Recent advances in the historical archaeology of South and West Sulawesi, Indonesia

Convener: Kathryn Wellen - Wellen@KITLV.NL
South Sulawesi offers an unparalleled window on the development of complex societies in the Austronesian-speaking world. The province has a rich indigenous historiographical tradition that developed in the absence of significant Indic or Islamic influences. These written sources offer a unique perspective on the interpretation of South Sulawesi archaeological sites. This panel seeks to summarize, analyze and contextualize recent archaeological research on the development of complex societies, and attempt to link our present knowledge to the extant historiographic sources. Three papers present recent work in Mandar, the Cenrana Valley, and the Makasar-speaking areas to the south. Two more papers examine the development of complex societies within the theoretical frameworks of political anthropology and Southeast Asian archaeology.