Prehistoric Maritime Cultures and Seafaring in East Asia

“The book provides a good collection of archaeological information on numerous sites in East Asia, particularly along the coasts of China, Taiwan, and the Southeast Asian mainland that, until recently, have not been available to international readers. … the book’s main thesis that early maritime activities in the region were undoubtedly present and vibrant for thousands of years, paving the way for the so-called Maritime Silk Road is well conveyed.” (Ligaya S. P. Lacsina, Journal of Maritime Archaeology, Vol. 17 (2), 2022)

Chunming Wu  ( B.A. and M.A. in Archaeology and PH.D. in Chinese History from Xiamen University)  is currently a researcher at Xiamen University’s Center for Maritime Archaeology. Dr. Wu’s interests are in the field of maritime archaeology, and the prehistoric culture and early aboriginal ethno- history of southeast China and Southeast Asia. He was awarded a visiting scholarship by the American Council of Learned Society & Luce Foundation at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Harvard Yenching Institute, Harvard University.

He has published 6 monographs:  Archaeological Research of the History and Cultures of Prehistoric Aboriginals in Southeast China  (1999),  Archaeological Research of Capital of Min-Yue Kingdom of Han Dynasty (1998),  The Shipwreck Archaeology in Seas Surrounding China  (2003),  Maritime Archaeology  (2007),  The Maritime Cultural Interaction between Indigenous Yue and Austronesian  (2012),  The Archaeological and Historical Research on the Maritime Cultural Heritage  (2016), and more than 150 academic papers.

Barry Vladimir Rolett (Pomona College, B.A.; Yale University, M.Phil. and Ph.D.) is a professor of Anthropology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He has conducted archaeological research in Polynesia and on the coast of southeast China. Polynesian origins can be traced to southeast China, explaining why his research drew him there.Dr. Rolett's work in China is collaborative and interdisciplinary, investigating Neolithic cultures, maritime adaptation, the spread of rice agriculture and the ultimate origins of the Polynesians. As part of this work, he helped initiate the first Sino-American collaboration for archaeological research in Fujian.

In the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia, Dr. Rolett has led more than twenty expeditions and collaborated with the local community to establish the Te Ana Peua archaeology museum, which exhibits and curates the artifacts discovered during their projects.