The Archaeology of Portable Art

Southeast Asian, Pacific, and Australian Perspectives

Duncan Wright editor Sally K May editor Mirani Litster editor Michelle Langley editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:14th Aug '20

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

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The Archaeology of Portable Art cover

The development of complex cultural behaviour in our own species is perhaps the most significant research issue in modern archaeology. Until recently, it was believed that our capacity for language and art only developed after some of our ancestors reached Europe around 40,000 years ago. Archaeological discoveries in Africa now show that modern humans were practicing symbolic behaviours prior to their dispersal from that continent, and more recent discoveries in Indonesia and Australia are once again challenging ideas about human cultural development.

Despite these significant discoveries and exciting potentials, there is a curious absence of published information about Asia-Pacific region, and consequently, global narratives of our most celebrated cognitive accomplishment — art — has consistently underrepresented the contribution of Southeast Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. This volume provides the first outline of what this region has to offer to the world of art in archaeology.

Readers undertaking tertiary archaeology courses interested in the art of the Asia-Pacific region or human behavioural evolution, along with anyone who is fascinated by the development of our modern ability to decorate ourselves and our world, should find this book a good addition to their library.

"This volume explores the rich world of portable art in the Asia-Pacific, from the earliest examples of beads and other ornaments made by Pleistocene hunter-gatherers in Australia and Southeast Asia to the staggering diversity of small carved objects and related artworks from the recent past and ethnographic present of Oceania. The book provides an important compilation of the many discoveries of portable art made at archaeological sites across this vast region. It also presents a stimulating discussion of what portable art is and what it means from a uniquely Australasian perspective, as well as from the viewpoint of those interested in the origin of art and the evolutionary history of our species."

- Adam Brumm, Griffith University, Australia

ISBN: 9780367591502

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 453g

342 pages