182 ASIAN PERSPECTIVES • 2018 • 57(1)

The Life of the Longhouse: An Archaeology of Ethnicity. Peter Metcalf. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. 345 pp., 19 figures, appendix, bibliography, 2 indices. Hardback, £82, US $129. ISBN 9780521110983; 2012 Paperback, £36, US $57. ISBN: 9781107407565.

Reviewed by Lindsay LLOYD-SMITH, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester

The work of anthropologist Peter Metcalf will study has any bearing on the question of be familiar to many archaeologists. His 1992 ethnicity elsewhere and acknowledges that co-authored Celebrations of Death: The Anthro- there are likely only a handful of scholars in pology of Mortuary Ritual is widely cited by the world who will be familiar with the burial archaeologists (Metcalf and plethora of ethnic groups discussed in the Huntington 1992). Metcalf’s interest in the book; because of the level of historical detail function and meaning of ritual in small scale in the book, researchers working elsewhere communities stemmed from his doctoral may not think it relevant to their research. research on Borneo in the early 1970s, and Second, it may have been an unfortunate those who enjoyed Celebrations of Death accident that the book’s title resulted in it should seek out his entertainingly detailed being wrongly catalogued. Not that aca- A Borneo Journey into Death (1982). A further demics discover books by browsing book- short classic is Metcalf’s They Lie, We Lie: shelves, but even the publisher’sown Getting on with Anthropology (2002), a highly bookshop places it under archaeology, rather recommended read for all archaeologists than anthropology. (I suspect this is the reason involved with community-based projects. In it was sent to Asian Perspectives for review). his latest book, The Life of the Longhouse: An Does this matter? Shouldn’t interdisciplinary Archaeology of Ethnicity, Metcalf revisits his approaches to the study of past and present be study area of the Brunei hinterland on Borneo encouraged? The answer to this rhetorical to write a detailed historical narrative spanning question is, of course, yes! the last 200 years. He explores the contingent It soon becomes clear that Metcalf uses the relationships between domestic architecture, term ‘archaeology’ in the metaphoric sense, pre-modern trading systems, political and ritual álaFoucault’s Archaeology of Knowledge (1972), economies, and ethnicity – all topics which of working through the layers of historical concern archaeologists. Metcalf maintains the archives and narratives to piece together a new high level of scholarship evident in his earlier perspective on a particular theme. In Metcalf ’s work, and with his intimate knowledge of the case, the question is how ethnic identities material is able to convey the intricacies of these evolved in one particular region in north narratives and make the book a pleasure to read. Borneo, in what is now in the modern state of In short, it is a work that deserves to become as Sarawak, East Malaysia. Archaeologists brows- equally well-known and cited as his earlier ing through the book will soon realize that it books. does not concern archaeology, and are likely So far, however, the book has had to put it back on the shelf. However, the book surprisingly little coverage since publication contains much information that would be of in 2010. I can find only two previous interest for archaeologists, so I encourage you published reviews with wide circulation, to read on. the first in the French journal L’Homme First, however, some words of warning. (Couderc 2011), the second in the Journal of Even after accepting that Metcalf uses the Asian Studies (Steckman 2015). Two reasons term archaeology in its metaphoric sense, the possibly explain the book’s slow uptake. As a apparent contempt with which he regards the historical analysis of ethnicity in one particular discipline comes as a saddening surprise; in location, Metcalf makes no claim that his his opinion, archaeology can only offer BOOK REVIEWS 183

