Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to explore the various forms of circulation of the so-called “Sa Huynh-Kalanay” type of pottery and to define whether they involved the movement of people, craftsmen, and/or artefacts, from 500 BC to AD 200.

Paper long abstract:

From 500 BC to AD 200, various archaeological artefacts, exchanged or imitated, provide evidence of multiple contacts in the South China Sea. Interactions in relation to ceramics are attested through significant similarities, which allow comparisons between the different communities in the South China Sea. This paper aims to explore the various forms of circulation of the so-called "Sa Huynh-Kalanay" type of pottery and to define whether they involved the movement of people, craftsmen, and/or artefacts. For this, a technological approach based on the anthropology of techniques is used to reconstruct the chaîne opératoire and thus characterize "traditions," or "ways of doing". The analysis is conducted at local and regional scales first (Thai-Malay peninsula), then at interregional scale (Vietnam and the Philippines). Comparison of the data reveals the possibility of assessing the technical and/or stylistic transfers between the different regions over time and space, aiding reconstruction of exchange routes that shaped the socio-political landscape of late prehistoric communities in the South China Sea.