silk tomb offerings

In the water below. Most interestingly, the sword the man wears matches that found in the tomb. Again, the man in the banner appears to be of middle age; the tomb master was known to be a middle-aged man. This particular silk painting also has a length of bamboo on the upper edge and a ribbon attached, just as on modern banners.

HAN DYNASTY SILKS

The most famous silk garments and paintings of the Han dynasty, including a further mingjing tomb banner, are from Tomb 1 at mawangdui. The chamber of this burial was covered in layers of charcoal and clay and, effectively sealed from air and the damp, was exceptionally well preserved. it contained the remains of the wife of the marquis of dai, who was interred not long after her husband, who died in 168 b. c.e. The innermost of the four nested and lacquered coffins was covered with a painted silk banner of three pieces of fabric sewn together into a T-shape.

Mawangdui Silk Banner

The painting was intended to act as a guide for the spirit of the deceased woman to the next world. For the Chu, there were two spirits of the dead, one known as the HUN, the other as the po. At death, the former traveled to heaven; the latter remained in the ground and became a ghost, or gui. To satisfy the needs of the po, it was necessary to supply offerings that were useful or desirable; hence the many artifacts and personal effects listed on bamboo tomb inventories and placed with the dead.

The hun, however, had to undertake a dangerous journey on its route to celestial heaven. This remarkable banner was probably carried in the funerary procession. The painting can be divided into three linked representations of the journey to heaven. At the base, there is a scene of the underworld. Two entwined fish indicate the watery world below, while two large dragons emerge from the depths, and their bodies pass through a jade ring before they ascend into the middle part of the banner. Their tails are linked by a snake that lies on top of the fish, while a giant, also standing on the fish, holds aloft a floor that contains a remarkable scene: the body of the marchioness of Dai lying on her back surrounded by six mourners. Sacrificial vessels lie in front of the dais containing the body, wrapped in a silk shroud, and other vessels are set on a table beyond. A large jade pendant is suspended from the jade ring, and together they symbolize the link between the world of people and the heavens. Part of each dragon’s sinuous body supports a leopard, which in turn supports a platform richly ornamented with lozenge patterns. The central figure of the banner stands on this platform: She is a richly dressed older woman holding a stick. Three servant women stand behind her, one dressed in white, one in red, and the third in blue. Two men kneel in front of her, each carrying a tray This woman is the marchioness of Dai. She wears an elegant patterned robe incorporating cloud patterns matched by the fabric on the platform below that bears her prostrate body.

A further platform hangs over this scene, supported by an owl. It bears two phoenixes, creatures waiting to escort the spirit to heaven. This celestial realm is depicted on the upper third of the banner, lying beyond two portals protected by leopards. The heavens contain numerous symbolic figures. The Sun is seen encircling the crow that represents it, both positioned over a fusang (mulberry) tree, through which smaller solar disks can be seen. This scene is full of symbolic meaning. The early texts refer to the fusang tree as the link between Earth and heaven. There were formerly 10 Suns, all of which are represented over and through the branches of this tree. The large disk over the tree incorporates the jingwu bird, the crow, which carries the solar disk across the heavens daily and rests over the tree at night. To the top left is the crescent Moon. Two more dragons occupy the middle of the scene, and there are deities on horseback who surround a bell. The most intriguing figure is a human head and torso with a serpent’s tail. This probably represents the dead woman transformed into an ancestral deity. A similar male figure with a serpent’s tail is found in the same location on the silk banner from Tomb 3 at Mawangdui.

Other Silk at Mawangdui

This unique banner was not the only remarkable silk painting from Mawangdui. Two other tombs were also uncovered; however, in neither case was the preservation of organic remains so perfect. One contained the remains of the marquis of Dai; their son is the person probably buried in Tomb 3. This last pit contained manuscripts written on silk. Silk was widely used as a medium for written documents during the Han dynasty, and those from Mawangdui must represent part of this aristocrat’s library, for they include some well-known texts. The Yijing, for example, is a renowned book on divining. Another text covers medical remedies and includes pictures illustrating breathing exercises. There are also three remarkable maps showing the topography and location of military garrisons in the region of which Mawangdui was part. A second banner like that found in Tomb 1 was also recovered.

Silk was used as a medium for writing before the invention of paper, and it might also have played a role in the evolution of printing. A Chu tomb at Changsha was found to be stamped with the name of either the owner or the manufacturer. Similar designs imparted to the silk by means of a stamp were found on some of the Mawang-dui fabrics.

