Asian Perspectives, 2023 - Volume 62, Number 2 (Fall)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10125/113094
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Item type: Item , IN MEMORIAM TERRY T. MARSH (25 JULY 1938 – 30 JULY 2021)(2023-11-03) Conrad, CylerItem type: Item , Item type: Item , Item type: Item , Item type: Item , The Mid-Second Millennium A.D. Submerged Iron Production Village of Pontada in Lake Matano, South Sulawesi, Indonesia(2023-11-03) Adhityatama, Shinatria; Triwurjani; Yurnaldi, Dida; Wahyudiono, Joko; Ramadhan, Ahmad Surya; Dhony, Muslim Dimas Khoiru; Suryatman; Abbas, Abdullah; Darfin; Lukman, Alquiz; Pratama, Aldhi Wayhu; Bulbeck, DavidBy the mid-second millennium A.D., Indonesians were already familiar with iron tools. One of Indonesia’s main centers of iron production is the Lake Matano area in the hinterland of East Luwu, South Sulawesi, eastern Indonesia, renowned for its nickeliferous iron ore. Research in Lake Matano conducted during 2016–2022 succeeded in documenting a submerged village with remnants of an iron processing industry dating to the late first millennium A.D. In this article, we describe a second submerged site associated with processing iron, which included forged iron implements. Occupation at this site, called Pontada, is dated to between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries A.D., before the site sank beneath the surface of Lake Matano. Written and archaeological evidence suggests that its antiquity corresponds to when the empire of Majapahit in eastern Java imported nickeliferous iron from Lake Matano and traded it throughout coastal Luwu.Item type: Item , The Archaeology of Ancient Japanese Gardens(2023-11-03) Pearson, RichardThis article summarizes the results of archaeological research on some 20 Japanese garden sites dating from the fourth to twelfth centuries A.D., emphasizing the site plan, remains of structures, stone groupings, and ponds. Associated plant remains from five sites are tabulated and briefly discussed. I introduce some early Chinese and Korean antecedents and provide historical context. Gardens with rectangular ponds were introduced from the continent in the Asuka Period (A.D. 538–710). From the Nara Period (A.D. 710–794), garden making was naturalized in a Japanese asymetrical curving style in which structures were located away from the central axis. The gardens discussed here represent a small sample of the original gardens. They include two early examples of an adopted continental style (i.e., Uenomiya and Furumiya), a garden from an imperial palace site, gardens enclosing Heian Period shinden type architecture (raised residence with side wings) and its adapted Pure Land form, and a garden associated with the palace of a retired emperor. Plantings show a combination of flowering trees and shrubs, many introduced from the continent, combined with native deciduous and evergreen trees. Continental examples of gardens with rectangular ponds belong to royal palaces and were symbols of royal authority, aswere the examples dated to the Asuka Period. In the Heian Period, state gardens such as Shinsen’en were used for state functions and required ample space and simple organization, while gardens sponsored by elite courtiers such as the Fujiwara show the expression of Buddhist belief. In the Toba Rikyu, built by retired emperors under a complex insei (retirement) system, imperial mausolea shared the landscape with mansions, Buddhist temples, and chapels. Groupings of stones, curving streams, dry landscapes, and low waterfalls probably all occurred as early as the Nara Period.Item type: Item , Iron Production Industry in Western Chongqing During the Late Ming Dynasty: A Perspective from Smelting Related Materials(2023-11-03) Li, Yuniu; Sun, Zhigang; Qiu, Tian; Bai, Jiujiang; Huang, WanFour iron smelting related sites were discovered in Zouma Town, western Chongqing, China. Among these sites, two (Luduizi and Tieshazitu) were dated to the end of the Ming Dynasty in the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries A.D. and the other two (Gaoluchang and Nianmigou) were dated to the Late Qing Dynasty in the nineteenth century. Large amounts of smelting-related materials were excavated from these sites. Ten metallographic samples collected from excavated slags, a furnace wall, and iron ore were prepared and analyzed. This article reports the first scientific analysis of smelting-related materials in the area. The results provide a preliminary understanding of iron production technology in Chongqing in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.Item type: Item , What’s in a Hearth? Preliminary Findings from the Margal Hunter-Gatherer Habitation in the Eastern Mongolian Gobi Desert(2023-11-03) Pleuger, Sarah; Breitenfeld, Bastian; Zljargal, Altanbayar; Nelson, Albert Russell; Honeychurch, William; Amartuvshin, ChunagToday’s image of people inhabiting the vast steppe landscapes of Mongolia is inseparably linked to mobile animal herding. Indeed, archaeologists have confirmed that humananimal communities comprised of human herders and domestic livestock roamed across Mongolia’s grassland environment and utilized semi-arid to arid regions such as the Gobi steppe desert for thousands of years. However, it is much rarer to catch a glimpse of the time before the advent of pastoralism in this part of the world. During the Neolithic (ca. 6000–1800 B.C.), the Gobi was much less of a desert than it is today. Sparsely scattered archaeological sites testify to the presence of hunter-gatherer groups that successfully exploited rich wetland environments. As a result of the pedestrian survey carried out by the Dornod Mongol Survey in the greater region of Delgerkhaan Uul, we discovered in situ remains of a Neolithic habitation site. Excavations at the Margal site uncovered a stratified hearth and a lithic assemblage embedded in a habitation layer and accompanied by a few faunal bone fragments. Our finds correspond with the Oasis 2 stage (ca. 6000–3000 B.C.) of the scheme established by Janz and colleagues dividing the Mongolian Neolithic into phases based on habitation, as well as subsistence patterns and technology. However, some typical Oasis 2 markers such as pottery and grinding tools are missing from the small assemblage uncovered from test excavations in 2017 and 2018. Margal likely belonged to a regional network of extended hunter-gatherer occupation relying on wild plant and faunal resources. The site represents the first of its kind in the region and has potential to shed light on huntergatherer subsistence and habitation decisions. In concert with adjacent archaeological surface scatters and contextualized in the supraregional network of hunter-gatherer habitation, it will contribute to refining current models of lifeways and transformations in Mongolian prehistory.Item type: Item , Covers 1-4(2023-11-03)Item type: Item , Table of Contents(2023-11-03)