several excavations conducted by this author and others along the Karama River from 1933 to 2012.The work ... Read More PubDate: 2022-07-03T00:00:00-05:00
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Abstract: Archaeologies of mortuary ritual in Oceania provide important insights into crosscultural interactions, social organization, and associated spiritual practices of small island societies as they changed through time (Garanger 1972; Leach and Davidson 2008:133–254; Sand et al. 2020; Valentin and Sand 2008; Valentin et al. 2011). This article presents new insights into mortuary practices gleaned from burials from the Tanna, Futuna, and Aniwa islands in southern Vanuatu. The skeletons were excavated and described using the anthropologie de terrain (field anthropology) methodology (Duday 2009; Duday et al. 1990), which aims to reconstruct the initial situation of mortuary events and subsequent manipulations of skeletal ... Read More PubDate: 2022-07-03T00:00:00-05:00
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Abstract: Polynesian archaeology has devoted much attention to documenting the spatial organization of ancient communities on the islands, as well as refining the notion of traditional territory, or fenua. Settlement pattern studies in Central-East Polynesia (CEP) were pioneered by Roger C. Green on Mo'orea (Green 1961; Green et al. 1967), as well as Peter Bellwood (1972, 1979) and Marimari Kellum-Ottino (1971) in the Marquesas Islands. In the latter archipelago, the valley was defined as the main territorial unit of the chiefdoms, an area used, experienced, and transformed by the 'enata (Marquesan people).1 Building on the case study of Hakao'hoka on Ua Pou, Pierre Ottino (Ottino and De Bergh 1990:78) showed that the ... Read More PubDate: 2022-07-03T00:00:00-05:00
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Abstract: Himanshu Prabha Ray's first book on cultural exchange across the Bay of Bengal, entitled The Winds of Change: Buddhism and the Maritime Links of Early South Asia (Ray 1994) was a pioneer work. In a time when too many Indian scholars still viewed Southeast Asia as "Greater India," she carried out a thorough investigation into the then burgeoning field of Southeast Asian archaeology, resulting in a renewed, balanced approach to the "Indianization" of Southeast Asia and the role of Buddhism in this process. The book was an inspiration to many historians of Southeast Asia, including this reviewer. The author then became one of the most prolix writers on matters of exchange between India and Southeast Asia and on the ... Read More PubDate: 2022-07-03T00:00:00-05:00
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Abstract: Compared to the Indian subcontinent and even the Tibetan plateau, which in the past decade has seen extensive archaeological research, our understanding of the early prehistory of the high Himalayan valleys—those at elevations above 2500 m—stretching from Arunachal Pradesh in India in the east to the Gilgit-Baltistan territory of Pakistan in the west, is extraordinarily scant. In great part this is due to the difficulties of field research and access to the region, but geopolitical tensions between the countries along the Himalayan arc have made much of it off-limits to archaeological research.One of the enduring questions of the Himalayan past is when and from where people first moved into the high valleys. Over ... Read More PubDate: 2022-07-03T00:00:00-05:00
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Abstract: Peng Peng's book provides an excellent overview of studies focusing on lost-wax casting in Bronze Age China from the twentieth century to fifth century b.c., more specifically in the core regions of the Eastern Zhou states, and is a fresh contribution to a long-standing debate. It offers many constructive points on the identification, origin, and transmission of this exotic casting method. The 190 pages of main text is followed by 223 pages of figures, which are mostly images of the bronze artifacts that are mentioned throughout the text; these provide much-needed illustrations for the complicated technical discussions. This separation between text and figures, however, causes some inconvenience for readers who are ... Read More PubDate: 2022-07-03T00:00:00-05:00
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Abstract: Among the wealth of amazing finds at the tomb of the First Emperor of China in Xi'an, Shaanxi, some 40,000 bronze weapons have been found, including crossbow triggers, arrows, shafted weapons, and swords. This book is a massively detailed study of this material with the specific goal of learning how weapons production was organized and the extent to which products were standardized. Thousands of artifacts were measured very precisely with digital callipers, and statistical studies of the measurements, together with studies of the inscriptions on many of the artifacts, give important insights into both questions. The same author has also participated in studies of the specific bronze alloys used (Martinón-Torres et ... Read More PubDate: 2022-07-03T00:00:00-05:00
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Abstract: Kingly Splendor: Court and Materiality in Han China is a masterful and thought-provoking book. It provides new insights in the wellresearched era of the Western Han dynasty, mainly concentrating on the first sixty years of the dynasty (202–161 b.c.e.). Miller focuses on the archaeological evidence, especially the materials found in Han period tombs, written documents, and the political and social background of the era. The book is lavishly illustrated and equipped with valuable charts and figures. It also contains comprehensive annotations, an extensive bibliography, and a well-organized index.Following the acknowledgments, there is an introductory chapter with explanatory notes on the chosen timespan, the ... Read More PubDate: 2022-07-03T00:00:00-05:00
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Abstract: This slim edited volume presents papers from Sessions 38-1 and 38-2 of the International Union of the Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences hosted by the Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne in 2018. Chapter 1, written by Hermann and Sand, lays out the goal of the volume: to study materiality and diachronic change in Pacific Island monuments and networks. The following six chapters include several discussions concerning monuments in Vanuatu (n = 2), Western Micronesia (n = 1), Western Polynesia (n = 2), and Eastern Polynesia (n = 1). Additional chapters relating to mobility and networks include a comparative study of reception ceremonies in New Caledonia and Wallis and an analysis of the production and exchange of ... Read More PubDate: 2022-07-03T00:00:00-05:00
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