Further reading: Klimburg-Salter, D. E. The Silk Route and the Diamond Path. Los Angeles: UCLA Art Council, 1982; Li Xueqin. Eastern Zhou and Qin Civilizations. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1985;

Loewe, M., and Shaugnessy, E. L., eds. The Cambridge History of Ancient China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999; Umesao, T., and T. Sugimura, eds. “Significance of the Silk Roads in the History of Human Civilizations.” Senri Ethnological Studies No. 32. (1992).

Sima A sima is a term found in ninth - and 10th-century INSCRIPTIONS from Java in Indonesia to describe a charter issued by royal authority for the determination of taxation payments. The sima were recorded on stone and copper inscriptions and provide much information on the way in which taxes on rice field production could be diverted to the maintenance of temples or the provision of facilities such as aqueducts.

Sima Qian (145-85 b. c.e.) Sima Qian was the grand astrologer to the Han court during the reign of Emperor Han Wudi.

He succeeded his father, SIMA TAN, in this post in 108 B. C.E., having already spent several years in the court undertaking a variety of functions. In 111 b. c.e. he was sent to the newly won southwestern provinces on a tour of inspection. One of his first responsibilities after his appointment was to reform the Chinese calendar in 104 B. C.E., but his enduring importance rests on the SHIJI (The Records of the Grand Historian). His work set out to be the definitive history of the Chinese people; in his own words, “I have wanted to study everything that concerns heaven and man, to understand the evolution that has been proceeding from antiquity to our own times.” The Shiji set a new standard for Chinese historic scholarship that not only is a valued source of information on Chinese history to this day, but also provided a model for the many subsequent dynastic histories over a period of two millennia. There are 130 chapters and five sections, known as the annals; the history of dynastic houses; biographies of leading individuals; the history of foreign peoples; and treatises. It was written under considerable duress, for Sima Qian infuriated the emperor by defending General Li Ling, who had suffered disgrace. He was charged with the offense of defaming the emperor and although he was reprieved from the death penalty, he suffered the punishment of castration in 98 b. c.e. Despite this punishment, he continued to serve in the imperial court, rising to the important post of zhongshuling, head of the secretariat.

SIMA QIAN’S SOURCES

Writing a history of China at that time was not straightforward. The unification of China under the first emperor, qin shihuangdi (259-210 b. c.e.), had replaced a series of independent states under the nominal rule of the ZHOU DYNASTY (1045-256 b. c.e.) with a centralized autocracy, and Sima Qian’s sources were disparate and often contradictory. His work included an essay written by his father, Sima Tan, who was grand historian between about 140 and 110 b. c.e., on the six early traditions of political philosophy. This provides an invaluable insight into the reaction of a major historian to the tenets of such schools of thought as legalism (“They are harsh and lack compassion”), the Confucians, and the Taoists. Sima Qian began his own great contribution by outlining the history of the dominant kingdom first at any given time and then within one chronological framework describing the development of each state. There follow detailed histories of each kingdom and a series of biographies of important individuals. These were used as vehicles for illustrating the pitfalls and opportunities presented by different approaches to the art of government.

The Han dynasty under Han Wudi was undergoing an unprecedented period of imperial expansion. To the south, the many chiefdoms of Lingnan and Vietnam were being absorbed in the empire, while to the north, Korea was occupied, and there was much warfare and expansion to the northwest. Sima Qian therefore incorporated as far as he could the available information on the peoples who lived beyond the border or were in danger of being absorbed in it.

His work, particularly as it concerned events close to his own life, when memories were still fresh, provides a remarkable insight into the turbulent end of the WARRING STATES PERIOD (475-221 B. C.E.), the advent of the brief-lived QIN dynasty (221-206 b. c.e.), and the inception of the HAN DYNASTY (206 B. C.E.-220 C. E.). At the same time, it must be stressed that he had every reason to criticize the autocracy of Qin Shihuangdi, the first emperor, to embellish the image of his own emperor. He was also critical of the faults and strengths of former regimes. There is a Confucian element to his comment: “One who succors the weak and aids the weary, as the ruler of a great kingdom is commanded to do, need never worry that he will not gain his way with the lands within the seas.” By contrast, he says of Qin Shihuangdi: “The First Emperor trusted his own judgment, never consulting others, and hence his errors went uncorrected.” The second emperor, HUHAI, “carried on in the same manner, never reforming, compounding his misfortune through violence and cruelty... Is it not fitting that they perished?”

