New aspects of the Austronesian expansion

Roger Blench

Mallam Dendo Ltd.

University of the Philippines, Manila,

9th February, 2006

Linguistics, genetics, material culture and archaeology?

• Recent convergence in ideas about the study of prehistory have made clearer the links and potentials for synthesis between different disciplines in creating a rounded picture of the past

• The main disciplines are those listed above• It would be an exaggeration to say all scholars have

been equally convinced. Boundary maintenance lives on.

• This view makes less and less sense intellectually, and especially in the case of Austronesian, where the clear evidence for a movement of population can be mapped by different disciplines

AUSTRONESIANS

WHERE AUSTRONESIAN IS SPOKEN TODAY

Is Austronesian a valid concept beyond linguistics?

• Austronesian undoubtedly begins with Dempwolff in the 1930s as a linguistic concept, although his Austronesisch is what today would be called Malayo-Polynesian or extra-Formosan.

• It was probably first picked up as an archaeological concept by Peter Bellwood in the 1970s and has developed rich associations in different disciplines since then.

• Which is not to say detractors do not exist; Solheim, Meacham and Terrell being major names. However, it seems to supporters that they simply do not engage with the non-archaeological evidence

Favorlang

Saaroa

Kanakanabu

Tsou

Proto-Austronesian

Atayalic

Puyuma

Paiwan

Rukai

Tsouic

Bunun

Western Plains

Northwest Formosan

East Formosan

Malayo-Polynesian

SediqAtayal

Saisiat, etc.

Austronesian according to Blust

Source: Capelli et al. (2001:435) [including mis-spellings]

The Austronesians in China I

The Austronesian language, Tsat, spoken in China today is not representative of an older stratum of Austronesian connected to Formosan, but a later migration from insular SE Asia. Tsat is a close relative of Roglai, a Chamic language found in Vietnam

Although there are no Formosan-type languages spoken in China today, it is widely accepted that the ancestors of the Austronesian peoples crossed from the mainland. The Hemudu site, northwest of Taiwan is usually identified as a possible source area.

The Ta Peng Keng culture which links SE China and Taiwan represents the displacement of Pleistocene hunter-gatherers by incoming rice/marine people

The Austronesians in China II

But it seems increasingly likely that the Austronesian language family is found in China as the Daic (Tai-Kadai) languages

The recent proposal by Ostapirat on the relations between Daic with Austronesian will no doubt be controversial. Sagart has argued that this simply means the Daic speakers ‘are’ Austronesians, a branch of PMP that came back to the mainland.

The Austronesians in Japan

The proximity of the southernmost of the Japanese island chain to Taiwan has led many people to suppose the Austronesians must have reached there, a case which has been argued by some Japanese linguists although without gaining general assent

Recent excavations on the Yaeyama islands [extremely close to NE Taiwan] (Glen Summerhayesp.c.) showing Neolithic settlement around 4000 BP also suggest contact with Taiwan although there is no linguistic evidence for this. The language of the Yaeyama islands today is a dialect of Okinawan.

DAIC • All the diversity of Daic languages is in China:

despite the southward extension of Thai today the likely origin of Daic is in Guizhou

• proto-Daic speakers migrating back across from the northern Philippines to the region of Hainan island; hence the distinctiveness of Hlai and Be and their language becoming radically restructured under the influence of Miao-Yao.

• Daic languages are not all that diverse and almost certainly a candidate for a major agricultural expansion. Despite this, there is no obvious archaeological candidate to correlate with this

Major divisions of the Tai languages and related languages.

DAIC

Proto-Daic = Kra-Dai

Kam-Tai Kam-Sui

Lakkia B iao

H lai

Geyan

Gelao Lachi Buyang Pubiao Yerong Laha

Kam Sui M aonan M ulam Then M ak Be

North

Centralk

South

N. Zhuang Saek E. Bouyei Yay M ene

Nung S. Zhuang Tay

Thai Lao Shan Tai Ahom Khamti

Daic according to Edmondson & Solnit (1997)

The Austronesians in Việt Nam IThe Austronesians are represented in Việt Nam by the

Chamic speakers. These languages have undergone extreme restructuring under the influence of Austroasiatic and they were not immediately recognised as Austronesian

The exact period of Austronesian incursions into ViệtNam cannot be dated, but it was presumably before 0 AD, to account for the rise of the Champa kingdom, which dominated this region in the early medieval period and may represent the first written examples of an Austronesian language

The Aceh of Sumatra are thought to represent a remigration of Chamic back into the Austronesian-speaking area, while Tsat, on Hainan island into the Sinitic area. The founders of the Utsat community probably fled to Hainan after break-up of the Cham Empire.

The Austronesians in India

There are no Austronesians in India today. Nonetheless, given their relative closeness, it would be surprising if they did not reach India quite early. Apart from relatively late contacts represented by the Hinduised states of SE Asia, Waruno Mahdi has presented an array of evidence for the embedding in Indian culture of Austronesian concepts

Mahdi traces references to coconut-eating, buffalo-sacrificing fishermen, with snake-bird-sacred tree cults in early Indian literature and adduces arguments for the Austronesian origins of some key terms in South India. In many Sanskrit sources these are referred to as Naga, although today this refers mainly to the tribes of NE India

The break-up of Micronesian I

• Micronesian previously seemed a secure subgroup of Austronesian and the Micronesian populations show many cultural similarities

• However, it has been shown (by Laurie Reid) that Chamorro on the island of Guam is an early branch of Austronesian, something confirmed by early archaeological dates (including finds of rice). This shows, among other things, that open-ocean navigation was well-developed early in the Austronesian expansion

• Recently published data on the settlement of Palau (Belau) is pointing to similar early dates

The break-up of Micronesian II

• The Pre-Chamorros must have sailed from the northern part of the Philippines before the dispersal of the Philippine languages.

