Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents Summary for Volumes 1, 2 and 3
- Contents
- Volume 1 Maps
- Volume 2 Maps
- Volume 3 Maps
- About the Contributors
- Volume 1
- I. Introduction
- II. Africa
- III. South and Southeast Asia
- 1.20 The Palaeolithic of South Asia
- 1.21 The Early Palaeolithic of Southeast Asia
- 1.22 South and Southeast Asia: DNA
- 1.23 The Upper Palaeolithic of South and Southeast Asia
- 1.24 Post-Pleistocene South Asia: Food Production in India and Sri Lanka
- 1.25 The Indus Civilisation
- 1.26 India beyond the Indus Civilisation
- 1.27 Historic India
- 1.28 Early Food Production in Southeast Asia
- 1.29 Complex Society in Prehistoric Mainland Southeast Asia
- 1.30 Summary of Historic Mainland Southeast Asia
- 1.31 Prehistory of the Indonesian Archipelago
- 1.32 The Philippines
- 1.33 South and Island Southeast Asia: Languages
- IV. The Pacific
- Volume 2
- Volume 3
- Index
- References
1.28 - Early Food Production in Southeast Asia
from III. - South and Southeast Asia
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2014
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents Summary for Volumes 1, 2 and 3
- Contents
- Volume 1 Maps
- Volume 2 Maps
- Volume 3 Maps
- About the Contributors
- Volume 1
- I. Introduction
- II. Africa
- III. South and Southeast Asia
- 1.20 The Palaeolithic of South Asia
- 1.21 The Early Palaeolithic of Southeast Asia
- 1.22 South and Southeast Asia: DNA
- 1.23 The Upper Palaeolithic of South and Southeast Asia
- 1.24 Post-Pleistocene South Asia: Food Production in India and Sri Lanka
- 1.25 The Indus Civilisation
- 1.26 India beyond the Indus Civilisation
- 1.27 Historic India
- 1.28 Early Food Production in Southeast Asia
- 1.29 Complex Society in Prehistoric Mainland Southeast Asia
- 1.30 Summary of Historic Mainland Southeast Asia
- 1.31 Prehistory of the Indonesian Archipelago
- 1.32 The Philippines
- 1.33 South and Island Southeast Asia: Languages
- IV. The Pacific
- Volume 2
- Volume 3
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
Over the past few decades, Southeast Asia has been recognised as one of the centres of food production, in particular of rice and root crops (e.g., Chang 1983; Sauer 1971). However, recent research has revealed that the dates of domesticated plants and animals discovered in the region are relatively younger than those from China, and the evidence is found in increasingly large quantities after the introduction of bronze and iron, c. 4500 bp. This chapter is a survey of early “food production”, which most Southeast Asian archaeologists generally place in the Neolithic Period (the next section defines this term ). This survey is based on currently available information, including both local and foreign publications written in English. I am aware that there are a number of books in English that are very good comprehensive reviews covering Southeast Asian food production written by Western archaeologists, including Barker (2006), Bellwood (2005), Higham (Higham & Thosarat 1998), and Hutterer (1982, 1983). These books provide good syntheses of current debates and comparative examples from global perspectives. Here I also draw on relevant information published by local Southeast Asian archaeologists.
It is important to point out that our understanding of food production in Southeast Asian prehistory is rather limited, due to the lack of information from several countries (e.g., Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Singapore). Most research has taken place in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. Moreover, a relative chronology is commonly applied to local and regional sequences throughout Southeast Asia. Most archaeological remains from recent surveys and excavated sites have been compared with the well-dated sites of Ban Kao, Khok Phanom Di, Ban Chiang, Non Nok Tha and Ban Non Wat in Thailand; Dabut and Cai Beo in Vietnam; Gua Cha and Niah Cave in Malaysia; and so on.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge World Prehistory , pp. 457 - 477Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014
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