Paradigms Shift: New Interpretations in Mainland Southeast Asian Archaeology

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Paradigms Shift: New Interpretations in Mainland Southeast Asian Archaeology," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Paradigms Shift: New Interpretations in Mainland Southeast Asian Archaeology

Over the past 20 years or more paradigmatic changes have led to new interpretations in prehistoric and historic Mainland Southeast Asian (MSEA) research, ranging from long-term field projects to cutting-edge laboratory analyses. These new interpretations are reshaping how we look at human adaptation and cultural development across this vast region. New insights include: roles of migration and demography in shaping regional population history; technology and economic organization of metal and ceramic production; and evidence for hitherto unappreciated subsistence diversity. Papers in this session synthesize and reevaluate recent developments in research fields including bioarchaeology, faunal analysis, archaeobotany, chronological revision, small finds analysis, the technology and organization of productive systems and their related exchange networks, and finally the rise, functioning and collapse of empire. Recently, developments in these research foci have significantly improved our understanding of the complex culture area that is MSEA and, over time, have prompted theoretical paradigm shifts of their own. Our intent here is to highlight the recent methodological and interpretational shifts in these areas and to explore current and future research pathways across the greater region.

Other Keywords
Bioarchaeology/Skeletal Analysis • Craft Production • Neolithic • Iron Age • demography • Political economy • Prehistory • Migration • Zooarchaeology • Kinship

Geographic Keywords
Republic of Indonesia (Country) • Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (Country) • Kingdom of Thailand (Country) • Kingdom of Cambodia (Country) • Republic of Singapore (Country) • Republic of Palau (Country) • Territory of Christmas Island (Country) • Republic of the Philippines (Country) • Malaysia (Country) • Negara Brunei Darussalam (Country)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-11 of 11)

  • Documents (11)
Documents
  • A Bioarchaeological View on Long-Term Development in Prehistoric Central Thailand (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Chin-hsin Liu.

    This is an abstract from the "Paradigms Shift: New Interpretations in Mainland Southeast Asian Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeologically, Metal Age sites in northeast and central Thailand exhibit different patterns in site formation, size, and mortuary practice. With geophysical characteristics of each region in mind, these differences have led to an on-going discussion on, for example, the origin of metallurgy and cultigens,...

  • Centralized Power/Decentralized production? Angkorian Stoneware and the Southern Production Complex of Cheung Ek, Cambodia (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Lisa Kealhofer. Kaseka Phon. Peter Grave. Miriam Stark. Darith Ea.

    This is an abstract from the "Paradigms Shift: New Interpretations in Mainland Southeast Asian Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Historically, international archaeological research in mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA) has been typically site-focused and ‘origins’ oriented (e.g., agriculture, metalworking). Theoretical framing has been inductive, frequently emphasizing the role of migration in culture change. More recently, interest in the...

  • Don’t Throw the Baby out with the Bathwater: New Insights into Palaeodemographic Change with the Intensification of Agriculture in Southeast Asia (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Nancy Tayles. Sian Halcrow. Kate Domett. Louise Shewan. Dougald O'Reilly.

    This is an abstract from the "Paradigms Shift: New Interpretations in Mainland Southeast Asian Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. With the accumulation of bioarchaeological research in mainland Southeast Asia we are beginning to assess the impact that agricultural intensification and associated environmental and social changes had on these societies. Recent work is starting to build up a model of demographic change with increasing...

  • Explaining Prehistoric Thailand’s 2000 Year Resilient Growth Economy and Peaceful Society: a Bottom-up Approach (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Joyce White.

    This is an abstract from the "Paradigms Shift: New Interpretations in Mainland Southeast Asian Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. After decades of archaeologists interpreting Thailand’s metal age development using top down approaches drawn from 1980s archaeological theory, it has become evident they do not work for this region. During the course of interpreting metal assemblages from Ban Chiang and related sites in northeast Thailand,...

  • Individual, Family, Site, 'Community' or Region? - Thinking Across Spatial and Social Scale in Prehistoric Laos and Thailand (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Nigel Chang.

    This is an abstract from the "Paradigms Shift: New Interpretations in Mainland Southeast Asian Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Prehistory is made up of individuals and families going about their daily lives. Surely, no one in NE Thailand 3000 years ago was thinking deeply about how to craft a ‘state’ from small semi-agricultural villages. However, it can also be argued that large scale social and technological change and Asia-wide...

  • Kinship and Migration in Prehistoric MSEA: Insights from Isotopic Analysis over the Years (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only R. Alexander Bentley.

    This is an abstract from the "Paradigms Shift: New Interpretations in Mainland Southeast Asian Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Kinship is an important but often under-researched aspect of the rise of complex societies. Whereas early agricultural communities in Neolithic Europe and East Asia were patrilineal and patrilocal, the nature and impact of prehistoric kinship systems in Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA) is becoming better...

  • Mind the Gap: Occupation at Angkor Wat and Implications for the decline of Angkor (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Alison K. Carter. Hong Wang. Miriam Stark. Rachna Chhay. Piphal Heng.

    This is an abstract from the "Paradigms Shift: New Interpretations in Mainland Southeast Asian Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Angkor Empire controlled or influenced much of mainland Southeast Asia from the 9-15th centuries CE. Traditionally, scholars have dated the end of the Angkor Empire to 1431 CE, when the capital was sacked by the kingdom of Ayuddhaya in Siam (Thailand). More recent archaeological work has also demonstrated a...

  • Old Bones, New Data: Pigs and Dogs from Prehistoric Non Pa Wai, Lopburi Province, Central Thailand in a Regional Context (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Karen Mudar.

    This is an abstract from the "Paradigms Shift: New Interpretations in Mainland Southeast Asian Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In the 1980s and 1990s, excavations by the Thailand Archaeometallurgy Project (TAP) at prehistoric Non Pa Wai in the Khao Wong Prachan Valley of central Thailand produced a large assemblage of animal bones. These include many pig and dog bones that provide evidence for management for food. Since their initial...

  • Reinterpreting Archaeobotany in Mainland Southeast Asia (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Cristina Castillo. Charles Higham. Katie Miller. Nigel Chang. Dorian Fuller.

    This is an abstract from the "Paradigms Shift: New Interpretations in Mainland Southeast Asian Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In the 1990s, two major archaeobotanical studies were undertaken which shape our understanding of subsistence and agriculture in Prehistoric Mainland Southeast Asia. Although most field archaeologists in Southeast Asia do not routinely collect samples for biological studies, archaeobotanical data has grown...

  • Rethinking Household/Community Based Production – Broadening the Conversation (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Judy Voelker.

    This is an abstract from the "Paradigms Shift: New Interpretations in Mainland Southeast Asian Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Thailand Archaeometallurgy Project (TAP) has focused on the Khao Wong Prachan Valley, central Thailand in efforts to better understand the origins of metallurgy in Southeast Asia. TAP has excavated three culturally and technologically related copper production and habitation sites in this valley: Non Pa Wai...

  • The Technology of Metallurgy and Evolving Views of Its Development in Prehistoric Thailand (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Vincent C. Pigott.

    This is an abstract from the "Paradigms Shift: New Interpretations in Mainland Southeast Asian Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In the archaeology of prehistoric Thailand, the sub-field of archaeometallurgy has undergone numerous changes in established perceptions, both anthropologically and technologically. This paper introduces the Symposium and overviews recent shifts that characterize how metallurgy in Thailand has come to be...