DEATH OF QIN SHIHUANGDI

Sima Qian provides a vivid picture of the life, death, and burial of the first emperor, who was interred beside the terra-cotta army at Xi’an. Qin Shihuangdi exercised an enormous influence on China for centuries after his death. Sima Qian wrote, “The First Emperor was greedy and short-sighted, never trusting his meritorious officials.” He was violent and cruel, harsh and deceitful. Just before his death, he wrote that his son, Prince Fusu, should undertake the burial rituals and presumably succeed him. But palace officials destroyed the letter and forged another, requiring Fusu to commit suicide and declaring their own choice of successor. The emperor’s body was returned secreted in a carriage accompanied by fish to disguise the odor of putrefaction, in case news of the death encouraged insurrections. The interment of the emperor in his tomb at Mount Li near Xi’an involved a huge investment of labor, including a bronze outer coffin and innumerable treasures. Crossbows were put in place to deter looters, the king’s wives who had not borne a son were sacrificed, and the workers who knew of the interior layout of the tomb were immured alive.

See also confucius; taoism.

Sima Tan (active 140-110 b. c.e.) Sima Tan was the grand historian to the Han court in China.

The unification of China under the qin dynasty in 221 B. C.E. saw the replacement of many conflicting states by one centralized autocracy This provided for the first time a sense of imperial unity given further impetus under the HAN DYNASTY (206 B. C.E.-220 C. E.), with its policy of imperial expansion. Sima Tan was therefore in a position to initiate the idea of a great history of China from its earliest dynasties. However, he died before he could complete the text. As recorded by his son, sima qian, Sima Tan described how their ancestors had for generations been historians to the Zhou emperors and exhorted his son to continue his work. Sima Qian did succeed his father as grand historian and completed the work in about 100 B. C.E. He incorporated the writings of his father on the six major traditions of political philosophy in the SHIJI (Records of the Grand Historian).

Simhapura See tra kieu.

Sindok (early 10th century c. e.) Sindok was a Javanese king who ruled in the Brantas River Valley in east Java in Indonesia.

The earliest inscription to name Sindok as king is dated to 929 C. E. The Brantas River area was strategic both for rice cultivation and for international trade, particularly in spices.

Sirkap Sirkap is the local name for the second city at the site of taxila in northern Pakistan. Strategically situated to take advantage of major trade routes, Sirkap was occupied during the Indo-Greek and Scythian-Parthian periods, from the second century b. c.e. until the conquest by the kushans in the late first century c. e. Excavations by SIR JOHN MARSHALL revealed a rigid grid plan to the city and the stone foundations of substantial domestic dwellings. Marshall also uncovered a palace structure and the northern gate, which formed part of a heavily fortified stone wall equipped with bastions.

Sirsukh Sirsukh is the local name for the third city of TAXILA in northern Pakistan. Founded by the kushans in the late first century C. E., it was heavily defended by a stone wall incorporating regularly spaced bastions.

Sisupalgarh Sisupalgarh, ancient Tosali, is located to command the lower reaches of the Mahanadi River system in orissa province, eastern coastal india. it is a large walled city covering an area of 130 hectares (325 acres), and excavations within the walls have revealed an occupation sequence to a depth of eight meters (26.4 ft.), with four major periods of occupation. The first has revealed little material culture and is not dated. The pottery, however, is probably earlier than 500 b. c.e. Period 2A lasted from about 500 to 200 b. c.e., but it was during the next period, 2B, that the fortifications were constructed. The fortifications date to between 200 b. c.e. and 200 c. e. and are a massive wall of mud, 10 to 12 meters wide at the base and rising to a height of at least eight meters.

The excavations of the western gateway revealed a large and impressive structure of cut laterite, including guardrooms, corridors, and steps to the upper rampart. This gateway was, according to an inscription, severely damaged by a cyclone and later rebuilt, events confirmed by archaeology. The interior of the city was at this time laid out in a regular grid of streets, and substantial houses were constructed of laterite. Rut marks on the roads reveal the regular passage of wheeled vehicles. it was during this phase that an inscription was raised at Udayagiri Hill 10 kilometers (6 mi.) from the city that mentioned the reconstruction of a canal by King Khar-avela, who reigned during the first century b. c.e., that carried water to the city. it is likely that this strongly defended fortress was his major center. it is well positioned to take advantage of maritime trade with Southeast Asia and with southern India, as the presence of rouletted ware confirms.

