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This open access book presents multidisciplinary research on the cultural history, ethnic connectivity, and oceanic transportation of the ancient Indigenous Bai Yue (百越) in the prehistoric maritime region of southeast China and southeast Asia. In this maritime Frontier of China, historical documents demonstrate the development of the “barbarian” Bai Yue and Island Yi (岛夷) and their cultural interaction with the northern Huaxia (华夏) in early Chinese civilization within the geopolitical order of the “Central State-Four Peripheries Barbarians-Four Seas”. Archaeological typologies of the prehistoric remains reveal a unique cultural tradition dominantly originating from the local Paleolithic age and continuing to early Neolithization across this border region. Further analysis of material culture from the Neolithic to the Early Iron Age proves the stability and resilience of the indigenous cultures even with the migratory expansion of Huaxia and Han (汉) from north to south. Ethnographical investigations of aboriginal heritage highlight their native cultural context, seafaring technology and navigation techniques, and their interaction with Austronesian and other foreign maritime ethnicities. In a word, this manuscript presents a new perspective on the unique cultural landscape of indigenous ethnicities in southeast China with thousands of years'stable tradition, a remarkable maritime orientation and overseas cultural hybridization in the coastal region of southeast China.

This book focuses on the archaeological and historical research on the seaport heritage of galleon navigation in Asia-Pacific region. It reconstructs the Manila Galleons'era of early maritime globalization, established and operated by Spanish navigators from the 16th to 19th centuries. The galleons sailed across the Pacific via the hub seaports and trade centers of Manila in the Philippines and Acapulco in Mexico, forming a prosperous sea route connecting eastern Asia and New Spain on the American continent for more than 250 years. This pioneering navigation of the pan-Pacific regions promoted early global maritime trade along the new Maritime Silk Road between the East and the West.Written by archaeologists and cultural historians from America, Mexico, Japan, the Philippines, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, it presents the latest investigations and research on the galleon-affiliated seaports, including Acapulco and San Blas in Mexico, Guam, Manila in Philippines, Yuegang (Crescent Harbor), Xiamen (Amoy), Keelung and Macao in China, Nagasaki in Japan. This joint research sheds new light on the history of navigation and maritime trade between galleon-affiliated harbors; the origin, production, transport and trade of the galleon cargo; social cultural exchange along the new Maritime Silk Road in the pan-Pacific region; and the history of maritime globalization in last 500 years. It offers a new perspective on maritime archaeology and traces the different stages of the galleon trade and affiliated maritime history, including'Yuegang Outbound','Manila Entrepotting'and'Bound for Acapulco', presenting a panoramagram of Spanish pan-Pacific trade and early maritime globalization.

This book focuses on prehistoric East Asian maritime cultures that pre-dated the Maritime Silk Road, the'Four Seas'and'Four Oceans'navigation system recorded in historical documents of ancient China. Origins of the Maritime Silk Road can be traced to prosperous Neolithic and Metal Age maritime-oriented cultures dispersed along the coastlines of prehistoric China and Southeast Asia.The topics explored here include Neolithisation and the development of prehistoric maritime cultures during the Neolithic and early Metal Age; the expansion and interaction of these cultures along coastlines and across straits; the'two-layer'hypothesis for explaining genetic and cultural diversity in south China and Southeast Asia; prehistoric seafaring and early sea routes; the paleogeography and vegetation history of coastal regions; Neolithic maritime livelihoods based on hunting/fishing/foraging adaptations; rice and millet cultivation and their dispersal along the coast and across the open sea; and interaction between farmers and maritime-oriented hunter/fisher/foragers. In addition, a series of case studies enhances understanding of the development of prehistoric navigation and the origin of the Maritime Silk Road in the Asia-Pacific region.

This book presents the proceedings of the international academic workshop on “Early Navigation in the Asia-Pacific Region: A Maritime Archaeological Perspective” held from June 21-23, 2013 at Harvard University campus and organized by Harvard-Yenching Institute. It includes high-quality papers focusing on the historical shipwrecks investigated by underwater archaeologists from Eastern Asian, including southern China, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, and North America, including California, Oregon and Washington in the US, as well as Mexico. These investigations reveal the history of the early pan-Pacific navigation and maritime globalization from the 16th to the 18th century, covering the background and formation, concept and practice, as well as the results and influence of this early globalization and global economy, emphasizing the maritime archaeological evidence of Spanish exploration of transportation between East Asia and North America. The book provides an excellent opportunity for maritime archaeologists from both sides of the Pacific to share the latest findings and new developments in maritime archaeological exploration. It discusses 16-18th century nautical trade and maritime cultural history and provides a comprehensive overview of research work in the Asia-Pacific region.