John Miksic
National University of Singapore, Southeast Asian Studies, Faculty Member
- History, Art History, Southeast Asian Studies, Heritage Studies, Chinese and Southeast Asian Art History and Archaeology, Indonesian History, and 20 moreMalaysia, Indonesian Studies, Maritime History, Southeast Asian history, Ancient Shipwrecks, The Malay World, Southeast Asian Archaeology, Maritime Studies, Maritime Trade Ceramics (Archaeology), Geography, Cartography, Maritime, Historical Geography, Maritime Archaeology, Malay, Maritime anthropology, Sailing and Maritime history and archaeology, Buddhism, Chinese Ceramics, and Pahangedit
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Ceramics are the most abundant types of artifacts made by human beings in the last 12,000 years. Chinese potters discern two types of products: earthenware (tao), which is porous and does not resonate when struck, and wares with vitreous... more
Ceramics are the most abundant types of artifacts made by human beings in the last 12,000 years. Chinese potters discern two types of products: earthenware (tao), which is porous and does not resonate when struck, and wares with vitreous bodies (ci), which ring like a bell. Western potters and scholars differentiate stoneware, which is semi-porous, from porcelain, which is completely vitrified. The earliest ceramics in the world are thought to have been made in China around 15,000 years ago. By the Shang dynasty, potters in China began to decorate the surfaces of their pottery with ash glaze, in which wood ash mixed with feldspar in clay to impart a shiny surface to the pottery. The first ash-glazed wares were probably made south of the Yangzi in Jiangnan. In the 9th century, China began to export pottery, which quickly became sought after in maritime Asia and Africa. Pottery making for export became a major industry in China, employing hundreds of thousands of people, and stimulati...
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The overland Silk Road linking China with West Asia and Europe is a famous and fabled trade route. The sea route that was its alternative was arguably more significant, both historically and economically, and holds the greatest potential... more
The overland Silk Road linking China with West Asia and Europe is a famous and fabled trade route. The sea route that was its alternative was arguably more significant, both historically and economically, and holds the greatest potential for understanding the great movements of people, ideas and goods in Asia. With its teeming port cities and huge vessels carrying exotic luxuries along with everyday commodities such as iron and fish oil, the Silk Road of the Sea is equally glamorous but has attracted much less attention that its overland counterpart.
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The editor begins her introduction with the disclaimer that this book is neither intended as an introductory text nor as a comprehensive guide to the sociology of archaeology in Asia, but in fact the volume contributes significantly to... more
The editor begins her introduction with the disclaimer that this book is neither intended as an introductory text nor as a comprehensive guide to the sociology of archaeology in Asia, but in fact the volume contributes significantly to both of these objectives, as well as several others. It is difficult to imagine how a single volume could encompass Asia from any point of view, such as archaeological material from a span of two million years. For Southeast Asian specialists, however, including historians and archaeologists, this volume belies its own disclaimers, especially where east Asia is concerned. South Asia is not as well covered, and west Asia not at all, but the present volume is sufficient to provide an intelligible perspective on the nature of human relations over a vast area, particularly during the last ten thousand years, during which modern cultural identities were formed. The objectives which the volume sets itself are modest: to synthesise some of the huge quantity of data which has been acquired recently; to highlight some new perspectives which have been opened by this data; and to describe how archaeology has been integrated into Asian societies, often to the point where it has been co-opted and politicized. Prehistory is not neglected, but the main subject covered by most authors is the story of the formation and development of modern Asian cultures. The relationship between history and archaeology thus is frequently raised. The first section of the book covers the development of Asian archaeology in the socio-political contexts of various countries. Ian Glover in ‘Some national, regional, and political uses of archaeology in East and Southeast Asia’ finds ‘remarkable similarity... in the issues and arguments ... in the world’s nations over the past 170 years or so’ (p. 17). ‘[A]ppeal is regularly made to a real or imagined past to support new structures, especially ethnic-cultural boundaries and national sovereignty’, and to create national identity. It is instructive to note what happens when politics and archaeology diverge. In Japan, two eighth-century texts contain a myth of the divine descent of emperors. Japanese archaeologists since the foundation of the science in the late 1800s avoided contradicting this myth by focusing on description and classification of artifacts, rather than cultural reconstruction. When data began to yield evidence of ethnic diversity, interpretations tended to be shaded to reinforce the image of the Japanese people as unique and cohesive. Thus Glover reluctantly accepts the conclusion: ‘in East Asia archaeology is not a generalizing and comparative discipline such as anthropology, but is ‘‘national history or it is nothing’’’ (Ikawa-Smith 1996: 626). 483
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Little historical information is available about early Chinese settlement in Southeast Asia. By the 15th century several Chinese settlements of significant size had formed, but they vanished by the time the Portuguese reached the region.... more
Little historical information is available about early Chinese settlement in Southeast Asia. By the 15th century several Chinese settlements of significant size had formed, but they vanished by the time the Portuguese reached the region. This article surveys the historical literature on these early overseas Chinese settlements, and summarizes the contributions which archaeology can make to clarifying the timing and nature of the process.
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We present the first radiocarbon dates from previously unrecorded, secondary burials in the Cardamom Mountains, Cambodia. The mortuary ritual incorporates nautical tradeware ceramic jars and log coffins fashioned from locally harvested... more
We present the first radiocarbon dates from previously unrecorded, secondary burials in the Cardamom Mountains, Cambodia. The mortuary ritual incorporates nautical tradeware ceramic jars and log coffins fashioned from locally harvested trees as burial containers, which were set out on exposed rock ledges at 10 sites in the eastern Cardamom Massif. The suite of 2814C ages from 4 of these sites (Khnorng Sroal, Phnom Pel, Damnak Samdech, and Khnang Tathan) provides the first estimation of the overall time depth of the practice. The most reliable calendar date ranges from the 4 sites reveals a highland burial ritual unrelated to lowland Khmer culture that was practiced from cal AD 1395 to 1650. The time period is concurrent with the 15th century decline of Angkor as the capital of the Khmer kingdom and its demise about AD 1432, and the subsequent shift of power to new Mekong trade ports such as Phnom Penh, Udong, and Lovek. We discuss the Cardamom ritual relative to known funerary ritua...
