Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 18th – there are several sessions relating to east &southeast Asian archaeology at the SAA conference in San Francisco:
Get-together for Archaeologists of East and Southeast Asia
Room: Union Square 5-6
Time: 5:30pm-7:00pm
New Perspectives on the Archaeology of Economics in China
Room: Continental Parlor 1
Time: 8:00am-10:45am
Chair: James Williams and Camilla Kelsoe
Abstract: Archaeological research in China has traditionally focused on long distance interactions between groups of cultures. An unfortunate result of this approach has been to stress the movement of goods over the sociopolitical implication of the interactions. This session aims to draw attention to the anthropological aspects of economy by focusing on processes of production, exchange, and consumption at a local scale. Contributors will examine the relationship of subsistence and utilitarian economies to local systems of social organization. A focus on small-scale communities rather than large culture areas has required researchers to pursue innovative methods and theories. This session will thus also explore the application and significance of this scholarship to the broader field of Chinese archaeology.
8:00 Local and Regional Economics in Northeast China (James Williams)
8:15 Modeling a Rapid Transition in Subsistence Regimes in Highland Western China (Jade DAlpoim Guedes)
8:30 Early Neolithic Plant Exploitation in East China (Guiyun Jin and Fuqiang Wang)
8:45 A Geoarchaeological Investigation of Ancient Agricultural Fields at Sanyangzhuang Site, Henan Province, China (Zhen Qin)
9:00 Bioarchaeology, Human Ecology, and Subsistence Change in Ancient China (Elizabeth Berger)
9:15 Economic Differentiation in Hongshan Core Zone Communities: A Geochemical Perspective (Tao Li)
9:30 Craft Production and Domestic Economies of the Prehistoric Chengdu Plain, Southwest China (Kuei-chen Lin)
9:45 Backgrounds of Emergence of the Early States in Central and Northern China (Xiangming Dai)
10:00 A Tale of Two Towns: Demographic and Economic Change in Two Middle Yangzi Communities (Camilla Kelsoe and Dong Li)
10:15 Alice Yao (Discussant)
10:30 Questions and Answers
Recent Advances in the Settlement and Landscape Archaeology of Southwest China and Southeast Asia Part I: The Macro Perspective: Spatial Analysis and Subsistence Systems
Room: Union Square 1
Time: 8:00am-10:45am
Chair: Alison Carter
Abstract: Since the beginnings of archaeological research in Southwest China and Southeast Asia, the focus has largely been on burial material. Whereas the burial customs, personal decoration, and weapon and tool assemblages that accompanied the deceased are by now fairly well known, the world of the living is far less well explored. During the last few years, however, there has been increasing interest in the settlement archaeology of the region, ranging from smaller-scale investigations of sites, to a broader landscape approach. A considerable number of field projects throughout Southwest China and Southeast Asia have greatly advanced our understanding of the daily lives of prehistoric and early historic inhabitants of the area. This session assembles papers that introduce some of the results of these research projects, providing an overview of our current knowledge in this field and pointing out new avenues of research. The first part of the session takes on the macro perspective of large-scale spatial analysis and long-term developments.
8:00 Sites, Survey, and Ceramics: A GIS-based Approach to Modeling Early Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the Upper Mun River Valley, Northeast Thailand (Caitlin Evans)
8:15 “Reconstructing” an Archaeological Landscape of NW Cambodia Beyond the Borders of the Greater Angkor Using Satellite Imaging (Kasper Jan Hanus and Emilia Smagur)
8:30 Hydraulic Nodes of Empire—Redux: Evaluating the Role of Artificial Water Tanks as Indicators of Territorial Control in Cambodia’s Medieval Landscape (6th to 15th c. CE) (Mitch Hendrickson)
8:45 Evaluating the Sustainability of an Angkor-Period Engineered Landscape at Koh Ker, Cambodia (Sarah Klassen, Damian Evans, Terry Lustig, Barry le Plastrier and Eileen Lustig)
9:00 Environmental Preconditions and Human Response: Subsistence Practices at Prehistoric Settlement Sites in the Liangshan Area, Southwest China (Anke Hein)
9:15 The Environmental History of Settlement at Co Loa, Vietnam: A Preliminary Pollen Sequence (Tegan McGillivray and Nam Kim)
9:30 Archaeobotany in Southeast Asia: What Have We Learned So Far? (Cristina Castillo)
9:45 Early Subsistence Practices at Prehistoric Dadunzi in Yuanmou, Yunnan: New Evidence for the Origins of Early Agriculture in Southwest China (Hetian Jin, Xu Liu, Rui Min, Xiaorui Li and Xiaohong Wu)
10:00 Roland Fletcher (Discussant)
10:15 Anke Hein (Discussant)
10:30 Questions and Answers
Recent Advances in the Settlement and Landscape Archaeology of Southwest China and Southeast Asia Part II: The Micro Perspective of Internal Settlement Organization and Object Production
Room: Union Square 1
Time: 1:00pm-4:15pm
Chair: Anke Hein
Abstract: Since the beginnings of archaeological research in Southwest China and Southeast Asia, the focus has largely been on burial material. Whereas the burial customs, personal decoration, and weapon and tool assemblages that accompanied the deceased are by now fairly well known, the world of the living is far less well explored. During the last few years, however, there has been increasing interest in the settlement archaeology of the region, ranging from smaller-scale investigations of sites, to a broader landscape approach. A considerable number of field projects throughout Southwest China and Southeast Asia have greatly advanced our understanding of the daily lives of prehistoric and early historic inhabitants of the area. This session assembles papers that introduce some of the results of these research projects, providing an overview of our current knowledge in this field and pointing out new avenues of research. While the first part of the session takes on the macro perspective of large-scale spatial analysis and long-term developments, this second part of the panel presents the micro perspective of settlement structure and object production.
1:00 Grounding an Underground Survey: Paddy Fields and Monumental Bronze Age Shell-Scapes in the Dian Basin, Yunnan, China (Alice Yao and Zhilong Jiang)
1:15 Sichuan Life Styles—Traditions and Adaptations in Prehistoric Architecture and Settlement Structure (Richard Ehrich)
1:30 Toward a Reconstruction of Early Settlements in Metal Age Yunnan (TzeHuey Chiou-Peng and Jianfeng Cui)
1:45 Between Manufacturing and Disposal: The Lives of the Pots in the Neolithic and Metal Age Settlements of Southern Vietnam (Michelle Eusebio)
2:00 Angkorian Residential Patterns: A View from the Trenches (Alison Carter, Miriam Stark, Piphal Heng and Rachna Chhay)
2:15 Settlement Archaeology in Southeast China during the Han Dynasty: Limitations and Approaches (Francis Allard)
2:30 Preliminary Study on Western Han Dynasty Settlements in the Lingnan region (Lo Chi Kei)
2:45 Centers of Power and Ritual: Discussing the Archaeological Remains from Two Large Zhangzhung-Period Settlements on the Tibetan Plateau (Yongxian Li)
3:00 The Settlement Remains of Sanxingdui—A Preliminary Study of Chronology and Site Development (Ran Honglin)
3:15 From Settlement to City: Two Issues Related to Phases I of the Site of Sanxingdui, Southwest China (Yu Lei)
3:30 Christophe Pottier (Discussant)
3:45 Alison Carter (Discussant)
4:00 Questions and Answers