• In the same vein, Yapese has been shown to be Oceanic, i.e. associated with the languages of the islands of offshore New Guinea.

The Austronesians in australia

• We know that Malay trepangers were visiting the northern coast of Australia from the 17th century onwards in search of sea-cucumbers

• However, linguistic evidence shows that Austronesian voyagers must have been landing on the coast of Northern Australia far earlier, as evidenced by loanwords in aboriginal languages.

• Feral cocoyams represent another trace of this presence.

• But why did the Austronesian voyagers never settle?

Austronesians in Africa

• Madagascar• East African coast• West Africa?

Austronesians in madagascar• Malagasy language closely related to Barito languages of

Borneo• However, many areas of vocabulary seem to be borrowed

from Malay, in particular, sailing terminology• Bob Blust has recently shown that the languages of the Bajau

Laut, the sea nomads, form part of the Barito group• Pallesen argues the Bajau Laut split up following the

expansion of the Srivijaya Malay in the 7th century.• If so, this would fit well with the archaeological evidence, which

has the first settlement of Madagascar about this time• The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a first century seaman’s

guide to the East Africa coast, suggests Graeco-Roman mariners or their contacts had some knowledge of Madagascar, perhaps making an appearance in the text as the ‘Great island of Menouthias’, a source for tortoise-shell.

Austronesians in EAST AFRICA I

• However, this does not entirely explain a great deal of significant cultural evidence for Austronesian presence on the East African coast, some of it well before the settlement of Madagascar proper

• Pliny refers to the ‘men who come across the great ocean on rafts [rati]’ in contrast to the coastal traders. These could well be Austronesians, if rati is an outrigger canoe

• These Austronesians were almost certainly unconnected with those who settled Madagascar and probably came from somewhere in the Philippines; however, linguistic evidence is slight

Austronesians in EAST AFRICA II

• Some of the evidence for this exchange is the transfer of elephantiasis to Africa and the import of African malaria, the import of SE Asian fighting cocks and bananas, huti, to the East African coast, and a type of goat (?) to island SE Asia

• Is there any direct archaeological evidence? Not yet. But neither was there for the Graeco-Roman trade until a couple of years ago, despite the documentary evidence.

• Postulating two (or three counting later Malay trade contacts) distinct Austronesian contacts with the EA coast solves many problems related to try and roll all the evidence into one package.

Austronesians in WEST AFRICA?

• Much more controversial, but difficult to explain are the presence of SE Asian food crops on the West African coast

• These are;

The triploid banana (AAB)The water-yam (Dioscorea esculenta)The cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta)

These cannot have spread across the continent and are not native and are not Portuguese…

Austronesians in the New WorldAustronesians in the New World

CaliforniaCalifornia

South AmericaSouth America

Austronesians in CaliforniaAustronesians in California

Recent evidence (published in American Recent evidence (published in American Antiquity, 2003) suggests that there was contact Antiquity, 2003) suggests that there was contact between the Chumash Indians and Polynesians between the Chumash Indians and Polynesians in Southern California between 400 and 800 in Southern California between 400 and 800 A.D. A.D.

This is based on the unique design of their This is based on the unique design of their boats, sewn plank canoes, rather than dugouts boats, sewn plank canoes, rather than dugouts used elsewhere along the coast and perhaps used elsewhere along the coast and perhaps more strikingly, typically Polynesian compound more strikingly, typically Polynesian compound fishfish--hookshooks

Chumash is essentially dead as a language but Chumash is essentially dead as a language but work continueswork continues

Chumash plank canoeChumash plank canoe

Austronesians in South AmericaAustronesians in South America

Polynesian contact with South America has long Polynesian contact with South America has long been the subject of speculation (Heyerdahl etc.) been the subject of speculation (Heyerdahl etc.) but model was confused, having Amerindians but model was confused, having Amerindians voyaging in the Pacific, despite their known lack voyaging in the Pacific, despite their known lack of oceanof ocean--going craftgoing craft

Probably the crack in scholarly scepticism was Probably the crack in scholarly scepticism was the clear evidence that the sweet potato the clear evidence that the sweet potato reached Eastern Polynesian, under its Peruvian reached Eastern Polynesian, under its Peruvian name, name, kumarakumara, in pre, in pre--Spanish time.Spanish time.

Since then, a considerable amount of other Since then, a considerable amount of other evidence has turned up, notably in human evidence has turned up, notably in human genetics where the presence of the 9 base pair genetics where the presence of the 9 base pair deletion on the West Coast of South America deletion on the West Coast of South America points to Polynesian presence points to Polynesian presence

Austronesians in South AmericaAustronesians in South America

Another curious, but convincing piece of Another curious, but convincing piece of evidence is the evidence is the ‘‘blueblue--eggegg’’ chicken, a variety of chicken, a variety of fowl encountered by the first explorers in this fowl encountered by the first explorers in this region. This is likely to be a descendant of the region. This is likely to be a descendant of the Polynesian chicken. And you can buy its eggs in Polynesian chicken. And you can buy its eggs in SainsburySainsbury’’s supermarket..s supermarket..

So some of HeyerdahlSo some of Heyerdahl’’s evidence may not be s evidence may not be completely wrong, despite his interpretationcompletely wrong, despite his interpretation

• Austronesian began life as a purely linguistic conception and has gradually become a more rounded entity, embracing archaeology, anthropology, material culture and genetics.

• Specialists in any discipline, who are concerned with diachronic matters, can no longer live in isolation

• For this reason, it is now quite legitimate to identify the wide-ranging migrations of the Austronesians well beyond their attested linguistic boundaries

Conclusions