Early Maritime Interaction Networks in the South China Sea: A Multidisciplinary Approach

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Current State of Archaeological Research across Southeast Asia" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Well before the establishment—during the last two centuries BCE—of a “Maritime Silk Route” linking China to maritime lands to its south, archaeological evidence indicates the existence of wide-ranging links between coastal regions of the South China Sea. By the fifth century BCE, different types of goods moved along these maritime networks, including stone and glass ornaments (especially beads), as well as ceramic vessels and vessel styles. Two elements of these early networks of interaction are worth noting. First, the evidence for long-distance contact consists mostly of exotic goods and ornaments, and second, the relevant coastal cultures were all pre-literate. Partly for these reasons, understanding the nature and impact of these early interaction networks remains a challenge, with some suggesting that they represent the maintenance of patterns of migration and interaction established during the much earlier Austronesian expansion, while others point to the participation of wide-ranging “Sea Nomad” groups. As a way to move the discussion forward, this presentation argues for a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates oceanographic (e.g., winds; currents, deltaic geomorphology; interisland visibility) and ethnographic data. Comparisons to the Mediterranean also provide insights into the nature of early networks of interaction in the South China Sea.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Current State of Archaeological Research across Southeast Asia   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37924.0