Bronze Age Maritime and Warrior Dynamics in Island East Asia

This Element explores whether recent interdisplinary approaches to the Bronze Age in Europe can be applied to East Asia.

Recent interdisciplinary studies have provided a new perspective on the European Bronze Age. Hudson examines if these approaches can be applied to East Asia, analysing trade, maritime interactions and warrior culture in comparative Eurasian framework. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.Recent interdisciplinary studies, combining scientific techniques such as ancient DNA analysis with humanistic re-evaluations of the transcultural value of bronze, have presented archaeologists with a fresh view of the Bronze Age in Europe. The new research emphasises long-distance connectivities and political decentralisation. 'Bronzisation' is discussed as a type of proto-globalisation. In this Element, Mark Hudson examines whether these approaches can also be applied to East Asia. Focusing primarily on Island East Asia, he analyses trade, maritime interactions and warrior culture in a comparative Eurasian framework. He argues that the international division of labour associated with Bronze Age trade provided an important stimulus to the rise of decentralised complexity in regions peripheral to alluvial states. Building on James Scott's work, the concept of the 'barbarian niche' is proposed as a way to model the longue durée of premodern Eurasian history. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.