Siva Siva was one the great trinity of Hindu gods. He was commonly worshiped in the form of a lingam, or phallus. one of the earliest lingams in southern india is from a a second-century b. c.e. context at Gudimallam. Siva had many names, including Rudra, Mahadeva, Trine-tra, and Sitikantha. He became very popular in Southeast Asia, adopted into the pantheon of gods worshiped in the kingdom of angkor, in Cambodia and among the chams. Many lingams were placed in the temples, and the name of Siva was linked with that of the ruling sovereign.

Siyelik Siyelik is a site of the hotan kingdom, China. It was discovered by sir aurel stein in 1906, during his expedition to the tarim basin, lying south of the large Buddhist temple of Rawak. The area of Siyelik has several Buddhist temples and stupas, dating probably to the fourth century c. e.

Skandagupta (455-467 c. e.) Skandagupta was the Gupta emperor in India who had to withstand the heph-THALITE incursions.

The Junagadh inscription describes him as “the chosen one of Sri Lakshmi, goddess of wealth.” The gupta EMPIRE was known for its prosperity, which is reflected in the coin issues of the successive kings. Skandagupta’s issues are no exception, and the themes show him with his divine queen, Lakshmi, and with the mythical Garuda after his victory over the Huns.

Slavery It is clear that Chinese emperors commanded huge pools of labor. In the case of the shang dynasty; however, the oracle bones have not provided any instance of a word that means “slave.” The two terms to describe people who work or undertake duties for the ruler, zhong and ren, do not imply a condition of slavery. Nor do the many burials associated with the royal tombs of ANYANG, which might just as well contain the remains of retainers with no implication of their being slaves.

The documentary sources for the period of the gupta EMPIRE in India reveal the presence of a form of slavery that was linked with the caste system. Thus members of the Brahmin cast could not be enslaved. If a free woman married a slave, she herself became one, but in the contrary case, a woman marrying a free man was freed from slavery. There are also allusions in Gupta dramas to unsuccessful gamblers becoming slaves to repay debts.

CAMBODIA

The issue of slavery in the history of states in cambodia is not easy to resolve, because it is highly likely that the status of potential slaves changed over the course of 1,500 years. Many inscriptions employ the khmer word knum to designate slave. Although this word means “slave” in Khmer today, Michael Vickery has pointed out that in old Mon, a language closely related to old Khmer, the word means “child.” Thus, early inscriptions might be referring to junior relatives of emerging leaders when employing this word. There is no doubt, even in the period of chenla, that many men and women worked for the temple. Again, however, this might have been a means of making merit rather than the result of coercion. An inscription from Wat Prei Val mentions King jayavar-MAN I who ruled in the second half of the seventh century c. e. It specifies that he ordered that the great-nephew of the two founders of the sanctuary have the exclusive rights over the donations made by his great uncles, including the animals, slaves, forests, and fields. An inscription of the same reign noted that the king joined others in endowing a foundation with fields, gardens, cattle, many buffaloes, and slaves. The inscriptions of the first dynasty of angkor (about 800-1000 c. e.) refer to elite aristocrats and their meritorious acts but also contain details of land ownership, field boundaries, and duties of the retainers. Again, there are many references to slaves, but it would wrong to regard this as a slave-based society. The rural populace donated part of their time and labor to maintain the local temple.

A text from the reign of jayavarman iv (928-942 c. e.) includes an order from the king to join two temples. The benefactor of the temple provided 117 male and female slaves for the dark fortnight when the moon is waning and 130 for the period of the waxing moon, each group with its person in charge. This important insight suggests that there was a rotation system in which workers were required to provide labor for half the month to the temple and presumably worked for themselves during the rest of the month. A text from Phnom Mrec, inscribed during the late 10th century c. e., describes how a certain Soma gave an endowment of land to a sanctuary of siva. He paid two pairs of buffaloes and four jyan of silver for a piece of land. For a second parcel, he paid two slaves, a measure of gold, a pair of buffaloes, and two cattle. The prices paid for slaves assigned to the temple of the goddess Bhagabati are set out in an inscription from Phum Mien. Several were exchanged for other slaves, and one was bought from a Vietnamese for silver. An inscription from Phnom Kanva, Battambang, describes how a worker named Viruna escaped from the estate where he was born and on his recapture had his eyes gouged out and his nose cut off. It was also customary in listing workers to include their children and even grandchildren. Writing of his visit to angkor thom in the late 13th century, ZHOU DAGUAN described how rich families would maintain more than 100 slaves; poorer families had only a handful or none at all. These slaves, while able to speak Khmer, were acquired from the forested uplands. Recaptured slaves who had attempted to escape were to be confined by an iron collar or anklet.

