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

Keqiutou is the earliest site, and is similar in its cultural attributes to two others, all of which are situated on offshore islands, but could have been at their time, some 6000 years ago, at the edge of the coastal belt. They seem to indicate a colonization by the bearers of the Hemudu culture, located further north in Zhejiang Province. The maritime subsistence of these sites may reflect the habitation of the last fishers in the area but further research is required to clarify whether like the people of Hemudu culture they also practiced agriculture.

Damaoshan and the later Huangguashan and their contemporaries represent a sequence that began about 5000 B.P. and ended ca. 3500 years ago. These sites mark the full advent of agriculture and the incorporation of domesticated pig. Like all farming communities across the world they also exploited the natural resources and in these cases, the sea produced some of the food. By providing a new chronology for the early Neolithic of the coastal areas the author posited a whole new set of questions and demonstrated the urgent need for additional information. By demonstrating the differences between the Damaoshan and Huangguashan sites he was able to record the substantial cultural changes that emerged around 4300 years ago. At that time the impact of the inland cultures on the coastal areas was felt strongly. Fujian is not the sole region where archaeologists discovered similar phenomena. Maritime sources, hunting and plant gathering allowed many groups of foragers to survive for many millennia before the arrival of farmers. The same trend appears to have taken place also in southeast China.

The archaeological information reported and discussed in this volume contributes to illuminating the issue of Austronesian languages. The cultural connection between the well-known Dapenkeng in Taiwan and the contemporary sites in southeast China, are considered the origin of the Austronesian speakers who spread across the Pacific. The most commonly debated issue is the motivation for this dispersal and the author succeeds in integrating the various explanations into a coherent scenario that takes into account the social pressures, economic possibilities, gender roles in labor division, and the technologies developed for seafaring. He correctly points out the additional questions and targets for future research that should be the agenda for the next generation of archaeologists.