The Pleistocene art of Asia

While the Pleistocene art of Europe has been described, discussed, analyzed and explained in thousands of publications, that of Asia has attracted almost no interest at all. This paper is a brief summary of all known Ice Age art of Asia, both rock art and portable art. The current evidence is critically reviewed, region by region, and hundreds of specimens purported to be art are rejected by the author. Those considered to be authentic are often extremely isolated, in both time and space. It is argued that this record can only be explained effectively as having been greatly distorted by several factors. The geographical distribution, for instance, is clearly conditioned by such factors as intensity of research activities and local preservation conditions. Thus the pronounced paucity of available evidence is, at least in part, imposed by taphonomic biases of various types.     

东南亚宗教的特点及其在中国对外交流中的作用——兼谈东南亚华人宗教的特点

论文介绍了东南亚国家宗教的基本情况和特点,阐述了东南亚区域发展中宗教在整合意识形态、维护地区国家主权、促进地区经济合作与交流等方面的积极作用,进而对宗教在促进中国与东南亚国家交流中的积极作用提出了具体建议。认为儒教、道教、佛教作为维系华人社会的重要纽带,促进着华人社会的稳定和发展,对儒教、道教、佛教的宗教感情实际上寄托了华人的民族感情。东南亚华人宗教与中国传统宗教血脉相连,要在平衡发挥五大宗教作用的基础上,注重发挥东南亚国家华人宗教在与中国交流中的独特作用。     

东南亚地区农业起源研究综论

自20世纪50年代始,东南亚地区的农业起源探索历程至今已半个多世纪。大量考古发现表明,东南亚早期农业的性质是依赖于根系作物的驯化和块茎作物的栽培,该地区早期农业的特点与树木栽培的实践紧密相连,但农业起源的时间尺度仍未很好地建立。基于东南亚地区植物遗存和农业性质的特殊性,多种研究方法得以运用,也相继提出了许多不同的理念。东南亚地区农业起源的研究对中国华南地区早期农业的探索具有很好的启示作用。     

Economic crises in the ASEAN area: types and responses

Southeast Asia, the world region covering the countries of ASEAN, lies at the crossroads between China and India. Since early times it has been part of the global economy, going through cycles of boom and bust at least from the nineteenth century onwards. This essay compares three successive economic crises during the 1880s, 1930s and late 1990s. It shows how different types of crisis reflected as well as produced changes in the connectivity between production factors and institutional arrangements. Whereas the crisis of the 1880s was ‘local’, that of the 1930s was both ‘national’ and ‘delegated global’ and that of the 1990s ‘regional’ in nature. The types of crisis and the ways in which they were handled reflected structural changes in the institutional architecture of the global economy.     

The ethics, politics, and realities of maritime archaeology in Southeast Asia

There is a constant battle between maritime archaeologists and commercial salvors throughout the world. In many developed countries, the arguments of archaeologists are valid, and their actions fully justify their stance. This is not so in Southeast Asia. In this region, archaeological information is being lost on a massive scale. Co-operation between the two groups, and with regional governments, is essential to prevent more irreparable damage.     

郑和下西洋与东南亚华侨华人

根据笔者实地考察,东南亚至少有15个郑和寺庙和近30个有关郑和的传说。它们反映了早期南洋中国移民的生活状况、他们与当地妇女的通婚、华侨宗教信仰的特点以及华侨华人在中外文化交流中所发挥的重要的桥梁作用。东南亚华人纪念郑和活动的特点是“四个结合”,即将纪念郑和与继承中华传统文化、吸收定居国文化相结合,与宣扬祖籍国和定居国的友好关系相结合,与发扬华人创业精神相结合以及与争取华族正当权益、促进族群和睦、繁荣当地经济相结合。虽然郑和在东南亚影响很大,但海外对郑和的了解仍十分有限,因此,在海外全面、深入地介绍郑和任重而道远。     

试论20世纪初东南亚日人对当地华侨民族主义的影响

20世纪初 ,日人依靠其政府扶持迅速崛起于东南亚地区 ,这一切对当地华侨民族主义产生了重要的影响。首先 ,日人在当地待遇的改善更加凸显出华侨地位的不平等 ,刺激着华侨不断抗争 ,向日人看齐成为华侨民族主义发展的原动力和奋斗目标之一。其次 ,日人的崛起历程犹如一个参照系 ,使华侨切实体验到一国的强大对其侨民在海外发展的积极意义 ,推动着他们为中国的强大而奋斗。最后 ,一战期间 ,日人在当地的经济扩张威胁到华侨在当地的生存发展 ,为此 ,广大华侨高举民族主义旗帜 ,开展抵制日货运动 ,与日人展开斗争     

东南亚的非传统安全问题

后冷战时期,东南亚地区面临着非常严峻的恐怖主义、海盗、毒品生产与贩运等非传统安全问题的困扰。尽管表现形式各异,但是东南亚地区各类非传统安全问题的形成与贫困都有着密不可分的关系。各类非传统安全问题无论对东南亚各国的经济发展和社会稳定,还是对东南亚国家之间的关系以及东南亚国家与区域外部大国的关系都产生了重大影响。为了有效应对非传统安全问题的挑战,东南亚国家在调整自己的安全观念的同时,还从不同层面出发采取了很多切实有效的举措．     

Developing Complex Societies in Southeast Asia: Using Archaeological and Historical Evidence

A number of archaeologists are making significant advances in the historical archaeology of Southeast Asia. The papers presented in this issue, and the one that preceded it, provide new insights and exciting directions for future research.     

