RECENT DISSERTATIONS AND THESES

Page 1

BASA, KISHOR K. 1991 The Westerly Trade of Southeast Asia from c.400 BC - c. AD 500, with Special Reference to Glass Beads. Ph.D. Dissertation Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London.

COOTE, VANESSA J. 1991 The Ultra-Trace Element Geochemistry of Tin Ores and Bronze using ICP-MS, and the Mining and Metals Trade in Prehistoric Thailand. Ph.D. Dissertation, Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London.

JOHNSON, MARK 1989 A Preliminary Petrographic Study of the Ceramic Fabrics from Ban Don Ta Phet. M.A. Thesis, University of London, Institute of Archaeology.

JUNKER, LAURA LEE 1990 Long Distance Trade and the Development of Socio-Political Complexity in Philippine Chiefdoms of the First Millennium to Mid-Second Millennium A.D. Ph.D. Dissertation, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

MUDAR, KAREN 1992 Prehistoric and Early Historic Settlements on the Central Plain: Analysis of an Archaeological Survey in Lopburi Province, Thailand. Ph.D. Dissertation, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

NISHIMURA, MASAO 1992 Long Distance Trade and the Development of Complex Societies in the Prehistory of the central Philippines: The Cebu Central Settlement Case. Ph.D. Dissertation, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Abstract: This research was organized to construct a model for causal relationships between long distance trade and the development of complex societies during late prehistoric times in the Philippines, and to evaluate the model through the analysis of archaeological data recovered from several excavations in the Cebu City, Philippines.

The model is concerned particularly with the interrelationships between the enlargement of information-processing capacity (channel capacity) and the development of socio-cultural complexity. In order to examine the validity of the model, field research including geological, archaeological and ehthnohistorical studies was conducted.

The geological analysis indicates that intensive exploitation of the hinterland areas around the Cebu settlement occurred during the late prehistoric period (mid-14th century to 17th century AD), which cased heavy soil erosion. I inferred that the area around the settlement was not appropriate for any type of agricultural activities, and thus the entire settlement might have been the residential unit for non-producers (i.e., decision-makers and their surrogates and servants). The population of the Cebu settlement continuously increased throughout the late prehistoric period.

Analyses of the artifact assemblages and natural remains indicate that glazed ceramics were the only resources to which Cebu community members had significantly differential access. Ethnohistorical studies suggest that glazed ceramics were used by administrators to serve food to guests. In doing so, they manipulated people by creating debts and oblinging them to work and produce goods, especially foodstuffs, for them.

I conclude that the Cebu regulatory unit consisted of several socio-political sections which were "patronage units" of masters and dependents, and each section maintained an independent decision-making line. The enlargement of channel capacity for the Cebu regulatory unit was achieved by adding more sections to the regulatory unit. This mechanism provided the Cebu socio-cultural system with flexibility for coping with the uncertainty associated with long distance trade during this period.

| next to page 2 |

| back to greeting | back to index |


Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1