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Taiwan's Early Metal Age and Southeast Asian trading systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2016

Hsiao-chun Hung  and
Chin-yung Chao
Hsiao-chun Hung
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Natural History, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia (Email: [email protected])
Chin-yung Chao
Affiliation:
Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, Nankang, 11529, Taipei, Taiwan
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Abstract

Taiwan presents a puzzling anomaly in the development and expansion of South and Southeast Asian trade routes. The lack of historical records from the island emphasises the value of archaeology for understanding the establishment of trade and the transmission of people, ideas and knowledge. Recent research focusing on newly excavated sites such as Jiuxianglan shows that the Metal Age in Taiwan began around 400 BC, much earlier than was previously thought. Furthermore, it seems that early trade predominantly prioritised links to the south, and not, curiously, with Mainland China to the immediate west as had traditionally been supposed.

Keywords

TaiwanEarly Metal AgetrademetallurgyjadeMaritime Silk Roads
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 90 , Issue 354 , December 2016 , pp. 1537 - 1551
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2016 

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