Papers in English by Hsiao-chun Hung 洪曉純
Seeking the koko’ ta’ay: Investigating the Origins of Little People Myths in Taiwan and Beyond, 2024
The Oxford Guide to the Malayo-Polynesian Languages of Southeast Asia, Edited by Alexander Adelaar and Antoinette Schapper, 2024
Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and for information only. Oxfo... more Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials contained in any third party website referenced in this work.
Archaeological Research in Asia, 2024
The earliest farming communities in Taiwan practiced a distinctive bio-cultural marker of identit... more The earliest farming communities in Taiwan practiced a distinctive bio-cultural marker of identity, in the form of deliberate anterior teeth extraction. This distinguishing body transformation can be traced back to 4800 years BP in Taiwan and associated with the first Austronesian communities, and it has endured among contemporary Austronesian speakers in Taiwan and extending across the Asia-Pacific region. Through a comprehensive exploration of archaeological and ethnographic evidence, our study highlights how this practice developed in Taiwan over nearly five millennia and furthermore establishes its role in relation to issues of group identity. The results can expand our understanding of cultural practice, identity-forming processes, and migration routes of
ancient Austronesian populations across the Asia-Pacific region.
Antiquity , 2024
Increases in population size are associated with the adoption of Neolithic agricultural practices... more Increases in population size are associated with the adoption of Neolithic agricultural practices in many areas of the world, but rapid population growth within the Dingsishan cultural group of southern China pre-dated the arrival of rice and millet farming in this area. In this article, the authors identify starch grains from taros (Colocasia) and yams (Dioscorea) in dental calculus and on food-processing tools from the Dingsishan sites of Huiyaotian and Liyupo (c. 9030-6741 BP). They conclude that the harvesting and processing of these dietary staples supported an Early Holocene population increase in southern East Asia, before the spread of rice and millet farming.
Encyclopedia of Archaeology, 2nd Edition, 2024
The global significance of archaeology in Island Southeast Asia has been recognized as central fo... more The global significance of archaeology in Island Southeast Asia has been recognized as central for understanding the diversity of ancient hominins, the evolution of modern humans, and the spread of Austronesian languages and cultures. It also illustrates multiple layers of migration, mobility of peoples from different ethnic backgrounds, and an emergence through trade into the Eurasian world system of the past two millennia. This entry introduces significant archaeological discoveries in Island Southeast Asia, dating from 1.5 million years ago through the early centuries CE.
Archaeometry, 2023
The selection of a non-shattering phenotype is a pivotal change in the process of rice domesticat... more The selection of a non-shattering phenotype is a pivotal change in the process of rice domestication. However, current research is heavily restricted by the preservation conditions of macro-plant remains in early and middle Neolithic sites, as very limited well-preserved rice spikelet bases could be retrieved. We present a nondestructive method based on micro-computed tomographic (CT) scanning, which could provide detailed
visualization of the internal structures of charred spikelet bases and efficiently discriminate the shattering and non-shattering phenotypes of rice spikelet bases according to the abundance of FUSIFORM ECHINATE phytoliths. It could be widely applied in different contexts, especially those poorly preserved specimens and tempers in pottery sherds, greatly improving our knowledge of rice domestication.
Science Advances , 2023
The global spice trade has played an essential role in world history. However, because of poor pr... more The global spice trade has played an essential role in world history. However, because of poor preservation conditions, archaeobotanical remains of spices have been limited in archaeological contexts until now. This study reports evidence for spice processing from the archaeological site of Oc Eo in southern Vietnam, an entrepôt of the state of Funan that was occupied during the early centuries CE. Analysis of plant microremains recovered from the surfaces of Oc Eo grinding stone tools thought to be of South Asian origin has identified culinary spices that include turmeric, ginger, fingerroot, sand ginger, galangal, clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon. These spices are indispensable ingredients used in the making of curry in South Asia today. We suggest that South Asian migrants or visitors introduced this culinary tradition into Southeast Asia during the period of early trade contact via the Indian Ocean, commencing about 2000 years ago.
