Asian Perspectives, 2003 - Volume 42, 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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ItemRadiocarbon Ages for Two Sites on Ua Huka, Marquesas(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 2003)Radiocarbon dates are presented and discussed for two sites with deep stratigraphy on Va Huka Island, Marquesas. The lowest layer at the Hokatu site dates to the eleventh to thirteenth centuries A.D. At Hatuana, earlier radiocarbon-age estimates extended to the sixth to ninth centuries A.D. New results from the Waikato and Oxford Radiocarbon laboratories indicate that the lower levels at Hatuana are no older than about the fourteenth century. KEYWORDS: radiocarbon dates, East Polynesia, Marquesas, French Polynesia, archaeology.
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ItemRitual and Presentation in Early Buddhist Religious Architecture(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 2003)The physical organization and layout of Buddhist reliquary mounds, stupas, provides a window into the forms of ritual practiced by Buddhists in the first few centuries B.C. through the end of the second century A.D. Specifically, the manner in which stupas were architecturally presented informs upon the differences in ritual presentation by the clergy and the laity. Attempts by the Buddhist clergy to direct worship and establish a privileged position in regard to the Buddha were resisted by the laity; in contrast, the laity attempted to preserve the egalitarian aspects of Buddhism. Traces of the laity's resistance can be identified in the architectural layouts of ritual spaces of the early Buddhists. The organization of ritual within stupa complexes also illustrates the methods used by early Buddhists to foster group cohesion within a highly individualistic religious tradition. KEYWORDS: Buddhism, ritual, architecture, presentation, stupas.
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ItemNine New Painted Rock Art Sites from East Timor in the Context of the Western Pacific Region(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 2003)Few rock art sites are known for the islands of Wallacea. This paper reports nine new painted rock art sites located in East Timor during archaeological reconnaissance in 2000 to 2001; bringing the total number of painted rock art sites in East Timor to 15. Both the new and previously known rock art sites in East Timor are reviewed in the context of painted rock art elsewhere in the western Pacific region. They are also evaluated in terms of the criteria used by Ballard (1992) to define the "Austronesian painting tradition" and the relationship between the art, topography, and language groups for the new sites is described. Motif content, motif placement within the sites, and design elements are compared in a preliminary fashion with that of other painting sites known from East Timor and the western Pacific. The East Timor sites are conformable with Austronesian-painted rock art sites elsewhere although they display some features that appear to be locally or regionally distinctive. It is likely that with systematic survey, and thorough inspection of cave and shelter walls, many more sites will be found in East Timor and elsewhere in Island Southeast Asia. The faded and deteriorated condition of many of the East Timor paintings indicates that recording should be undertaken with some urgency. KEYWORDS: painted rock art, East Timor, Island Southeast Asia, Western Pacific, Austronesian painting tradition.
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ItemLooking into the Gap: Land Use and the Tropical Forests of Southern Thailand(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 2003)The pollen and phytolith analysis of a 20,000-year lake core from southern Thailand provides the first long-term environmental sequence for this region. The evidence suggests that groups continuously occupied southern Thailand through both the early Holocene formation of the tropical rainforest and the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture. Hunter-gatherers of the late Pleistocene apparently made the initial transition to the new tropical forest in the early Holocene by maintaining, expanding, or creating localized areas of disturbance or forest gaps to focus economic resources. KEYWORDS: palaeoenvironment, subsistence, Holocene, Thailand, phytolith analysis.