The influence of European contact in the 17th century in Taiwan

Summary

This proposed research will discuss the interaction between Europeans and indigenous people in the 17th Century, which is one of the important topics of historical archaeology in Taiwan, and explore how the indigenous societies responded to the intense culture contact with Europeans. Taiwan was colonized by Europeans in the early 17th Century and was viewed as a trading base for commerce with Japan and the coastal area of China. In this period, Taiwan had become part of the global trade network in the post-European period, which not only brought the indigenous societies great amount of imported materials, but also influenced the indigenous material culture and societies. European trade network might stimulate the social differentiation if individuals control these imported goods and lead to social complexity. On the contrary, the intense circulation of trade goods might also undermine the monopolization of leaders to accumulate the wealth. By comparing the material culture of indigenous people before and after European contact, we might be able to figure out if there is the transformation of social organization in indigenous societies due to European contact, or Europeans were just another trader traders who under previous established principles of exchange network.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Guava Cat Archaeology: Papers in memory of Prof. Pochan Chen

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