Metal Age Interactions: Northern Vietnam and Southern China

Co-Chairs/-Organizers: Nam C. Kim and Clémence Le Meur
 
The Metal Age of Southeast and East Asia was a momentous period, marked by significant cultural transformation including the emergence of novel forms of sociopolitical entities, which would form the basis for historic era kingdoms, states and empires. In the material records of present-day northern Vietnam and southern China, the period spanning the late second to the late first millennia BC saw the development of specialized production skills in key handicrafts such as bronze objects, which allowed various agents to accentuate social status and political power. Exchanges across and within these regions were more numerous, and cultural contact fostered the transfer of technological knowledge across territories, along with the development of innovative technologies and social organizations. In this panel, we aim to highlight pertinent sites and new discoveries related to these two interconnected cultural spheres. Such findings can enhance efforts to underscore emergent globalizing networks and processes. These efforts rely upon examinations of the manufacture and exchange of key products and commodities, from metal ores to finished goods, as well as of varied social practices, such as funeral rites and architectural styles.