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When trade between China and Southeast Asia blossomed between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, Chinese traders began to form overseas Chinese communities. Their presence had significant effects on the region, including the formation... more
When trade between China and Southeast Asia blossomed between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, Chinese traders began to form overseas Chinese communities. Their presence had significant effects on the region, including the formation of new urban settlements and the introduction of new lifestyles in which imported items played an important part, not only among the elite, but among many hinterland groups who probably never saw a Chinese trader but rapidly integrated Chinese products into their displays of status.
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Previous research on the mineral composition of Southeast Asian earthenware pottery suggested that different production locales might be discriminated on the basis of trace elements. Additional tests have now been conducted on a large... more
Previous research on the mineral composition of Southeast Asian earthenware pottery suggested that different production locales might be discriminated on the basis of trace elements. Additional tests have now been conducted on a large number of samples. The ...
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Burma Pagan: Art and Architecture of Old Burma. By Paul Strachan. Whiting Bay, Arran, Scotland: Kiscadale Publications, 1989. [Also published by University of Hawaii Press under the title: Imperial Pagen: Art and Architecture of Old Burma.] Pp. x, 159. Plates, Diagrams, Notes, Bibliography, Indexmore
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The highlandlowland nexus has been one of the staples of historical and anthropological analysis of mainland Southeast Asian studies. At the risk of greatly oversimplifying the situation, it is possible to characterise the lowland river... more
The highlandlowland nexus has been one of the staples of historical and anthropological analysis of mainland Southeast Asian studies. At the risk of greatly oversimplifying the situation, it is possible to characterise the lowland river valleys as heartlands of urban ...
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... 1981. 4. Kalpataru, Majalah Arkeologi (ISSN 0126-3099) 1: Articles by Dra. ... Indonesian translation by Tita S. Mangoensadjito.I] Jakarta: Himpunan Keramik Indonesia, 1977. Sumarah Adhyatman (ed.), Koleksi keramik Adam Malik - The... more
... 1981. 4. Kalpataru, Majalah Arkeologi (ISSN 0126-3099) 1: Articles by Dra. ... Indonesian translation by Tita S. Mangoensadjito.I] Jakarta: Himpunan Keramik Indonesia, 1977. Sumarah Adhyatman (ed.), Koleksi keramik Adam Malik - The Adam Malik ceramic collection. ...
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Seshat: Global History Databank, established in 2011, was initiated by an ever-growing team of social scientists and humanities scholars to test theories about the evolution of complex societies (Francois et al. 2016; Turchin et al.... more
Seshat: Global History Databank, established in 2011, was initiated by an ever-growing team of social scientists and humanities scholars to test theories about the evolution of complex societies (Francois et al. 2016; Turchin et al. 2015). Seshat reflects both what is known about global history (within certain practical constraints, discussed below) and also what is unknown, or poorly known. Seshat is a continuously growing dataset incorporating evolving interpretations, highlighting persisting controversies, and contextualizing enduring ambiguities. The quantitative data, suitable for statistical analysis, is buttressed by qualitative nuance embedded in descriptive paragraphs along with references to pertinent scholarship.
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Do human societies from around the world exhibit similarities in the way that they are structured, and show commonalities in the ways that they have evolved? These are long-standing questions that have proven difficult to answer. To test... more
Do human societies from around the world exhibit similarities in the way that they are structured, and show commonalities in the ways that they have evolved? These are long-standing questions that have proven difficult to answer. To test between competing hypotheses, we constructed a massive repository of historical and archaeological information known as "Seshat: Global History Databank." We systematically coded data on 414 societies from 30 regions around the world spanning the last 10,000 years. We were able to capture information on 51 variables reflecting nine characteristics of human societies, such as social scale, economy, features of governance, and information systems. Our analyses revealed that these different characteristics show strong relationships with each other and that a single principal component captures around three-quarters of the observed variation. Furthermore, we found that different characteristics of social complexity are highly predictable acros...
Research Interests: History, Social Change, Geography, Archaeology, Algorithms, and 15 moreAnthropology, Complexity Theory, Comparative History, Cultural Evolution, Statistical Modeling, Social Evolution, Cultural Diversity, Databases, Multidisciplinary, Comparative Historical Analysis, Social Complexity, Humans, PNAS, Biological evolution, and Quantitative History
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... This article presents archaeological data on under-studied heterogenetic cities in insular Southeast Asia. Keywords Urbanization; Southeast Asia; archaeology; Java; Sumatra; Singapore. The concept of 'city' is... more
... This article presents archaeological data on under-studied heterogenetic cities in insular Southeast Asia. Keywords Urbanization; Southeast Asia; archaeology; Java; Sumatra; Singapore. The concept of 'city' is notoriously hard to de ne. (VG Childe 1950: 3) ...
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Javanese Literature in Surakarta Manuscripts, Volume 1: Introduction and Manuscripts of the Karaton Surakarta. By Nancy K. Florida. Ithaca: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, 1993. Pp. 410. Bibliography, Indexes.Katalog Induk Naskah-Naskah Nusantara. Jilid I. Museum Sonobudoyo Yogyakarta ...more
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Catalogue from John N Miksic (2009), Southeast Asian Ceramics: New Light on Old Pottery, Singapore: Southeast Asian Ceramic Society, 100-165