The Cambridge History of the Pacific Ocean , pp. i - ii, 2022
World Archaeology , 2022
Taiwan is known as the homeland of the Austronesian-speaking groups, yet other populations alread... more Taiwan is known as the homeland of the Austronesian-speaking groups, yet other populations already had lived here since the Pleistocene. Conventional notions have postulated that the Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers were replaced or absorbed into the Neolithic Austronesian farming communities. Yet, some evidence has indicated that sparse numbers of non-Austronesian individuals continued to live in the remote mountains as late as the 1800s. The cranial morphometric study of human skeletal remains unearthed from the Xiaoma Caves in eastern Taiwan, for the first time, validates the prior existence of small stature hunter-gatherers 6000 years ago in the preceramic phase. This female individual shared remarkable cranial affinities and small stature characteristics with the Indigenous Southeast Asians, particularly the Negritos in northern Luzon. This study solves the several-hundred-years-old mysteries of ‘little black people’ legends in Formosan Austronesian tribes and brings insights into the broader prehistory of Southeast Asia.
open access: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00438243.2022.2121315
Frontiers in Plant Science, 2022
Research has generally outlined that the Neolithic East Asian farmers expanded into Southeast Asi... more Research has generally outlined that the Neolithic East Asian farmers expanded into Southeast Asia, leading to substantial social and cultural transformations. However, the associated archaeobotanical evidence until now has been insufficient to clarify the exact timing, dispersal route, and farming package of the emergence of agriculture in Mainland Southeast Asia. To clarify these issues, the micro-plant remains of phytolith and starch from three Neolithic sites in Ha Long Bay were extracted and analyzed. This study validates the earliest evidence of co-cropping in northern Vietnam, involving the cultivation of rice together with foxtail millet at 4000 years BP or slightly earlier. Moreover, the results indicate that at least two patterns of subsistence strategy were practiced simultaneously during the initial farming phase in the region. The Trang Kenh people, a regional variant of the Phung Nguyen cultural group often have been seen as the first farmers in northern Vietnam, and they mainly practiced a cereal-based subsistence strategy with more vital cultural characteristics of southern China origin. Meanwhile, the Ha Long people, mainly composed of indigenous hunter-gatherer descendants, continued to utilize a wide range of their preferred plant resources such as taros, yams, and acorns, while they absorbed and incorporated new elements such as millet and rice into their food system. This study provides solid information to understand the diverse economic systems among different cultural groups in Vietnam.
Antiquity , 2022
The most westerly Pacific island chain, running from Taiwan southwards through the Philippines, h... more The most westerly Pacific island chain, running from Taiwan southwards through the Philippines, has long been central in debates about the origins and early migrations of Austronesian-speaking peoples from the Asian mainland into the islands of Southeast Asia and Oceania. Focusing on the Cagayan Valley of northern Luzon in the Philippines, the authors combine new and published radiocarbon dates to underpin a revised culture-historical synthesis. The results speak to the initial contacts and long-term relationships between Indigenous hunter-gatherers and immigrant Neolithic farmers, and the question of how the early speakers of Malayo-Polynesian languages spread into and through the Philippines.
Frontiers in Plant Science, 2022
This study presents the first directly dated physical evidence of crop remains from the Early Neo... more This study presents the first directly dated physical evidence of crop remains from the Early Neolithic archaeological layers in Taiwan. Systematic sampling and analysis of macro-plant remains suggested that Neolithic farmers at the Zhiwuyuan (Botanical Garden) site in Taipei, northern Taiwan, had cultivated rice and foxtail millet together at least 4,500 years ago. A more comprehensive review of all related radiocarbon dates suggests that agriculture emerged in Taiwan around 4,800-4,600 cal. BP, instead of the previous claim of 5,000 cal. BP. According to the rice grain metrics from three study sites of Zhiwuyuan, Dalongdong, and Anhe, the rice cultivated in northern and western-central Taiwan was mainly a short-grained type of the japonica subspecies, similar to the discoveries from the southeast coast of mainland China and the middle Yangtze valley. These new findings support the hypothesis that the southeast coast of mainland China was the origin of proto-Austronesian people who brought their crops and other cultural traditions across the Taiwan Strait 4,800 years ago and eventually farther into Island Southeast Asia.
