Asian Perspectives, 2021 - Volume 60, Number 2 (Fall)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10125/108167
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Item type: Item , Item type: Item , Item type: Item , Errata(2021-11-30)Item type: Item , Item type: Item , The Multi-Period Settlement Dali in Southeastern Kazakhstan: Bronze Age Institutional Dynamics along the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor`(2021-11-30) Hermes, Taylor R; Doumani Dupuy, Paula N.; Henry, Edward R; Meyer, Marc; Mar’Yashev, Alexey N; Frachetti, Michael DArchaeological excavations at the Dali site complex located in southeastern Kazakhstan provide a rich picture of Bronze Age life spanning from the early third to late second millennia B.C. Nearly ten years of research at the site have produced an abundant assemblage of architectural remains, ritual and burial contexts, human and animal ancient DNA, and evidence for related economic practices and other material forms (ceramics, metallurgy). A systematic radiocarbon dating program provides detailed chronological context for the numerous stratigraphically documented phases of occupation, burial, and economy at the site. The settlement contexts at Dali provide some of the most varied and well-dated material assemblages known in the region and help illustrate how local pastoralist societies developed traditions of architecture, ceramic production, herd management, and ritual in the Early Bronze Age, while innovating and incorporating novel craft techniques, economic strategies, burial styles, and settlement construction in the Middle and Late Bronze Age. Taken together, the archaeological data from Dali allow for a detailed reconstruction of the local practices and regional interactions that engaged agro-pastoralist communities within diverse, shared institutional domains across the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor and beyond over a span of more than 2000 years.Item type: Item , Copper Mining and Metallurgy in the Zhongtiao Mountains and Yangzi River Valleys in Early China(2021-11-30) Shi, TaoThis article investigates the organization of copper mining and metallurgy in the Zhongtiao Mountains and along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangzi River during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages. Understanding copper mining and metallurgy in the Zhongtiao Mountains was based on the occurrence of specific ore characteristics and archaeological materials from the Dongxiafeng site, while the argument for the middle and lower Yangzi River valleys was based on the mining landscapes and archaeological materials from sites in and around the Tonglüshan and Tongling mining regions. Although the research methods were slightly different, archaeological information from the two regions suggests that copper mining and metallurgy were organized on a small-scale, local, and sporadic basis during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages. This article further suggests that the acquisition of copper resources was probably not based on direct state control. Rather, more fluid and indirect resource strategies were probably adopted by early Chinese states.Item type: Item , Hierarchical, Ethnic, and Provenance Features of Western Zhou Period Proto-Porcelain in Northern China: New Evidence of a Redistribution System During the Western Zhou Dynasty(2021-11-30) Li, HaichaoProto-porcelain from the Western Zhou Dynasty was considered highly valuable at the time and possibly originated in southern China. However, detailed information about proto-porcelain—the status and ethnic background of its owners, its inclusion in sets of objects, its regional and chronological features, and, most importantly, its provenance— is still unclear today. This article examines these aspects by conducting a comprehensive archaeological context analysis and comparison study. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, proto-porcelain was frequently used by Shang people, while among the Zhou people, only members of the central court and residents of a few important regional states with the surname Ji used proto-porcelain. With few exceptions, proto-porcelain objects were mostly owned by high-status groups. From the central court to regional states, proto-porcelain burial assemblages and typology were uniform. Considering the radial distribution pattern from the central court to peripheral areas, a redistribution system might have existed. A typological comparison suggests that most proto-porcelain found in the north came from the Qiantangjiang valley in Zhejiang Province. The proto-porcelain might have been custom ordered by the central court and then redistributed to different regional states in certain sets. This redistribution system was also applied to high-quality bronze vessels, the pattern of which reveals the central court’s political strategy.Item type: Item , Grave Goods from Megalithic Burials in the Upland Forests of the Nilgiri Mountains, South India: Analysis and Chronology(2021-11-30) De Simone, DanielaThe article examines the grave goods excavated in the nineteenth century from megalithic burials on the tops and ridges of the Nilgiri Mountains in southern India, an area of montane subtropical forests. This analysis is based on the study of the collection of Nilgiri grave goods held at the British Museum combined with a preliminary survey around the Nilgiri towns of Udhagamandalam and Kotagiri in Tamil Nadu that was carried out in November and December 2018. The article presents a stylistic and typological study of the Nilgiri grave goods based on a comparative analysis with analogous artifacts excavated at other South Asian sites and proposes an improved chronology for these materials.Item type: Item , Low-Density Urbanism in Medieval Sri Lanka: Exploring the Hinterland of Polonnaruva(2021-11-30) Manuel, Mark; Gunawaradhana, Prishanta; Namalgamuwa, Harendralal; Coningham, Robin; Krishnana, K; Senanayake, Jayampath; Rammungoda, Umanga RoshianiA survey of the hinterland of Polonnaruva revealed that a planned pluralistic landscape developed in Sri Lanka during the latter Early Medieval period (A.D. 600–1200). This represents a significant shift in settlement pattern from the more organically developed Buddhist Temporalities landscape model as found at the antecedent capital of Anuradhapura. Settlements around Polonnaruva were larger, longer-lasting, and more evenly distributed than those at Anuradhapura. This coincided with a major island-wide shift toward centralization thought to be associated with experimentation with a new model of royal control. Both systems can be described as instances of low-density urbanism, however, suggesting that there was greater variation within this settlement genre than previously anticipated.Item type: Item , An Immaterial Problem: Toward an Archaeology of Textiles and Textile Production in Historic South Asia(2021-11-30) Hawkes, JasonIndia is famous as a land of cloth. Yet for much of India’s historical past, the ways textiles were made and used, and their wider cultural and societal dimensions, are poorly understood. Most of what we know about them is gleaned from texts, but they have not been studied archaeologically. This is in contrast to archaeologies of earlier pre- and proto-historic periods, which are more materially grounded and draw on a range of proxies in examining textile production. This article demonstrates that a class of artifacts usually identified and dismissed as ‘beads’ throughout historical periods are spindle whorls. Analyses of these whorls can tell us a great deal about textile production and the societal contexts in which textiles were made and used. I also explore constraints on the archaeological investigation of textiles and textile production in historical periods in South Asia and advocate a more artifact-oriented approach.Item type: Item , Covers 1-4(2021-11-30)Item type: Item , Table of Contents(2021-11-30)Item type: Item , Letter From The Editor(2021-11-30) Allard, Francis; Bellina-Price, Berenice; Field, Julie; Demandt, Michele