Taiwan sits center stage in any consideration of the expansion of prehistoric settlement into the wider Pacific. Its role as a hub linking mainland China with maritime migrations across Oceania began with the realization that the deepest strata of the Austronesian language family, which ultimately spread from Madagascar to Rapa Nui, with forays even into South America, are to be found on this island. Archaeobotanical and archeological research have greatly refined this model by tracing the domestication of rice in the Yangtze River region. Millet, too, is now well documented in the Central Plains of the Yellow River. 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.
The first chapter summarizes the history of archaeological research on Taiwan, noting the early dominance of Japanese scholars during the period spanning the late nineteenth century through the Second World War. Since then, Taiwanese archaeologists have dominated the field, creating a veritable tsunami of new information that has been a side effect of rapid industrialization. Western scholars have also been involved, led by Wilhelm Solheim, whose major contribution has been his proposal that Austronesian speakers, whom he names the Nusantao, originated as maritime traders and migrants stimulated by post-Pleistocene rise in sea levels that created many new islands that had formerly been connected to larger islands or mainlands.
Paleolithic occupation on Taiwan, represented by the Changbin culture, dates between 30,000 and 14,000 years ago. What happened between then and the initial Neolithic settlement is not documented, except that at least some vestiges of a preceramic culture are known from about 5800 BP. Kuo divides the Neolithic occupation—characterized by pottery vessels, stone tools, and rice and millet cultivation—into four subdivisions, each with its regional cultural names. The Early Neolithic (5600–4200 BP) is known as the Tapenkeng period. The Middle Neolithic (4200–3200 BP) and the Late Neolithic (3200–2300 BP) are followed by the Final Neolithic (2300–1800 BP) and the succeeding Metal Age. Given the consistent evidence for maritime contacts across the Taiwan Strait (also known as the Formosa Strait, separating Taiwan from mainland China), it is remarkable that bronze technology, already well developed by 3700 BP on the mainland, took so long to become established on the islands. In describing these phases of the Neolithic, the author provides maps showing geographic locations of the constituent cultures.
Kuo describes in exhaustive detail the material culture of each Neolithic period before considering influences from the Asian mainland. Neolithic farmers crossed the Taiwan Strait with domesticated crops and material culture to establish the Tapenkeng regional groups. Continuing contacts were maintained with the Liangzhu state of the lower Yangtze, as evident from jade artifacts and crafting. The Tanshishan culture of Fujian Province and the Xiantouling culture of the Pearl River Delta exerted influence, particularly on communities of the western coast of Taiwan.
The same approach then covers the developed Tapenkeng tradition, during which new pottery forms appeared, and maritime interaction with the mainland were maintained and even intensified particularly with the Min River region and Guangdong Province. Of particular interest during the period is the evidence for the expansion of settlement, or establishment of trading links, with the key sites of the northern Philippines, which demonstrates competent handling of difficult ocean currents at an early date.
During the Late Neolithic, Taiwan was part of an extensive maritime exchange network, seen in the distribution of ornaments made of nephrite from Taiwan. During this period, the well-known site of Peinan, with its extensive cemetery containing coffin graves and stone house foundations, flourished. The notable double-headed ear ornaments with a distribution centered in the Sa Huynh communities of Vietnam reached Taiwan, and Taiwanese influence continued to be felt in the Philippines. One fascinating issue is the relationship between the later prehistoric cultures and the present-day Taiwan aborigines who survive largely on the eastern part of the island. By excavating abandoned aboriginal village sites, Kuo has linked these with the late prehistoric Paiwan culture.
The archaeology presented in this book is interesting and important, but there are some deficiencies in its production, particularly with respect to illustrations. Many figures are subpar in quality and clarity, and several maps lack scales and clear labels, for example. It is unfortunate that some of these production issues detract from the important archaeological sites and datasets discussed in the book, as well as the significant contributions Kuo makes to scholarship in this region.
Having access to a new study that positions the Taiwanese Neolithic in its broader context—one that draws on Chinese sources but that is available in English—is timely and valuable. Artifact morphology that defines regional and chronological cultures takes center stage, and relationships with the mainland and other islands are very much based on similarities in stone tools and ceramic vessels. One Late Neolithic nephrite ornament in the form of a boat stresses that throughout the period covered, the sea was a highway and not a barrier to travel, commerce, interaction, and migration.