It thus seems likely that at least some form of tied or corvee labor predominated, at least in the kingdom of Angkor, for the inscriptions contain so many allusions to workers required to donate half their time to a temple foundation. The inscriptions from koh ker (Lingapura), the capital of Jayavarman IV, also list numerous workers from various districts who labored on the construction of the temples and reservoir. The status of those listed as knum during the chenla period, however, may have been that of junior kin of the social elite, whose work for the temple provided at least a measure of personal merit.

Sogdiana sogdiana lies in the basins of the Zerafshan and Kashka Dar’ya Rivers, between the Syr Dar’ya and Amu Dar’ya Rivers in Kazakhstan, south of the Aral Sea. sogdian cities were flourishing centers for trade, agriculture, and the arts. The building technique involved construction in compressed loess and mud brick. Large town houses and palaces often had three stories. Interiors were decorated with vigorous and accomplished wall paintings, which illustrate the sumptuous way of life of aristocratic merchants and rulers. There are, for example,

Images of the receipt of ambassadors, feasting scenes, hunting, and travel in elegant boats into the reedy margins of lakes rich in waterfowl. Horse riding and images of warriors were popular, as were mythical events. Rich houses, too, included a hall with images of the deities. Wooden statues and reliefs have also survived; silversmiths were skilled in the production of ceremonial or feasting vessels, which elegantly depict camels and deer. The broad canvas of Sogdian trade and travel meant that many religions and scripts are represented: Christian and Buddhist texts have been found scratched on pottery vessels. The dead were excarnated and the bones placed in decorated ossuaries. A scene from one such ossuary shows two worshipers on their knees before a fire altar. In the sophisticated dress of the upper classes at cities like Panjikent, status was indicated through belts with golden plaques. This flourishing and sophisticated society finally succumbed in the eighth century to the eastward expansion of the Arabs.

Farther east than the rich agricultural land of KHWARIZM, Sogdiana was not so exposed to foreign domination, although it was described as the most easterly of the Seleucid satrapies. Its main center during the early historic period, also the most easterly known Greek city foundation, was Alexandria Eschate (modern Khojand). Sogdiana was a satrapy of the achaemenid empire from the sixth century b. c.e. but was subdued during the eastern campaign of ALEXANDER the great in 329-327 b. c.e. and thereafter was incorporated in the independent state of BACTRIA-Sogdiana under Diodotus I in the middle of the third century b. c.e. Sogdiana itself assumed independence from Bactria, an event long assumed to have taken place after the death of King Euthydemus I in about 200 B. C.E. However, new numismatic evidence now places this event toward the end of that king’s reign. Sogdiana was not fully incorporated into the kushan empire but was briefly subdued by the hephthalite huns during the early sixth century C. E. Sogdiana thereafter is best known as a vital node in the silk road, controlling as it did the east-west caravans, and it was as well the source of furs from the north. The History of the Tang Dynasty noted: “They excel at commerce and love profits. . . . Men of Sogdiana have gone wherever profit is to be found.”

SOGDIAN CITIES AND COLONIES

Thus there developed a series of major cities, whose wealth grew not only on the success of their merchant class, but also on the returns from extensively irrigated fields and the establishment of craft workshops to weave silk. The Sogdian language was eastern Iranian and became a lingua franca of the Silk Road. There was a Sog-dian colony at distant dunhuang, and their letters home have survived in the archives of the ruler of panjikent, Divashtich, dating to the early eighth century. Although Divashtich claimed sovereignty over all Sogdiana, there appear to have been local polities based in the major centers, of which afrasiab, modern Samarqand, was the largest with an area of about 220 hectares (550 acres). Other urban centers were Panjikent and varaksha. Each such center was ruled by a local prince.