“interesting speculation and discoveries” Metcalf does not concern himself with the (p. 6). Metcalf’s lack of interest in archaeology archaeological origins of the Borneo long- is clear. Although this book was written at the house; rather, as anthropologists often do, he beginning of the twenty-first century, he only starts his historical analysis from the ethno- references the first edition of Peter Bellwood’s graphic present to reconstruct the economic, (1985) Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian social, and political systems that operated Archipelago to provide a wider and deeper within longhouse societies of the Baram valley prehistoric context for the study. Perhaps this of Borneo. On a larger scale, Metcalf uses the is a small matter when the focus is on the built environment of longhouses as an entry historic period of the last few hundred years, point into the fundamental question of what but Metcalf seems unaware of the interesting shaped the ethnic identities of their inhabi- historical archaeology by Laura Junker (1998, tants. Rather than simply using ethnic terms 1999) on the development of coastal-inland as a necessary prerequisite to a historical study relationships in the Philippines or that of of longhouse societies, the façade of ‘ethni- Dominik Bonatz and colleagues (2009) on city’ is viewed side on to examine what is Sumatra. Not only are such studies of direct propping it up: what ethnicity meant or relevance to Metcalf’s argument in The Life of means to longhouse dwellers becomes the the Longhouse, but they also demonstrate the focus of his research. added depth and unique perspective that Following the Introduction, the book is archaeology can contribute to Southeast organized into six parts of two or three Asian studies. Such detailed historical archae- chapters each. In a way that will be ology has only recently commenced on appreciated by archaeologists, Chapter 1 sets Borneo, but the results are already bringing the stage by describing the physical structure new light to understanding the recent past and spaces of longhouses and common aspects (Nyíri 2017); this will (hopefully) make of their material culture. The subsequent Metcalf reappraise his opinion (see below). chapters and following sections then populate On a more general level, given the use of the this empty stage to bring the longhouse to life. term in the title, the theoretical breadth of the Section 2 examines the role of political book would have benefited from considering leadership in the formation and sustaining how archaeology has engaged with the concept of longhouse communities (here an under- of ethnicity (e.g., Jones 1997). Neither is there standing of the political pre-colonial and any discussion of the relevant literature on the colonial history of the region is required). topic of ethnicity and state politics in Southeast Section 3 discusses the economic system of Asia (e.g., Brown 1994). However, despite the trade in rainforest items (i.e., camphor, bezoar narrow theoretical and geographical focus of stones, birds’ nests, etc.) for luxury items of Metcalf’s study, The Life of the Longhouse is a material culture (i.e., ceramics, textiles, metal rewarding read for all those working in South- work, beads, etc.) which underpinned the east Asian studies, not least archaeologists. expression of status of the longhouse elite and The deceptively simple question Metcalf ruling political class. Here, Chapter 7 con- poses on the opening page is: why did/do cerning “Premodern Upriver Trade” (pp. people of the interior of Borneo live in large 138–180), the longest in the book, would be collective ‘longhouse’ structures. Though not one of the most interesting to archaeologists, unique to Borneo (nor Southeast Asia), these as it focuses on the socio-political mechanisms impressively large, raised domestic structures, by which material exchange took place. sometimes hundreds of meters long and While Metcalf’s analysis (based upon historic housing hundreds (occasionally thousands) archival material from the early 1900s and oral of people, have long been a defining feature of histories) concludes that the integration of the indigenous societies there. Viewed as a facet of coastal-inland trade into a modern colonial common Austronesian heritage, some scho- system had little effect upon traditional social lars have suggested that longhouse architec- systems of competing elites, recent pioneering ture may have been part of the ‘Neolithic’ historical archaeological surveys of contem- package of material culture (Bellwood 1997). poraneous burial sites in the headwaters of the 184 ASIAN PERSPECTIVES • 2018 • 57(1)

Baram, adjacent to the Metcalf ’s study area, forth across the landscape of Borneo is not suggest that the influx of material wealth done justice by the level of detail in the three during this period did indeed have a disabling outline map figures of the case study area. (As affect upon the acquisition and use of high an archaeologist working in the nearby Niah status material goods, in this case large Caves and the in the headwaters of Baram, I Chinese stoneware jars used for burial (Nyíri found it instructive to create both a timeline 2017). Whether the same applies to lower and annotated map to accompany future re- Baram is not yet clear, but such studies are reading.) However, neither of these minor beginning to highlight the shortcomings of shortcomings should dissuade the reader. purely historical anthropological approaches In sum, The Life of the Longhouse deserves to and the potential which archaeology can offer be widely read by archaeologists, particularly to inter-disciplinary approaches to under- those working in Southeast Asia. The book standing even the recent past in the region. provides a useful case study of pre-modern Section 4 continues the focus on the coastal-inland trade in the region, but it is the processes of longhouse growth and dispersion wider implications of Metcalf ’s historical by examining longhouse populations in terms analysis of the emergence and dissolution of of language communities and demographics. ethnicities in the middle Baram of Sarawak, Section 5 moves on to examine how long- and the physical expression of these in the houses were not only held together through architectural form of the longhouse, that will political and economic consensus, but were be of most interest to Southeast Asian arenas of frequent ritual action, with different archaeologists. Although not stated outright, levels of community engagement and rele- the implication of Metcalf ’s illuminating vance. Importantly, longhouse communities narrative is clear: if the form and character not only comprised the living, but (even more of ethnicities in the Baram were the result of politically important) the dead were called particular trading relationships that emerged into being during significant ritual occasions. in the (archaeologically) recent past of the last The complexities of the linguistic, genetic, 500 or more years, and the expression of such and demographic composition of longhouse ethnicities in the architectural form of long- communities, manifest in multiple and com- houses was historically contingent upon the peting ‘ethnic’ identities, were given agency convergence of particular economic, political, through ritual actions. and ritual circumstances, then it follows that The final section describes the political and the rich ethnographies of the region cannot economic changes to longhouse life during be used as analogies for interpreting the and after the colonial period (broadly coin- deeper past such as the Neolithic transition or ciding with whole of the twentieth century). early Metal Age. At the other end of the story, What is perhaps lacking from this section is Metcalf’s conclusion that the life of the consideration of the effect of the large scale longhouse is over has turned out to be conversion to Christianity on longhouse premature. What Metcalf could not foresee structure and indigenous concept of ethnicity. was the convergence between ethnicity, the Metcalf ends the historical narrative at the emergence of local interests in the concept of turn of the twenty-first century by proposing heritage, and the politics of land rights in that the life of the longhouse is over and that modern day Sarawak. All three are bound up indigenous ethnicities have been politically with traditional and non-traditional land use, unified into a single ethnic category as including significantly the persistence of ‘upriver people’. ‘longhouse’ communities, both as an abstract Given the intricacies of the historical concept held by increasingly dispersed and narratives in terms of the multiple individuals, globalized ethnic communities and as seen in communities, locations, and events involved, the re-birth of physical longhouse architec- which are returned to from different per- ture, often led by émigrés returning home. spectives in different chapters, a summary The Life of the Longhouse contains much food timeline would have been useful. In a similar for thought for prehistoric, historic, and vein, the complexity of movement back and contemporary archaeologists alike, as well as BOOK REVIEWS 185 those working in heritage related fields. It is JONES,SIÂN not often one can say that of a book with such 1997 The Archaeology of Ethnicity: Constructing Identities in the Past and the Present. a narrow geographic and historic focus. London: Routledge

