Asian Perspectives, 1999 - Volume 38, Number 1 (Spring)
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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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ItemReview of Prehistoric Long-Distance Interaction in Oceania: An Interdisciplinary Approach, by M. Weisler (ed.); Indo-Pacific Prehistory: The Chiang Mai Papers, Vols. 1-3, by Peter Bellwood, Ian C. Glover, and Dianne Tillotson (eds.); Ancient History: Indonesian Heritage, by John Miksic.(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1999)
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ItemJomon Pottery Production in Central Japan(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1999)Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analysis was used to examine the chemical composition of Jomon potsherds. Jomon is the name of a prehistoric hunter-gatherer culture in Japan that lasted from about 12,500 to 2,300 B.P. It is characterized by the production and use of pottery, large settlements, and longdistance trade. Potsherd samples were taken from three Jomon sites in the Kanto and Chubu regions in central Japan. The majority of the samples are dated to the Moroiso phase (c. 5000 B.P.) of the early Jomon period. Linear discriminant analysis, with and without cross-validation, and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOV A) indicate that there are three distinct chemical groups that coincide with the three sites. Stepwise discriminant analysis indicates that the iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), strontium (Sr), yttrium (Y), and zinc (Zn) are the most significant chemical discriminators between the three sites. These findings are interpreted as indicating that each settlement produced its own pottery, utilizing local materials. The misclassified sherds could be the result of some form of trade or exchange, or of movement of people between communities. KEYWORDS: Jomon hunter-gatherers, Japan, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF), multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), discriminant analysis.
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ItemAgricultural Terracing at Nakauvadra, Viti Levu: A Late Prehistoric Irrigated Agrosystem in Fiji(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1999)Agricultural intensification on Pacific Islands often resulted in dramatic and durable modifications to the environment. Irrigated terrace agrosystems for the cultivation of wetland taro (Colocasia esculenta) reshaped hillsides and stream valleys in many areas of Fiji. The functional morphology and design of several now abandoned terrace systems were examined on the northern flanks of the Nakauvadra Mountains in northeast Viti Levu, an area that manifests the largest expanse of terracing in the archipelago. Garden types comprise regularly tiered surfaces with earthen bunds constructed as contours on open slopes, along with rock-faced plots alongside streams and below springs in wooded ravines. Radiocarbon dates from garden soil and an associated settlement site indicate probable use and occupation during the Late Prehistoric period of the early nineteenth century. Although probably not involved in the large-scale wars of political confederation, the taro growers of Nakauvadra implemented fail-safe subsistence strategies that were combined with the need for concealment and defensibility. Archaeological and oral-historical evidence suggests an intense but short-lived period of food production placed out of harm's way. European contact and subsequent colonization introduced numerous factors that rendered this agricultural infrastmcture obsolete. KEYWORDS: agricultural terracing, irrigation, Fiji, political ecology.
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ItemA New Date for the Phnom Da Images and Its Implications for Early Cambodia(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1999)The widely held belief that the earliest known Cambodian sculpture from Phnom Da has an early-sixth-century date is challenged. New artistic evidence supports a mid-seventh-century date on which a new chronology for early Cambodian sculpture can be established. This new inception date has implications for the understanding of early Cambodia. It indicates that the Phnom Da images have no association with Rudravarman, the last king of Funan. This separates the Phnom Da images from the named ruler and shortens by 100 years the chronology for early Cambodian sculpture. The earliest known Cambodian images are now inseparable from a widespread artistic development in seventh-century Cambodia, when permanent materials first appeared in temple architecture and sculpture. The seventh century inception date indicates that "the strategy of monumental validation" first appeared in the early to mid-seventh century after the replacement of Funan by Chenla. Only then does the artistic evidence suggest that local rulers seriously began to adopt Indian practices and beliefs that were to characterize Southeast Asia for the next 1000 years. KEYWORDS: Southeast Asia, art history, early Cambodian art, Funan, sculpture, Indianization of Southeast Asia.
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ItemDry-Season Flood-Recession Rice in the Mekong Delta: Two Thousand Years of Sustainable Agriculture?(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1999)The Mekong Delta is famous as the hearth of one of the earliest civilizations in mainland Southeast Asia. Called "Funan" by visiting Chinese dignitaries, the lower Mekong Delta housed at least two urban centers by the third century A.D.: OC Eo in Viet Nam and Angkor Borei in Cambodia. Land-use practices found in and around Angkor Borei today are described and the relative antiquity of these practices is speculated upon. Dry-season flood-recession rice, the major land use in the area, is an ancient land-use system that, taking advantage of the fertile silt deposited by the annual floods, is both extremely productive and sustainable. Although we have no physical evidence of flood-recession rice in third-century Angkor Borei, there is no technical reason (soil fertility, water, technology, or labor) why it could not have formed the agricultural basis of this civilization. In fact, dry-season flood-recession rice not only may have formed the agricultural basis of Angkor Borei in the early historic period but also may have dictated the location of the city. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that the system of dry-season flood-recession agriculture was adopted elsewhere in the delta either in advance of or in congruence with other lower Mekong polities (e.g., Chenla and Angkor). If this hypothesis proves true, then dryseason flood-recession rice has played a much larger role in the early history and culture of the lower Mekong Delta than has been appreciated by students of the region. KEYWORDS: Southeast Asia, Cambodia, Mekong Delta, rice agriculture, floodrecession farming, Geographic Information Systems.
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ItemResults of the 1995-1996 Archaeological Field Investigations at Angkor Borei, Cambodia(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1999)One of the earliest states in Southeast Asia arose in the Mekong Delta during or shortly after the first century A.D. Called "Funan" by Chinese travelers, this polity witnessed the emergence of many features of the ancient state: urbanization, political hierarchy, institutionalized religion, economic specialization, and writing. What we know so far about Funan comes primarily from documentary evidence, and largely from Chinese accounts. No archaeological research has been conducted on this state in Cambodia's Mekong Delta in several decades, and it is precisely this region that reputedly housed the capitals of Funan. Research concentrated on developments in southern Cambodia and on the Funan polity that is generally believed to have flourished from the first to sixth centuries A.D. A variety of data sources are now available to us-Chinese historical accounts, inscriptions, local oral traditions, and archaeological materials-that suggest the early Southeast Asian city was a unique mixture of ritual, economic, and political activity. This report focuses on a period that began in the early first millennium B.C. and ended shortly before the inception of Angkor (ninth century A.D.). We discuss results of the 1995 and 1996 field excavations and mapping/survey project, and describe future directions for the Lower Mekong Archaeological Project (LOMAP). KEYWORDS: Southeast Asia, Cambodia, early historic period, Funan, Angkor Borei, social complexity.
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ItemThe Royal University of Fine Arts, East-West Center, and University of Hawai'i Program in the Archaeology and Anthropology of the Kingdom of Cambodia, 1994-1998(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1999)The East-West Center and the University of Hawai'i in 1994 joined the Royal University of Fine Arts, a division of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, Kingdom of Cambodia, in a program to train graduates of the Royal University's Faculty of Archaeology. Three sets of students have spent an academic year in Hawai'i; two students are now classified graduate students at the University of Hawai'i. Training and research at the ancient city of Angkor Borei, in the upper Mekong Delta, have extended over three field seasons. The Ministry and the University of Hawai'i archaeological team continue training and research at Angkor Borei and at Neolithic sites in Kampong Cham Province. KEYWORDS: Southeast Asia, Cambodia, Angkor Borei, archaeology, field training.
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Item38:1 Table of Contents - Asian Perspectives(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1999)