The Neolithic of Southeast China: Cultural Transformation and Re ...

However, as discussed above, the extant archaeological materials in southeast China only offer a vague picture of the Neolithic of this area. Our understanding of the Neolithic cultures of southeast China has been confined to a small number of archaeological sites excavated with a narrow strategy. The current chronology of Neolithic southeast China is poorly established on a few C-14 dates without a secure archaeological context. The date of many sites is assumed based on the stylistic comparison of pottery and stone tools. Little is known about subsistence patterns, human interactions with the environment, and inter-community exchange. Owing to the small number of excavated sites, the Neolithic cultures in many areas are still not clear. Southern and northeastern coastal Fujian are two such areas.

It is with the above understanding of the significance and problems of the Neolithic archaeology of southeast China that I outline my own research in this area, with the explicit aim of outlining the processes of cultural change and their implications for the Proto-Austronesian dispersals. The major issues explored in this monograph include:

1. The chronological sequences of the archaeological sites on the coast of southeast China: This basic archaeological issue, though important for any archaeological inquiry anywhere in the world, remains poorly answered in southeast China. An effort to systematically evaluate the previous archaeological record and to find new dating materials is essential for any further interpretations. Thus, the field work undergirding this book involves new archaeological excavations as well as an analysis of museum collections. As will be elaborated in the following chapters, one of my primary concerns during the excavations was to find more dating samples in order to construct a better chronology.

2. The subsistence economy in the Neolithic of southeast China: Previous archaeological records are particularly ineffective to study the subsistence economy, because the focus of the archaeological excavations in this area has been to find artifacts such as pottery and stone tools. Information related to subsistence were either discarded or only collected on contingency. Therefore, I have systematically collected and analyzed faunal and floral information in my own work. Despite my work being limited to two sites, the information retrieved has significantly enhanced our understanding of the Neolithic economy in this area.