The Sogdians established trading settlements subject to their own laws, at strategic points along the Silk Road. In 1907 sir aurel stein was working at one such site near Dunhuang when he discovered a mailbag containing letters from the local Sogdian community for delivery to Samarqand. It never reached its destination; its contents are most revealing. One letter was written by a woman abandoned by her husband. Another, from the hand of a merchant named Nanai-vandak, provides a clear image of the political upheavals that beset China, and in its description of historical events it can be dated to June or July 313 c. E. It describes famine in the capital, LUOYANG, and war with the xiongnu. It also lists some of the goods that were traded along the Silk Road, including gold and silver, linen and woolen fabrics, wheat, pepper, and camphor. Intriguingly, it does not mention silk.

Further reading: Marshak, B. I., and N. N. Negmatov, Sogdiana. In History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. III, edited by B. A. Litvinsky. Paris: UNESCO, 1996; Marshak, B. I., V A. Livshits, and W A. Pini. Legends, Tales, and Fables in the Art of Sogdiana. New York: Bibliotheca Persica, 2002.

Sokkuram Sokkuram is without doubt one of the most famous of all Buddhist shrines in Korea, if not the most famous. It is located at Mount Toham near Kyongju in the southeastern part of the peninsula and dates to the mid-eighth century C. E. By that juncture, the kingdom of SHILLA had overcome the other states of the Three Kingdoms period, paekche and kogoryu, and ruled all Korea from the capital of Kyongju. buddhism had taken hold in this area five centuries previously and was enthusiastically followed from the seventh century. The Sokkuram shrine incorporated first an antechamber, then a small vestibule, before entering the circular shrine room. It was constructed of large slabs of granite hewn from the neighboring rock and covered with a tumulus to resemble a rock-cut temple. A sculpture of the enthroned Buddha standing 3.3 meters (10.9 ft.) high dominates the shrine room and is rendered with matchless serenity and power. Behind, on the walls, are 11 figures of bodhisattvas, gods, and disciples. The most famous of these is the 11headed Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.

Song Yirang (early 20th century) Song Yirang was a leading scholar and student of the Anyang oracle-bone texts. In his 1917 publication Chiwen Juli (Examples of oracle-bone inscriptions), he noted, “At last, I found some way to understand the meanings of these ancient documents.”

The eighth-century shrine at Sokkuram, Korea, is one of the finest examples of Shilla architecture. The temple contains a notable stone image of the Buddha standing to a height of more than three meters (about 10 feet). (© Carmen Redondo/CORBIS)

Sonkh Sonkh is a major urban settlement located near the middle reaches of the Jamuna River in Uttar Pradesh state, India. As have many other cities of the maurya to GUPTA EMPIRES, it has a long sequence of preceding iron AGE occupation, dating to between 800 to 400 b. c.e. There followed a Mauryan occupation during which houses were constructed of mud and roofed with wood and reeds. During the ensuing period of sunga rule (185-73 B. C.E.), mud-brick structures, houses having several rooms grouped around a courtyard, were recovered. There were a street system and public drains. Excavations in 1966-74 also encountered a temple building raised on a platform and dated to the first century B. C.E. It had undergone several rebuilding phases. Occupation continued through the kushan period into the period of the Gupta empire, again with houses grouped along a street grid and equipped with bathrooms and latrines.

Sothi Sothi is a four-hectare (10-acre) settlement located in the former valley of the extinct Drishadvati River in northern India. Limited excavations in 1978 revealed two phases of occupation, the lower belonging to the SOTHI-SISWAL phase of the early Harappan culture, and the second to the fully developed INDUS valley civilization (c. 2500-c. 1770 B. C.E.).

Sothi-Siswal Sothi-Siswal is the name given to one of the four pre-Harappan phases of cultural development in India. The sites in question concentrate in the valley of the extinct rivers sarasvati and Drishadvati. The name derives from two of the typical sites of the period; KALIBANGAN in its early phase and Banawali are the best-known settlements. In terms of size, the vast majority of the villages were less than five hectares (12.5 acres) in area and reveal evidence of ceramic industries, long-distance trade in marine shells and lapis lazuli, and a knowledge of copper smelting. Some of the sites might have been occupied only on a temporary basis, for subsistence included animal herding as well as agriculture. A date in the third millennium B. C.E. is most likely, but the chronology of this phase remains equivocal.

See also Indus valley civilization; sothi.

Spice Islands Spices were one of the major export commodities of Southeast Asia, and their cultivation and trade generated considerable wealth for the local rulers. CLOVES, NUTMEG, and mace were particularly favored and grew only in the Maluku (Moluccas, or Spice Islands in Indonesia). They include about 1,000 islands, many of which are small and uninhabited, east of Sulawesi and west of Papua New Guinea.