About the Book
'This volume presents ground-breaking research on fortified sites in three parts of Wallacea by a highly regarded group of scholars from Australia, Europe, Southeast Asia and the United States. In addition to surveying and dating defensive sites in often remote and difficult terrain, the chapters provide an important and scholarly set of archaeological and ethnohistoric studies that investigate the origin of forts in Wallacea. Socio-political instability from climate events, the materialisation of indigenous belief systems, and the substantial impact of imperial expansion and European colonialism are examined and comprise a significant addition to our knowledge of conflict and warfare in an under-studied part of the Indo-Pacific. The archaeological record for past conflict is frequently ambiguous and the contribution of warfare to social development is mired in debate and paradox. Authors demonstrate that forts and other defensive constructions are costly and complicated structures that, while designed and built to protect a community from a threat of imminent violence, had (and have) complicated life histories as a result of their architectural permanence, strategic locations and traditional cultural and political significance. Understanding why conflict outbreaks – like human colonisation – often appear in the past as a punctuated event can best be approached through long-term records of conflict and violence involving archaeology and allied historical disciplines, as has been successfully done here. The volume is essential reading for archaeologists, cultural heritage managers and those with an interest in conflict studies.'
— Professor Geoffrey Clark, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra.
Table of Contents:
- Acknowledgements
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Forts and fortifications in Wallacea – Sue O'Connor, Andrew McWilliam and Sally Brockwell
Archaeology of forts- The fortified settlement of Macapainara, Lautem District, Timor‑Leste – Sue O’Connor, David Bulbeck, Noel Amano Jr, Philip J. Piper, Sally Brockwell, Andrew McWilliam, Jack N. Fenner, Jack O’Connor-Veth, Rose Whitau, Tim Maloney, Michelle C. Langley, Mirani Litster, James Lankton, Bernard Gratuze, William R. Dickinson, Anthony Barham and Richard C. Willan
- The Ira Ara site: A fortified settlement and burial complex in Timor-Leste – Peter V. Lape, John Krigbaum, Jana Futch, Amy Jordan and Emily Peterson
- Excavations at the site of Vasino, Lautem District, Timor-Leste – Sally Brockwell, Sue O’Connor, Jack N. Fenner, Andrew McWilliam, Noel Amano Jr, Philip J. Piper, David Bulbeck, Mirani Litster, Rose Whitau, Jack O’Connor-Veth, Tim Maloney, Judith Cameron, Richard C. Willan and William R. Dickinson
- The site of Leki Wakik, Manatuto District, Timor-Leste – Jack N. Fenner, Mirani Litster, Tim Maloney, Tse Siang Lim, Stuart Hawkins, Prue Gaffey, Sally Brockwell, Andrew McWilliam, Sandra Pannell, Richard C. Willan and Sue O’Connor
Social history of forts- Social drivers of fortified settlements in Timor-Leste – Andrew McWilliam
- The indigenous fortifications of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and their sociopolitical foundations – David Bulbeck and Ian Caldwell
- Forts on Buton Island: Centres of settlement, government and security in Southeast Sulawesi – Hasanuddin
- Forts of the Wakatobi Islands in Southeast Sulawesi – Nani Somba
- Historical and linguistic perspectives on fortified settlements in Southeastern Wallacea: Far eastern Timor in the context of southern Maluku – Antoinette Schapper
Conclusion and future directions- Surveys of fortified sites in Southern Wallacea – Sue O’Connor, Shimona Kealy, Andrew McWilliam, Sally Brockwell, Lucas Wattimena, Marlon Ririmasse, Mahirta, Alifah, Sandra Pannell, Stuart Hawkins, Mohammad Husni and Daud Tanudirjo
- Conclusion – Andrew McWilliam, Sue O’Connor and Sally Brockwell
