Imported tradeware ceramics and their relevance for dating socio‑political developments in South Sulawesi, with special reference to the Allangkanangnge ri Latanete site

Abstract

Imported high-fired ceramics (tradewares) are critical for dating early South Sulawesi historical sites between the 13th/14th and 16th/17th centuries AD. The Allangkanangnge ri Latanete site is of great importance in the South Sulawesi context because of its large tradeware assemblage of more than 2000 sherds and its radiometric chronology that confirms the 13th/14th–16th/17thcentury dating assigned by ceramic specialists to the tradeware classes. The site is also of major importance in its local identification with the palace centre of Cina, an early Bugis kingdom. The combined chronological evidence from tradewares and chronometric determinations demonstrates a 14th-century antiquity for the deepest examples of the abundant rice phytoliths recovered from the site. Allangkanangnge ri Latanete exemplifies the major role of rice in the economy of the early Bugis agrarian kingdoms as their subsistence basis and as a source of surplus produce to trade for ceramics and other exotic imports.