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This book summarizes the systematic research on the Neolithic cultures of Taiwan, based on the latest archaeological discoveries, and focusing on the maritime interactions between mainland southeast China, Taiwan, and southeast Asia during (5600-1800 BP). The study demonstrates and sheds light on the distinctiveness of Taiwan's Neolithic cultures, their interactions with the external cultures of its surrounding regions, the maritime cultural diffusion and early seafaring across sea regions like the Taiwan Strait, Bashi channel and South China Sea. Drawing on the author's deep understanding of Taiwan and its surrounding regions, the book also incorporates recent archeological findings by Taiwanese researchers. Further, based on a new reconstruction of the spatiotemporal framework of Taiwanese prehistoric cultures, the chronologically arranged chapters discuss Neolithic cultures of the early, middle, late and final stage of this island region, revealing the prehistoric cultural development, regional typology and their maritime interactions with surrounding regions. The typological study of the native traits and external cultural influences of each stage of Neolithic culture shows the prehistoric and early history of this key stepping stone in the Asia-Pacific region.
List of contents
1 Introduction.- 2 Spatial-Temporal Framework for the Prehistoric Cultures of Taiwan.- 3 Archaeological Cultures and their Maritime Interactions during the Tapenkeng Period (5,200-4,200 B.P.).- 4 Archaeological Cultures during the Successive Period of TPK and their Maritime Connections (4200 - 3200 B.P.).- 5 Archaeological Cultures during the Late and Final Neolithic Ages and their Maritime Connections (3200 to 1800 B.P.).- 6 Conclusion.- 7 References.
About the author
Su-chiu Kuo, holds a PhD. in Archaeology from Tokyo University of Japan, and is an Associate Research Fellow of the Institute of History and Philology at the Academia Sinica of Taiwan. She has served as an excavator at a series of important Neolithic sites in Taiwan, such as Botanical Garden, Yuanshan and Fengpitou. She has published a number of papers on the Neolithic maritime cultural interaction across the Taiwan Strait.
Report
"There is a great deal of valuable new archaeological data presented in this book, and the author, Su-chiu Kuo, has been prominent in advancing our knowledge through her own fieldwork." (Charles Higham, American Antiquity, May 4, 2021)
