Ancient Ryukyu
An Archaeological Study of Island Communities
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19155169 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Richard J Pearson, Richard Pearson, Richard D Pearson (0000-0002-7386-3566, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Pages | 412 |
| Publication date | 2013-11-30 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | BOOK |
| Venue | Ancient Ryukyu (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | University of Hawaii Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.21313/hawaii/9780824837129.001.0001 |
| OpenAlex | W4251707650 |
| ISBN | 9780824837129 |
| Open Library | OL28792278M |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
Who are the people of the Ryukyu Islands? How could they survive and prosper on small, isolated islands? How did the independent Ryukyu Kingdom become a major player in East Asian medieval trade? This book explores 30,000 years of human occupation in the Ryukyu Islands, from the earliest human presence in the region up to AD 1609 and the emergence of the Ryukyu Kingdom. It focuses on the unique geopolitical position of the islands, their environment, and the many human communities whose historical activities can be discerned. The book describes explorers and sojourners and colonists who arrived thousands of years ago, and their ancient trade links to Japan, Korea, and China. Through a case study focused on the medieval castles and palaces of the Ryukyu Kingdom, it demonstrates the vigorous trade taking place in East Asia before the arrival of the Europeans in the sixteenth century AD It also shows how archaeologists have sought to reconstruct monuments on Okinawa Island that were obliterated in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. The book shows that many modern features of the culture, politics, and economy of the Ryukyu Islands have very deep roots. It concludes with a discussion of aspects of Ryukyu archaeology that are significant for world archaeology and the archaeology of islands
Ancient history · Archaeology · Battle · China · East Asia · Geography · Geopolitics · Kingdom · Political science · Politics · History · Japanese History and Culture · Paleontology · Antiquities · Island archaeology · Japan · Ryukyu Islands
An extraordinary case in human history
Human Colonization of the Central Ryukyus (Amami and Okinawa Archipelagos), Japan
Evolution of social complexity during the Shellmidden Period, the Central Ryukyus (Amami and Okinawa Archipelagos), Japan
Munda languages are father tongues, but Japanese and Korean are not
Demography, trade and state power
From “Cycad Hell” to Sacred Landscapes
Portraying Okinawa in postwar ethnographic writing
| Citations per year | 0.64 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2015 - 2023 (9) |
| Highly cited | No |