古代华侨华人与中医药在东南亚的传播

中医药是中华文化成就的重要组成部分,它在古代对中国周边国家产生过重要影响。本文主要论述了古代华侨华人在东南亚的医药活动及其对东南亚国家和地区所产生的影响。     

Obsidian sources and distribution systems in Island Southeast Asia: new results and implications from geochemical research using LA-ICPMS

This paper discusses new evidence of long-distance interaction networks in Island Southeast Asia obtained from geochemical analyses using SEM-EDXA and LA-ICPMS of 101 obsidian samples from 25 locations including seven obsidian sources and 19 archaeological sites. Given that there are obsidian sources distributed throughout much of Island Southeast Asia, the potential for obsidian studies to provide greater understanding of patterns of mobility and exchange in the Pre-Neolithic and Neolithic periods would seem to be considerable. This potential, however, remains largely unrealised as obsidian sourcing has hitherto only been carried out intermittently in Island Southeast Asia using PIXE-PIGME, XRF and other methods.     

The prehistory of the Austronesian-speaking peoples: A view from language

Prior to the European colonial expansions of the past several centuries the Austronesian (AN) language family had the greatest geographical extent of any on earth, including in its territory areas that had never previously been settled. Although predominantly distributed in a tropical or subtropical environment, AN-speaking peoples exhibit a wide range of physical types, material cultures, and types of social and political organization. This paper addresses ways in which linguistic comparison can contribute toward answering such questions as the following: Where was the AN homeland? What was the nature of early AN material culture, social and political organization? What can we infer about early AN pathology? How did early AN speakers view the spirit world? It concludes with a discussion of culture loss, many examples of which can be inferred both from the Pacific and from insular Southeast Asia.     

Spaces of labour control: comparative perspectives from Southeast Asia

This paper seeks to identify the spatialized dimensions of labour control in sites of rapid and recent industrialization in Southeast Asia. Using a comparative analysis of locations in Penang (Malaysia), Batam (Indonesia) and Cavite/Laguna (the Philippines), it is argued that the construction and control of space has been used to enhance control over the working body, and, in particular, to contain labour organization, unionization and collective bargaining. Three broader arguments are made. First, that labour geographies need to be cognizant of the spatialized politics of labour beyond a narrow focus on the trade union movement. Second, that space is a potent tool in labour control and must be explicitly considered alongside the identity–based control strategies and institutional structures that have usually informed studies of labour regimes in newly industrializing contexts. Finally, a comparative perspective on local labour markets, and control regimes in particular, shows that the ways in which space is constructed and controlled differs between contexts, implying that universal judgements on the relevance or importance of particular arenas or spaces for labour politics should be reserved.     

浅析东南亚地区出土(水)的龙泉青瓷——遗址概况、分期及相关问题分析

近年来在东南亚地区的一些陆地遗址以及相关海域的沉船遗址中发现了数量颇多的龙泉青瓷,年代从南宋早期延续到明代中期。龙泉青瓷器在东南亚地区的发现一定程度上反映了历史上龙泉青瓷器对该地输出的情况。东南亚地区出土(水)龙泉青瓷器器形有碗、盘、洗、瓶、香炉、罐、梅瓶、高足杯、盆、盒、壶、匜等,其中以碗、盘、罐较为多见,在当地主要的用途为:生活用器、祭器、随葬用器、葬具和陈设器等。龙泉青瓷大量外销东南亚地区,对当地的制瓷手工业产生了很大的影响。     

Tooth Ablation in Prehistoric Southeast Asia

A sample of skeletons excavated from an undisturbed prehistoric (4000–3500 years BP) burial site in Thailand included a high proportion of individuals with anterior teeth missing in distinctive, mostly symmetrical, patterns. The patterns, types and numbers of teeth missing have been compared between males and females, with age at death, with depth of burial and among spatially distinct groups within the cemetery. The patterns of missing teeth changed over time. In early burials, lateral maxillary incisors were most commonly missing. Two-thirds of the adults had missing teeth. There were no significant differences between the sexes or with age. In later burials, central maxillary incisors and mandibular incisors were most commonly missing. All adults and some children as young as 11 years had missing teeth. There were no significant changes with age but females had more missing teeth than males. Loss as a result of extreme wear inflicted through the use of teeth as tools, congenital absence and ritual ablation are discussed as explanations for the absence of the teeth. The evidence suggests that ritual ablation is the most likely explanation, although the loss of mandibular incisors in some early burials may be as a result of industrial use of the teeth. The ablation of maxillary lateral incisors, found in the early burials, has been recorded at another prehistoric site in the west of Thailand and at sites in southern China.