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Angkoran harp re-created

Researchers in Cambodia have re-created a working harp depicted on the walls of Angkor, possibly reviving a lost musical tradition.

Cambodian researchers, musicians revive ancient harp
ABC News, 20 May 2013

Musicians rebuild Cambodia’s lost ancient harp
ABC News, 21 May 2013

Continue reading Angkoran harp re-created

Public Lecture: Settlement Archaeology of Late 14th to 17th Century in West Sumatra

Another upcoming lecture at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies by Dr Mai Lin Tjoa-Bonatz, on the archaeology of West Sumatra.

Settlement Archaeology of Late 14th to 17th Century in West Sumatra
Dr. Mai Lin Tjoa-Bonatz, Research Associate, Freie Universität Berlin
Date: Monday, 24 June 2013
Time: 10.30 am– 12.00 nn
Venue: ISEAS Seminar Room II

Continue reading Public Lecture: Settlement Archaeology of Late 14th to 17th Century in West Sumatra

Public Lecture: Research at the Cheung Ek Archaeological Site

Readers in Singapore may be interested in this upcoming talk at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies by Dr Phon Kaseka on the Cheung Ek Archaeological Site.

Research at the Cheung Ek Archaeological Site
Phon Kaseka, Director, Archaeology Department, Royal Academy of Cambodia
Date: Monday, 17 June 2013
Time: 3.30 – 5.00 pm
Venue: ISEAS Seminar Room II


Continue reading Public Lecture: Research at the Cheung Ek Archaeological Site

Cambodia calls for return of artefacts from other American institutions

Following the return of two guardian statues from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cambodia puts a call out to other American museums for the return of antiquities with questionable provenance.

Cambodia Presses U.S. Museums to Relinquish Antiquities
New York Times, 15 May 2013

Continue reading Cambodia calls for return of artefacts from other American institutions

The ‘restoration’ of monuments at Bagan

Now that Myanmar is opening up to the larger world, more tourists are expected to arrive at ancient Bagan, the ancient monument-studded capital. This article explores the tension between what is thought to be shoddy restoration work to the monuments (“against archaeological principles”) and local attitudes to restoration (“living heritage”) at this spectacular site.

1, 2, 3, 4, ... , 2217 (Bagan, Myanmar)

photo: jmhullot

The Ancient Burmese City of Bagan Struggles for International Recognition
Time, 15 May 2013

Continue reading The ‘restoration’ of monuments at Bagan

Documentary on Perak Man to air in Malaysia

A documentary on the Perak Man that has won acclaim in the recent Archaeology Channel International Film and Video Festival will be aired in Malaysia. I would love to get a copy of this documentary, and if any readers in Malaysia can help out, please contact me!

Perak Man, New Straits Times 20121002

Perak Man, New Straits Times 20121002

Ministry to air award-winning documentary on Perak man – Rais
New Straits Times, 12 May 2013

Continue reading Documentary on Perak Man to air in Malaysia

Conference: Proto-globalisation in the Indian Ocean world

Just got this notice in the mail and on our Facebook page, but, act quick! Deadline for grants ends on Friday (May 17).
Conference: Proto-globalisation in the Indian Ocean world
7-10 November 2013

The Indian Ocean has emerged as a major topic of interest amongst scholars across a range of disciplines in recent years.  Researchers in fields as diverse as archaeology, genetics, history, linguistics and palaeoenvironmental studies have all explored evidence for precociously early coastal and transoceanic movements of goods, people, ideas, plants and animals in the region.  The ‘Proto-globalisation in the Indian Ocean world’ conference provides an opportunity for these scholars to gather and to critically evaluate the evidence for and implications of long-distance contacts and exchanges in the pre-1000 CE Indian Ocean.  It will consider the goods, technologies and ideas that moved across the ocean in this period, evaluating the possible existence of early globalised commodities, exploring object biographies, and considering the role of cosmopolitan Indian Ocean contacts in transforming societies on the littoral and beyond.  It will look at how cultural transfers were intertwined with extensive movements of plant and animals species both domestic and wild, considering the ecological, agricultural and disease impacts of species translocations, and their implications for the contemporary world in terms of biodiversity and food security.  Finally, it will explore the axes, processes and agents of early Indian Ocean interactions, critically rethinking in particular traditional notions about the drivers and agents of early exchanges and commerce, and drawing attention to the important role of smaller, less centralised and/or more mobile societies in the early Indian Ocean.  The gathering of scholars from a broad range of regions, disciplines and projects will enable discussion, debate and the exploration of synergies, as well as consideration of larger questions about the degree to which the Indian Ocean represented a globalised space in the pre-1000 CE period, the role of data from earlier periods in transforming Eurocentric notions of globalisation and the ways that studies of the past might inform our understanding of contemporary globalisation.

Conference Details

Wenner Gren burary details (Deadline: 17 May 2013)

Back issues of Asian Perspectives available online

From a colleague, Professor Miriam Stark:

AsianPerspectives

Dear Colleagues,

We are working to make our East and Southeast Asian archaeological publications more accessible to colleagues in regions that lack subscriptions to electronic journals. To that end, the University of Hawai’i Press has worked with us to make digital files available of all available Asian Perspectives articles from 1957 to 2008.

Please access individual journal issues at this URL (be sure to click on the issue to open up the list of articles):

http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/14928

We are also developing an open-access source for early 20th century western scholarship on the art and archaeology of Southeast Asia, and have begun with sources on Indochina. The currently available resources trend heavily toward Aymonier, Marchal, Lunet de la Jonquiere, and Parmentier, but we intend to expand the list in the next 18 months to include many other publications whose copyright has now expired:

http://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10524/12264

The Met returns two Koh Ker statues

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is set to return two statues from Koh Ker, after a review of their provenance. These two statues are not the same ones involved in the Sotheby’s auction, but the museum’s action sets an interesting precedent for other museums.

Kneeling Attendant from Koh Ker, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 20130503

Kneeling Attendant from Koh Ker, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 20130503

Metropolitan Museum of Art to Return Two Khmer Sculptures to Cambodia
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 03 May 2013

Continue reading The Met returns two Koh Ker statues

Earliest cemetery in SEA excavated in Vietnam

A team from The Australian National University excavated a 5,000-6,000-year-old cemetery site in northern Vietnam.

Excavations at Con Co Ngua, Science Alert 20130501

Excavations at Con Co Ngua, Science Alert 20130501

New clues to Southeast Asia’s past
Science Alert, 01 May 2013

Continue reading Earliest cemetery in SEA excavated in Vietnam