Ancient Ryukyu : an archaeological study of island communities /

Drawing heavily on unpublished and mostly inaccessible Japanese survey and excavation reports, Pearson (emer., Univ. of British Columbia, Canada) weaves a masterful narrative of societal development in the Ryukyu Islands from the time of earliest human occupation around 30,000 BCE through the establishment of the Ryukyu Kingdom under Satsuma in 1609 CE. The book's first half focuses on the impact that the environment had in shaping the communities of the islands' earliest inhabitants; the second describes the effects of immigration and long-distance interaction with neighbors in East and Southeast Asia on societal development within the archipelago. Pearson attributes the emergence of the Ryukyu Kingdom in the 15th century to the growth of Asian maritime trade and the islands' ideal location as a western Pacific entrepot. The Ryukyu Kingdom thus departs from the general pattern of state formation in East Asia, where agrarian production, landownership, materials acquisition, and control over the manufacture and distribution of metal goods was the basis of most political development. Certain to be of interest to archaeologists and historians of East and Southeast Asia, in addition to those studying island communities. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through professionals, as well as informed general readers. C. E. Peterson University of Hawai'i at Manoa