| My project aims at looking deep into cinternal relations and social formation from microregional perspectives based on settlement patterns approach. The main questions are: What was the social landscape like in the prehistoric East Timor? What were social and natural dynamics at work? How did they interplay?;The extensive survey surface and follow-up excavations reveal a distinct hilltop defensive settlement pattern in the lower Laclo River valley during the 11th -- 18th century. I propose that this collective defense strategy occurred as a cultural response to unpredictable climate change driven by increased El Nino, which peaked at 11 th -- 14th century. To survive chronic and long-time warfare, outside alliances were crucial, which were formed and maintained through inter-regional trade, in particular moving sandalwood from inlands in exchange of foreign goods. Yet, the enhancement of maritime trade between 16th -- 18th centuries invited further seaborne raiding from other economical competitors. These social patterns to survive warfare, such as alliances and trade, in turn facilitate further warfare.;These social patterns also have a consequence in the development of social complexity. Based on the prestige goods model, estimated tradeware abundance shows a marked disparity among closely located sites, suggesting a clear intervillage social inequality that was largely defined by local social ranking systems. Analyses on shellfish assemblages from these sites further suggest intervillage competition, manifested in defined territoriality among coastal sites. In this project, I demonstrate the intricate social formation in prehistoric Manatuto that involves both the cooperation in the higher, multi-village level and competition in the inter-village level. The micro-regional approach to the social and natural dynamics in prehistoric social landscape will greatly improve our understanding of the social formation that conditioned the subsequent colonization processes. |