Frontiers in Earth Science , 2022
Mainland Southeast Asia experienced a long, sustained period of foraging economy before rice and ... more Mainland Southeast Asia experienced a long, sustained period of foraging economy before rice and millet farming spread into this area prior to 4,000 years BP. Although hundreds of individuals from dense cemeteries are found in several hunter-gatherer sites in Guangxi, Southern China, and Northern Vietnam, dating from the early to middle Holocene (ca. 9,000-4,500 years BP), so far, little has been known about food sources in these prefarming contexts. In particular, plant food resources have been unclear, although they likely were crucial to supporting rather large populations of hunter-gatherers in this region. To investigate this issue, micro plant remains, including starches and phytoliths, were recovered from stone tools excavated at the Cai Beo site in Ha Long Bay of coastal Northeastern Vietnam, and those findings revealed new understanding of the ancient diet. Examinations of those residues indicated that the hunter-gatherers at Cai Beo as early as 7,000-6,000 years BP exploited a broad spectrum of plants, such as taros, yams, acorns, palms, and more. This study exemplifies how maritime hunter-gatherers interfaced with the local plants and generated population growth from about 7,000 to 4,500 years BP. The results help us to conceptualize the early exploitation, management, and potential cultivation of subtropical and tropical plants over the broad geography of Asia and the Pacific before the arrival of rice and millet farming. In particular, the result validates the significance of roots and tubers in the ancient subsistence economy of Southeast Asia. Moreover, from the archaeological context of 4,500 to 4,000 years BP, the rice discovered in this study represents one of the earliest known in Mainland Southeast Asia.
Archaeological Research in Asia, 2022
At Serutu Island, a recently discovered stone inscription refers to an unusual voyage of the Mong... more At Serutu Island, a recently discovered stone inscription refers to an unusual voyage of the Mongol troop dispatched by Kublai Khan to conquer Java. This article reports the content of this intriguing inscription, as a way to reconstruct the 4000-km-long journey of the Mongol fleet composed of 500 ships, led by the General SHI Bi and the Uyghur navigator IKE Mese, from Quanzhou to Java in CE 1293. We contextualize this event in relation with the Mongol Empire in China, the Singhasari Kingdom in Java, and the cultural history of the indigenous islanders in the Karimata Archipelago.
World Archaeology, 2021
When people first lived in remote tropical seashores, they developed novel adaptations for living... more When people first lived in remote tropical seashores, they developed novel adaptations for living in these extreme environments, including the use of a specialised octopus lure device. The evidence for this fishing tradition now can be traced back as early as 1500–1100 BC in the Mariana Islands of Western Micronesia. New research has examined the artefacts of these compound lure devices, especially concerning the cut and drilled dorsum pieces of cowrie (Cypraea spp.) shells. Without this archaeological evidence, octopuses would have been undetected in the ancient deposits, and therefore a significant portion of past diet, innovative technology, and traditional practice would have been hidden from modern knowledge. The findings portray a broader and more realistic scene of ancient coastal communities, with implications beyond the confines of the specific island societies of the Pacific.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2021.1930134
Palaeolandscapes in Archaeology, 2021
PNAS , 2021
Humans reached the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific by ∼3,500 y ago, contemporaneous with o... more Humans reached the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific by ∼3,500 y ago, contemporaneous with or even earlier than the initial peopling of Polynesia. They crossed more than 2,000 km of open ocean to get there, whereas voyages of similar length did not occur anywhere else until more than 2,000 y later. Yet, the settlement of Polynesia has received far more attention than the settlement of the Marianas. There is uncertainty over both the origin of the first colonizers of the Marianas (with different lines of evidence suggesting variously the Philippines, Indonesia, New
Guinea, or the Bismarck Archipelago) as well as what, if any, relationship they might have had with the first colonizers of Polynesia. To address these questions, we obtained ancient DNA data from two skeletons from the Ritidian Beach Cave Site in northern Guam, dating to ∼2,200 y ago. Analyses of complete mitochondrial DNA genome sequences and genome-wide SNP data strongly support ancestry from the Philippines, in agreement with some interpretations of the linguistic and archaeological evidence, but in contradiction to results based on computer simulations of sea voyaging. We also find a close link between the ancient Guam skeletons and early Lapita individuals from Vanuatu and Tonga, suggesting that the Marianas and Polynesia were colonized from the same source population, and raising the possibility that the Marianas played a role in the eventual settlement of Polynesia.
