Taiwan Archaeology: Local Development and Cultural Boundaries in the China Seas

In Taiwan Archaeology: Local Development and Cultural Boundaries in the  China Seas, Richard Pearson describes the archaeology of the island,  outlining the major discoveries of the past fifty years. These date from  roughly 200,000 years ago to the pivotal seventeenth century AD, the  time of Dutch and Spanish contact and the entry of Taiwan into global  trade markets. The book focuses on some forty sites and is based on  roughly 450 published sources in English, Chinese, and Japanese and  includes a brief discussion of finds from the surrounding areas of  Fujian, Guangdong, the northern Philippines, and the Ryukyu Islands,  noting their significance for understanding Taiwan. This discussion  allows for comparison of the different historical trajectories of the  neighboring regions of the East and South China Seas through more than  five millennia.

While the early chapters are primarily  descriptive with some interpretive conclusions, the final chapter  contains discussions of general topics that integrate and interpret the  earlier narrative sections and highlight some of the most interesting  topics of the latest research. Among the subjects covered are the  effects of sea level change, ancient exchange systems of basalt from  Penghu and nephrite from Fengtian (Hualien), and glass beads from  Southeast Asia and the China mainland. The prehistoric people of Taiwan  lived in a similar fashion to the peoples of the adjacent mainland until  around 3500 years ago, when their cultural and political developmental  trajectories diverged as Taiwan became isolated from the increasingly  complex societies of Guangdong and Fujian. New data show that southern  and eastern Taiwan groups participated in exchange networks with people  in Island Southeast Asia as early as 2500 years ago.

Unique in  its coverage of recent advances in the study of the long-term history of  Taiwan and surrounding areas, Taiwan Archaeology explores many features  of the island’s premodern past that are key to understanding its  current geopolitical situation.