Asian Perspectives, 1993 - Volume 32, Number 2 (Fall)

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Asian Perspectives is the leading peer-reviewed archaeological journal devoted to the prehistory of Asia and the Pacific region. In addition to archaeology, it features articles and book reviews on ethnoarchaeology, palaeoanthropology, physical anthropology, and ethnography of interest and use to the prehistorian. International specialists contribute regional reports summarizing current research and fieldwork, and present topical reports of significant sites. Occasional special issues focus on single topics.

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Center for South Asian Studies
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Now showing 1 - 10 of 11

Books Received

(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1993)
Review of The Prehistoric Exploration and Colonization of the Pacific, by Geoffrey Irwin; Lapita, Design, Form and Composition, Proceedings of the Lapita Design Workshop, Canberra, Australia, December 1988, by Matthew Spriggs (ed.); An Archaeological Survey of Aguiguan (Aguijan) Northern Mariana Islands, by Brian M. Butler; Southeast Asian Archaeology 1990: Proceedings of the Third Conference of the European Association of Souteast Asian Archaeologists, by Ian Glover (ed.); Studies of Shang Archaeology, by K. C. Chang (ed.); Ancient Sichuan and the Unification of China, by Steven F. Sage; The Chinese Spirit Road: The Classical Tradition of Stone Tomb Statuary, by Ann Paludan; Hoabinhian, Jomon, Yayoi, Early Korean States, Bibliographic Reviews of Far Eastern Archaeology, by Gina L. Barnes (ed.); Harappa Excavations 1986-1990, A Multidisciplinary Approach to Third Millenium Urbanism, by Richard Meadow (ed.)

(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1993) Keegan, William F. ; Shutler, Richard Jr. ; Moore, Darlene R. ; Junker, Laura Lee ; Kwong-yue, Cheung ; Miller-Antonio, Sari ; Linduff, Katheryn M. ; Nelson, Sarah M. ; Morrison, Kathleen D.
Review of International Symposium on Ancient Ceramics 1992: A Review

(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1993) Vandiver, Pamela B.
A Reappraisal of Evidence for Subsitence Change at the Hane Dune Site, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia

(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1993) Sweeney, Maria ; Graves, Michael W. ; Hunt, Terry L.

The faunal assemblage from the Hane Dune site in the Marquesas Islands serves as one of the best-documented cases of Prehistoric subsistence change in Polynesia. Reanalysis of the data using more reliable quantitative techniques indicates that there is insufficient evidence to identify a qualitative shift from a marine-oriented to a terrestrially focused economy. With the exception of the loss of birds over time, the Hane faunal assemblage is dominated by marine taxa over time. Stability rather than dramatic change appears to be the subsistence trend at Hane. This suggests that archaeologists may want to reconsider their analyses and interpretations of subsistence patterns in Polynesia. KEYWORDS: faunal analysis, subsistence change, quantitative methods, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
Environmental Change and Prehistoric Polynesian Settlement in Hawai'i

(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1993) Athens, J Stephen ; Ward, Jerome V.

Prehistoric environmental change in Hawai'i is evaluated through the analysis of sediment and pollen samples from dated cores and excavation profiles in the coastal lowlands of O'ahu. It is suggested that a lowland Pritchardia palm forest and associated species underwent rapid decline starting between about A.D. 1000 to 1200. This decline seems to have occurred earlier in coastal areas than in inland areas. By the time of Western contact in A.D. 1778 the native palm forest community had all but disappeared. Though prehistoric Polynesians are implicated in the decline, the actual mechanism remains to be demonstrated. The question of coastal infilling and progradation is also considered. Sea level change appears to be the overwhelming controlling variable. It is concluded that prehistoric Polynesians had little if anything to do with large-scale geomorphological alteration of the landscape, which has been a continuing process throughout the Holocene. KEYWORDS: paleoenvironment, Hawai'i, prehistory, impacts, vegetation, geomorphology, Holocene.
Polynesian Irrigation: Archaeological and Linguistic Evidence for Origins and Development

(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1993) Kirch, Patrick V. ; Lepofsky, Dana

Most tropical and subtropical Polynesian high islands exhibit landscape modifications such as terracing or ditching, or both, resulting from prehistoric irrigation of taro (Colocasia esculenta). Because of the technological and hydraulic similarities between such Polynesian taro irrigation and Southeast Asian rice irrigation, some prehistorians have traced Polynesian irrigation practices back to a Proto-Austronesian homeland region in Southeast Asia. Other scholars have advocated an independent development of pondfield irrigation in the Pacific Islands. In this paper we draw upon two independent lines of evidence to test these alternative hypotheses. Chronologically controlled archaeological evidence for irrigation indicates a relatively late development of irrigation works in those Islands investigated thus far. This evidence is corroborated by systematic comparison of the lexical terms associated with irrigation among speakers of Oceanic languages. The linguistic analysis yields no evidence for an early terminological set associated with pondfield agriculture, but distinct sets of western and eastern Polynesian cognate reflexes indicate independent development of irrigation in those regions. KEYWORDS: Oceania, Polynesia, prehistoric agriculture, irrigation, taro.
Use of Stone and Shell Artifacts at Balof 2, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea

(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1993) Barton, Huw ; White, J Peter

We examined the use-wear and residues on a sample of six obsidian, 15 fine-grained, and 21 clam-shell artifacts from Balof 2 cave, New Ireland. Only residues associated with use-wear were accepted as deriving from use. The majority of residues are of plant tissue, notably starch grains from the aroids Cyrtosperma merkusii, Alocasia macrorrhiza, and Xanthosoma sagitifolia. Some Dioscorea grains were also noted, but not Colocasia esculenta or Ipomoea hatatas. Some feather barbules were recorded. Methods of analysis and implications of the results are discussed. KEYWORDS: residues, Papua New Guinea, shell artifacts, stone artifacts.
Hunter-Gatherer Trade in Wild Forest Products in the Early Centuries A.D. with the Port of Broach, India

(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1993) Stiles, Daniel

Two paradigms have been used to describe the nature of twentieth-century huntergatherers, one focused on ecological approaches, the other emphasizing historical context. This paper examines how an ancient forager trading system might have operated, using the Gujarati port city of Broach, India. Foragers supplied important wild products necessary for prestige goods exchange and for the maintenance of Asian religions. These products could be obtained more effectively and at lower cost by local foragers. Today, trading opportunities are fewer and the forest resources endangered, the result of modern destruction of forest habitat and appropriation of land. KEYWORDS: hunter-gatherers, trade systems, Broach, northwestern India, South Asia.
Supplying the City: The Role of Reservoirs in an Indian Urban Landscape

(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1993) Morrison, Kathleen D.

A class of agricultural facility, the reservoir or "tank," has played an important role in the development of South Indian urban centers. The form and operation, patterns of integration with other facilities, and modes of investment in reservoirs are discussed in the context of the pre-Colonial city of Vijayanagara (c. A.D. 1300-1600). In spite of their general morphological similarities, reservoirs played diverse roles in the organization of Vijayanagara agricultural production and in its pattern of change through time. KEYWORDS: Irrigation, South Asia, urbanism, agriculture.
Editorial

(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1993) Graves, Michael W.

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