Scientific Reports, 2021
This study reports a cranio-morphometric analysis of female human remains from seven archaeologic... more This study reports a cranio-morphometric analysis of female human remains from seven archaeological sites in China, Vietnam and Taiwan that date between 16,000 and 5300 BP. The aim of the analysis is to test the "two-layer" model of human dispersal in eastern Eurasia, using previously unanalysed female remains to balance the large sample of previously-analysed males. The resulting craniometric data indicate that the examined specimens all belong to the "first layer" of dispersal, and share a common ancestor with recent Australian and Papuan populations, and the ancient Jomon people of Japan. The analysed specimens pre-date the expansion of agricultural populations of East/ Northeast Asian origin-that is, the "second layer" of human dispersal proposed by the model. As a result of this study, the two-layer model, which has hitherto rested on evidence only from male skeletons, is now strongly supported by female-derived data. Further comparisons reveal that the people of the first layer were closer in terms of their facial morphology to modern Africans and Sri Lankan Veddah than to modern Asians and Europeans, suggesting that the Late Pleistocene through Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers examined in this study were direct descendants of the anatomically modern humans who first migrated out of Africa through southern Eurasia.
Frontiers in Earth Science, 2021
The long process of rice domestication likely started 10,000-8,000 years ago in China, and the pr... more The long process of rice domestication likely started 10,000-8,000 years ago in China, and the pre-existing hunter-gatherer communities gradually adopted more sedentary lifestyles with the dependence of rice agricultural economies. The archeological evidence builds a strong case for the first domestication of rice to Oryza sativa centered in the Middle-Lower Yangtze Valley during the early Holocene. The genetic evidence identifies the main ancestor of O. sativa was O. rufipogon, however, this now occurs naturally south of the Yangtze where its distribution is limited by summer temperatures and mean annual temperature. The mismatch between occurrence of ancestors and presumed sites of early cultivation leads to a number of hypotheses. These include that first domestication actually took place further south, such as in the Pearl River valley but archeological evidence is currently lacking for this. Or domestication took place, when O. rufipogon had a more extensive natural range in the past. Early to mid-Holocene palaeoclimate reconstructions show that the East Asian Summer Monsoon was more active in the early Holocene and estimates show that the temperature requirements for O. rufipogon were met for a substantial area of northeast China at the time. This would mean that earliest known domestication sites and presumed ancestor distribution coincided for several millennia. Thus early records of rice farming in Henan and Shandong were easily accommodated by early to mid Holocene climates.
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Papers in English by Hsiao-chun Hung 洪曉純
ancient Austronesian populations across the Asia-Pacific region.
visualization of the internal structures of charred spikelet bases and efficiently discriminate the shattering and non-shattering phenotypes of rice spikelet bases according to the abundance of FUSIFORM ECHINATE phytoliths. It could be widely applied in different contexts, especially those poorly preserved specimens and tempers in pottery sherds, greatly improving our knowledge of rice domestication.
