Sea Nomads of Southeast Asia: From the Past to the Present ed. by Bérénice Bellina, Roger Blench and Jean-Christoph Galipaud (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Sea Nomads of Southeast Asia: From the Past to the Present ed. by Bérénice Bellina, Roger Blench and Jean-Christoph Galipaud Anton O. Zakharov Sea Nomads of Southeast Asia: From the Past to the Present. By Bérénice Bellina, Roger Blench and Jean-Christoph Galipaud (eds.) Singapore: NUS Press, 2021. Pp. xv, 383, ill. ISBN 978-981-325-125-0 (paperback) Sea nomads of Southeast Asia are vital actors in the history of the region and its neighbours. Sea nomads have had long histories and played crucial roles in forming seascapes and transmitting goods and ideas throughout Southeast Asia and/or the Indian Ocean. The first European accounts of sea nomads and their piratical activities date from the sixteenth century but sea nomadism is still underrated as a field of scientific, especially archaeological research. An international team of scholars under the baton of Bérénice Bellina, Roger Blench and Jean-Christoph Galipaud aims to show a huge potential of examining sea nomads from archaeological, genetic, linguistic and historical points of view. Now there are three principal areas inhabited by sea nomads in Southeast Asia: the Mergui Archipelago, the Riau islands and Sumatra, and the area between Borneo, the Sulu Archipelago and northwest Papua (p.11). Bellina, Blench and Galipaud in the introductory chapter 'Sea Nomadism from the Past to Present' (pp.1–27) emphasize various types of sea nomads and difficulties in applying a strict definition of sea nomadism. 'Sea nomadism can be defined by the suite of subsistence strategies of populations based on the exchange of patchy maritime resources, staples and trade goods' (p. 4). The scholars connect the forms of sea nomadism with 'the rise of trading states or trading polities' (p. 6). The first firm evidence of links between sea nomads and a thalassocracy is the seventh-century Malay trading polity of Srivijaya. Bellina, Blench and Galipaud offer three main stages of sea nomadism development in terms of archaeology. The first is movements and circulations between the islands of the Pacific during the Paleolithic times. The second is the epoch of Austronesian expansion and Austronesian 'fisher-foragers'. The third is the time of early trade since 3000 BP (pp. 7–8). The dissemination of Dong Son drums throughout mainland and island Southeast Asia may be connected with the sea nomads. 'To summarise, sea nomads were probably originally coastal forager-traders, characterized by their adaptive capacities' (p. 9). The scholars stress the need of three main types of archaeological evidence for sea nomadism, i.e., material, locational/spatial and physical/biological (p. 10). Sue O'Connor, Christian Reepmeyer, Mahirta, Michelle C. Langley and Elena Piotto discuss 'Communities of Practice in a Maritime World: Shared Shell Technology and Obsidian Exchange in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Wallacea' (pp. 28–50). There are many shell fish hooks, beads and pendants, as well as obsidian artefacts excavated in Timor, Roti and Alor. These shell finds 'shared norms of personal adornment and/or craft production which were remarkably stable through time in terms of the items made, choice of shell taxa, the methods of manufacture and the accompanying use of hematite' (pp. 45–46). The beads were made of shells of Oliva spp., Nassarius spp., and Nautilus pompilius. The almost identical shape of hooks dated to the terminal Pleistocene and found in Alor Island, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste as well as 'their absence in MSEA [Mainland Southeast Asia] and other parts of ISEA [Island Southeast Asia] at [End Page 220] this early date refuted any suggestion of diffusion as the cause of the appearance of these hooks…' (p. 44). The shape of these hooks is a functional adaptation to similar ecological conditions. David Bulbeck examines 'Late Pleistocene to Mid-Holocene Maritime Exchange Networks in Island Southeast Asia' (pp. 51–101). He offers a synthesis of data concerning early habitation of anatomically modern humans in the region since 45,000 BP to middle Holocene. These data include maps and tables showing various sites, artefacts and practices. Artefacts include Pleistocene rock art, early osseous objects, worked marine shells. Bulbeck summarizes mortuary practices of early Island Southeast Asia, including flexed inhumation, cremation and burials as well as Neolithic extended inhumation...