Paper short abstract:

The paper attempts to provide new insights about the mutual exchange along the maritime routes between Southeast Asia and China focusing on a few selected types of artefacts from the Han period (206 BCE – 220 CE) and from the Eastern Jin period (317 – 420 CE).

Paper long abstract:

When evaluating the finds of certain artefacts to demonstrate contacts it is important to keep in mind the fragmentary character and general limitations of archaeological evidence. The artefacts of non-perishable materials found in archaeological excavations offer just a glimpse into the world of tangible goods that were exchanged since they represent just a small section of them. The paper presents selected types of artefacts that travelled along the maritime routes between Southeast Asia and China. It attempts to contextualise them in order to gain some new insights into this mutual exchange. Discussion will focus on some objects found in Vietnam and in southern Thailand in the Isthmus of Kra region dating from the Han period (206 BCE - 220 CE) and some objects found in tombs in Jiangsu Province, China, dating from the Eastern Jin period (317 - 420 CE).