open access: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00438243.2022.2121315
https://taiwaninsight.org/2022/02/25/a-great-linguist-with-a-scientific-mind-and-poets-soul-in-memory-of-professor-robert-blust/
https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2021.1930134
Guinea, or the Bismarck Archipelago) as well as what, if any, relationship they might have had with the first colonizers of Polynesia. To address these questions, we obtained ancient DNA data from two skeletons from the Ritidian Beach Cave Site in northern Guam, dating to ∼2,200 y ago. Analyses of complete mitochondrial DNA genome sequences and genome-wide SNP data strongly support ancestry from the Philippines, in agreement with some interpretations of the linguistic and archaeological evidence, but in contradiction to results based on computer simulations of sea voyaging. We also find a close link between the ancient Guam skeletons and early Lapita individuals from Vanuatu and Tonga, suggesting that the Marianas and Polynesia were colonized from the same source population, and raising the possibility that the Marianas played a role in the eventual settlement of Polynesia.
ancient Austronesian populations across the Asia-Pacific region.
visualization of the internal structures of charred spikelet bases and efficiently discriminate the shattering and non-shattering phenotypes of rice spikelet bases according to the abundance of FUSIFORM ECHINATE phytoliths. It could be widely applied in different contexts, especially those poorly preserved specimens and tempers in pottery sherds, greatly improving our knowledge of rice domestication.
open access: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00438243.2022.2121315
https://taiwaninsight.org/2022/02/25/a-great-linguist-with-a-scientific-mind-and-poets-soul-in-memory-of-professor-robert-blust/
https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2021.1930134
Guinea, or the Bismarck Archipelago) as well as what, if any, relationship they might have had with the first colonizers of Polynesia. To address these questions, we obtained ancient DNA data from two skeletons from the Ritidian Beach Cave Site in northern Guam, dating to ∼2,200 y ago. Analyses of complete mitochondrial DNA genome sequences and genome-wide SNP data strongly support ancestry from the Philippines, in agreement with some interpretations of the linguistic and archaeological evidence, but in contradiction to results based on computer simulations of sea voyaging. We also find a close link between the ancient Guam skeletons and early Lapita individuals from Vanuatu and Tonga, suggesting that the Marianas and Polynesia were colonized from the same source population, and raising the possibility that the Marianas played a role in the eventual settlement of Polynesia.
的出現年代及地理分布，探討南島語族的族群遷移、文化傳入（intrusion）、創新（innovation）與整合（integration）等相關議題。紅衣陶，是辨識亞洲—太平洋島嶼之間新石器時代族群遷移路線的重要指標之一。在南島語族分布區裡，這類陶器最早出現在臺灣，接著出現在東南亞島嶼以及大洋洲。至於在南島語族分布區，目前看到最早的檳榔文化相關証據則是出土於菲律賓，臺灣原住民的檳榔文化是否是從菲律賓北傳回流的結果，目前尚無法確定。這兩項物質文化在人類史上的分布範圍很廣、時間也很長，要詮釋它們的文化意涵只能從考古學所建構的考古文化框架，參酌語言學和遺傳學等相關研究，突顯它們在古代南島社會的意義。
依據各地的新石器文化起始年代及考古遺物組合，太平洋地區最早新石器居民的原鄉可以追溯臺灣、甚至中國南方。在中國南方所出現的最後的狩獵採集者（西元前18,000 年到西元前3,000 年）以及最早的農人（西元前7,000 年前後到西元前3,000 年）之間的文化關係，對於我們理解大坌坑文化、也就是臺灣最早的新石器時代文化（一般認為代表最早的南島語族文化）的來源，扮演了重要的角色。
在本文的討論中，還有許多問題沒有答案。但是很顯然地，古南島語族約莫在6,000 年前就從中國南方越過臺灣海峽來到臺灣，隨後在3,500 年前從菲律賓移民到馬里亞納群島、完成了當時世界上最長距離的跨海航行，其後再逐步的擴張到廣大的太平洋地區。
Third Marianas History Conference, 2017, Book 2 of 3
access online through GUAMPEDIA
http://www.guampedia.com/3rd-marianas-history-conference-2017/
Clear dichotomization between the two layers implies a temporally deep divergence of distinct migration routes for AMH through both southern and northern Eurasia.