JUNKER,LAURA 1998 Integrating history and archaeology in the study of contact period Philippine REFERENCES CITED chiefdoms. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 2(4):291–320. BELLWOOD,PETER 1999 Raiding, Trading and Feasting: The 1985 Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Political Economy of Philippine Chiefdoms. Archipelago. Orlando, FL: Academic Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press. Press. METCALF,PETER 1997 Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago. 1982 A Borneo Journey into Death: Berawan Canberra: Australian National Press. Eschatology from its Rituals. Philadelphia: BONATZ,DOMINIK,JOHN MIKSIC,DAVID NEIDEL, University of Pennsylvania Press. AND MAI LIN TJOA-BONATZ, EDS. 2002 They Lie, We Lie: Getting on with 2009 From Distant Tales: Archaeology and Anthropology. London: Routledge. Ethnohistory in the Highlands of Sumatra. METCALF,PETER, AND RICHARD HUNTINGTON Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge 1992 Celebrations of Death: The Anthropology of Scholars Publishing. Mortual Ritual. Cambridge: Cambridge BROWN,DAVID University Press. 1994 The State and Ethnic Politics in South-East NYÍRI,BORBÁLA Asia. London: Routledge. 2017 Chasing Dragons Through Time and COUDERC,PASCAL Space: Martabani dragon jars in the 2011 Reviewed Work(s): The Life of the Kelabit Highlands, Sarawak, East Longhouse: An Archaeology of Ethnicity by Malaysia. Unpubl. Ph.D. Thesis. Peter Metcalf. L’Homme 200:263–266. University of Leicester.

FOUCAULT,MICHEL STECKMAN,LAURA 1972 Archaeology of Knowledge, trans. A. M. 2015 Review of The Life of the Longhouse: An Sheridan Smith. London: Tavistock Archaeology of Ethnicity, By Peter Metcalf. Publications. Journal of Asian Studies 74(2):523–524.

Glass in Ancient India: Excavations at Kopia. Alok Kumar Kanungo, with 22 additional contributors. Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: Kerala Council for Historical Research, 2013. 475 pp., 597 figures, 144 tables. Hardback, US $50. ISBN 81-85499-46-2.

Reviewed by James W. LANKTON, UCL Institute of Archaeology, London

Glass in Ancient India: Excavations at Kopia by analyses of the glass showed soda glass with Alok Kumar Kanungo (AKK) is a substantial high alumina and lower lime and magnesia work, reporting on five excavation seasons (Roy and Varshney 1953). Based on this from 2004 to 2009 at the north Indian site of preliminary work, the author planned a new Kopia, which as early as 1891 was suggested to and more extensive excavation intended to have been an ancient glass manufacturing site. focus particularly on the glass evidence, in Excavation in 1949 provided more evidence order to know: the antiquity and history of of glass production, including glass beads and glass use and production in India; the other glass fragments, as well as fragments of technological development of glass; the glass reddish brown ceramic vessels thought to have furnaces of ancient India; how glass study been used as crucibles. Limited chemical could be integrated with that of other material