Special section Heritage and archaeology in the Far East.

Special section Heritage and archaeology in the Far East. It is rare to encounter East Asian Archaeology in English, and in aform accessible to a general readership. We are delighted to presentthis Special section, which started life as a Session at the Society ofAmerican Archaeology in Seattle in 1998. The Session was organized, andthe papers subsequently edited, by Clare Fawcett and Hyung Il Pai. Cultural tourism has become a major activity in East Asia East AsiaA region of Asia coextensive with the Far East.East Asian adj. & n. in recentyears, and it is becoming increasingly possible to travel to see theextraordinary heritage of many of the countries of the region, many ofwhich have been closed to visitors. The whole business of heritage andcultural tourism is a mixed blessing, as seen in many countries,including our own, where commercial over-exploitation is becomingincreasingly dominant. In the rich countries such as Japan and SouthKorea, enhancement of the national image is something which sees vastinvestment for tourism and marketing; whereas in rapidly developingcountries, such as China and Viet Nam, concerns of continuity with theancestral past, local consumption as well as internal image are allcompeting concerns. These papers offer us a perspective which is written in part fromoutside, by scholars with close ties to the various countries presentedhere. They offer not only an analysis of particular issues and sites,but also set these in the broader context of the politics of culturalnationalism. This is, of course, a concern in Britain and elsewhere,with the emphasis of archaeological heritage increasingly on culturalidentity, fostering local, regional and national aspirations. Recently,we have seen this on the broad scale with the celebration of the BronzeAge Bronze Age,period in the development of technology when metals were first used regularly in the manufacture of tools and weapons. Pure copper and bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, were used indiscriminately at first; this early period is sometimes called the in Europe, which has finally completed its round of conferences andexhibitions, fostering just this broad, nationalistic identity. Asiastill lacks such a comparable sense of regional identity, but in thesepapers we can see an emerging pattern of manipulation for politicalends, combined, and on occasion competing, with the proper concerns ofarchaeologists for conservation and historical integrity. The Jomon of Japan is presented here by JUNKO HABU HABU Highest and Best Use (property valuation)HABU Hook A Brother UpHABU Hellsfire All Balls Up (nickname for SR-71)& CLAREFAWCETT, who describe how the cultures of this prehistoric period arenow being appropriated by popular culture as a civilization precedingmodern Japan, which is more in tune with the idealized contemporaryvalues of environmental sensitivity and awareness. The excavations ofSannai Maruyama, a vast, complex hunter-gatherer Jomon site, haveattracted quite extraordinary interest, popular support and tourism. Thepaper demonstrates how the combination of increased public visibility,the provision of accessible archaeological information, local pride andtourism have resulted in a new phenomenon of prehistoric interest inJapan. IAN IAN Interactive Affiliate NetworkIAN i am nothingIAN Instrumentation & Automation NewsIAN Ianuarius (Latin: January)IAN Instituto Agronomico Nacional (Paraguay)IAN Incident Area Network GLOVER's account of how Vietnamese identity has developedas a result of the country's past relationships with China, and itscontemporary perceptions of its past, is a rare insight into this newlyaccessible and archaeologically very rich country. The historical pastis having an increasingly heavy burden placed on it, and colonialism,war and rebuilding are all issues of importance in the newly presentedcultural heritage. LI LIU LIU Link?pings Universitet (Sweden)LIU Long Island University (New York)LIU Line Interface UnitLIU Lightguide Interconnection Unit (AT&T)LIU Laugh It Up tackles the persistent phenomenon of ancestor worship ancestor worship,ritualized propitiation and invocation of dead kin. Ancestor worship is based on the belief that the spirits of the dead continue to dwell in the natural world and have the power to influence the fortune and fate of the living. inChina. This has survived since the Neolithic Yangshao culture Yangshao culture(5000–3000 BC) Prehistoric culture of China's Huang He (Yellow River) basin, represented by several sites at which painted pottery has been uncovered. , wastransformed during the Shang dynasty Shang dynastyor Yin dynastyTraditionally, the second of China's dynasties, following the Xia dynasty. Until excavations in the 20th century provided archaeological evidence for the Xia, the Shang was the first verifiable Chinese dynasty. in the 2nd-1st millennia BC, and isstill a dominant force in everyday life. The paper analyses the originsand development of the cult and shows how ancestor worship isfundamental in the presentation of Chinese heritage and archaeology,especially as illustrated by the discussion of the cult of the YellowEmperor. YANGJIN PAK PAK,n.pr See pyridoxal-alpha-ketoglutarate. and HYUNG IL PAI both explore the tensions within thepractice and politics of Korean archaeology. South Korea is, of course,accessible and very conscious of its past, even though much of this isphysically beyond the modern territorial boundaries. PAI discusses howthe creation of modern Korean identity is bound up with archaeologicalactivities, and PAK explores two early states on the Korean Peninsula.Intriguingly, the shared heritage and history of the two Koreas forms anunbreakable link, in spite of the modern political divide. The west isbecoming increasingly aware of the richness of Korean cultures, as shownby the exhibition in the British Museum last year on the Painted Tombsof Koguryo, which highlighted the deplorable conservation of thesetreasures. FUMIKO IKAWA-SMITH's concluding paper draws out some of thecommon themes which highlight the links between the national heritagesin this disparate region. In comparing the five papers, she identifiesfour useful common points of reference: the nature of archaeology ineast Asia; the role of national identity and origins; the management ofcultural heritage and tourism; and the development of concepts ofnational identity, the 'other' and cultural origins. References BARNES, G. 1999. The rise of civilisation in East Asia: Thearchaeology of China, Korea and Japan. London: Thames & Hudson. Journal of East Asian Archaeology. Forthcoming.