Asian Perspectives, 1995 - Volume 34, Number 2 (Fall)

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https://hdl.handle.net/10125/16588

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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    Blood and Plant Residues on Hawaiian Stone Tools from Two Archaeological Sites in Upland Kane'ohe, Ko'olau Poko District, O'ahu Island
    (University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1995) Allen, Jane; Newman, Margaret E.; Riford, Mary; Archer, Gavin H.
    Stone tools recovered from Bishop Museum Sites SO-Oa-GS-97 and G5-152 in upland Kane'ohe, O'ahu, have produced the first animal and plant residue identifications reported for sites in the Hawaiian Islands. Mter microscopic inspection for signs of edge wear, 20 tools were analyzed through cross-over electrophoresis; five tested positive against anti-dog, anti-pig, and anti-fern sera. Historical information concerning pre-Contact (pre-A.D. 1778) Hawaiian uses of dog, pig, and fern is summarized, and the technique and current results are evaluated in terms of the information they promise concerning artifact and site function, dating, intersite networks, and sociopolitical developments. KEYWORDS: artifact function, cross-over electrophoresis (CIEP), Hawaiian archaeology, lithics, residue analysis, use wear.
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    Constructing Seriations from the Guthe Collection, the Central Philippines: Implications for Southeast Asian Ceramic Chronologies
    (University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1995) Gunn, Mary M.; Graves, Michael W.
    Using ceramic assemblages from the Guthe Collection that were studied by Solheim (1964), we employ the seriation method to arrange Philippine earthenware vessels by major artifact class, surface treatment, design, and morphology. While general artifact classes such as porcelain and iron produced successful seriations across all of the sites, we found that, for certain vessel dimensions, seriations produced "best-fit" arrangements when sites were grouped by geographic location. The results of our analyses may support a divergence model of social groups sharing common ceramic styles, reflected by similar morphological traits, spreading out from a central location rather than the foreign-based migration scenarios proposed by many Southeast Asian archaeologists. KEYWORDS: seriation, ceramics, style, Southeast Asia, Philippines.
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    Community Growth and Heiau Construction: Possible Evidence of Political Hegemony at the Site of Kaunolu, Lana'I, Hawai'i
    (University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1995) Dixon, Boyd; Carpenter, Alan; Eble, Francis; Mitchell, Christi; Major, Maurice
    Early accounts of Hawaiian history indicate that the island of Lana'i first came under the political rule of Maui chiefs during the fifteenth century A.D. Results of a 1991 intensive survey and mapping of the archaeological sites of Kaunolii and Mamaki on the southwest coast of the island, however, did not detect surface evidence of this relationship prior to the mid-1600s, with substantial habitation at the villages presumably occurring in the succeeding two centuries. An interpretation of monumental- scale heiau (religious structure) construction style at both sites, and a study of possible community growth at Kaunolii, do suggest that off-island political hegemony may be detected in the architectural record. But, several additional avenues for future research are proposed to refine the chronology and nature of this hypothetical political relationship. KEYWORDS: chiefdoms, heiau, Hawai'i, Lana'i, architectural style, community growth.
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    Later Jomon Subsistence in Northeastern Japan: New Evidence from Palaeoethnobotanical Studies
    (University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1995) D'Andrea, A Catherine
    This paper discusses prehistoric subsistence and the development of plant husbandry in northeastern Tohoku (northern Honshu). Archaeobotanical sampling was carried out at two sites in eastern Aomori Prefecture. Tominosawa is a Middle Jomon village site which produced a spectrum of nut and weedy plant species similar to that recovered from contemporary sites in southwestern Hokkaido. At the Kazahari site, pithouses from two phases of occupation were sampled for archaeobotanical remains: Tokoshinai IV (c. 1000 B.C.) and Fukurashima (c. 150 B.C.). The pithouse deposits produced evidence for Late Jomon rice, foxtail millet, and broomcorn millet dating to the first millennium B.C. Sampling of later Fukurashima contexts produced evidence of rice, foxtail and broomcorn millet, Japanese barnyard millet, and hemp. These data demonstrate that rice and millets have been present in northeastern Tohoku since c. 1000 B.C., and that farming systems were in place during later Fukurashima occupations. Ecological and ethnographic evidence is used to postulate that plant husbandry was possible in the area during Tokoshinai IV. It is concluded that the northward dispersal of rice was more rapid than was previously thought, and consequently that this movement may not have been greatly affected by cultural and ecological constraints. In addition, rice cultivation dispersed into northeastern Japan independently of wet-paddy technology. KEYWORDS: Japan, Tohoku, Jomon, subsistence, cultivation.
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    Evidence for Prehistoric Dryland Farming in Mainland Southeast Asia: Results of Regional Survey in Lopburi Province, Thailand
    (University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1995) Mudar, Karen M.
    Recent research on the eastern margins of the Bangkok Plain in central Thailand has identified a series of prehistoric sites that do not fit a pattern of reliance on wet rice agriculture. A systematic settlement survey in Lopburi Province has identified habitation dating from the third millennium B.C. to the first millennium A.D. on a fan-terrace complex adjacent to the Central Plain. The survey focused on the middle- and high-terrace areas of the Lam Maleng Stream Valley. Results indicate that a significant number of the prehistoric sites were located on high terraces whose soil characteristics did not encourage wet-rice cultivation, suggesting that these settlements did not rely on wet rice for subsistence. Migration to middle-terrace soils suitable for wet rice did not occur until after the beginning of the present era, further indicating that a shift to wet-rice cultivation occurred relatively late in the occupation of the area. A pattern of prehistoric settlement location excluding ready access to rice-growing soils has not been reported for Mainland Southeast Asia, possibly because of the unusual features ofsoil and climate in the eastern Marginal Plains. Agricultural strategies in prehistoric Mainland Southeast Asia may have been more diverse than generally thought. Assumptions about the importance of wet rice in the prehistoric economies of Southeast Asian societies may also have structured research strategies, especially survey methods, in ways that have not produced representative samples of sites. Results from the Lam Maleng Valley survey suggest that dryland farming may have provided a viable economic base prehistorically. KEYWORDS: locational analysis, wet rice agriculture, central Thailand.
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    34:2 Table of Contents - Asian Perspectives
    (University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1995)
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