The Circulation of Chinese Ceramics in Island Southeast Asia (800–1600 CE): Temporal Dynamics, Spatial Structure, and Regional Differentiation

This thesis examines the long-term circulation of Chinese ceramics in Island Southeast Asia between the ninth and sixteenth centuries CE, focusing on their spatial distribution, typological composition, and temporal dynamics. Drawing on archaeological evidence recovered from sites across the archipelago, it investigates how patterns of ceramic movement and accumulation were structured within intra-regional and transregional maritime exchange networks.
Chinese ceramics have long been recognised as key archaeological indicators of long-distance maritime connectivity between China and Southeast Asia. Although substantial quantities of ceramic materials have been recovered from Island Southeast Asia, existing scholarship has primarily focused on individual sites, typological descriptions, or historically framed case studies. Regionally integrated and systematic quantitative analyses of ceramic circulation across the archipelago remain limited.
To address this gap, this study assembles a standardised dataset comprising over 500,000 Chinese ceramic sherds from 232 sites and findspots, derived from published archaeological sources. The material is organised within a consistent classificatory framework and analysed using quantitative methods, including aoristic temporal modelling, to accommodate chronological uncertainty inherent in legacy archaeological data.
The analysis reconstructs the long-term trajectories and spatial configurations of Chinese ceramic circulation across Island Southeast Asia, revealing pronounced temporal rhythms, marked regional differentiation, and shifting typological structures. These patterns reflect changing conditions of production dynamics in China and evolving configurations of maritime exchange, positioning Island Southeast Asia as a multi-centred and selectively integrated zone within broader transregional maritime systems of premodern Asia.