From Funan to Lingnan
Welcome to the international conference
“From Funan to Lingnan: Material Flow and Regional Connectivity in Southeast Asia”
This gathering brings together archaeologists and specialists in archaeological science to explore the movement of materials, technologies, and ideas across the South China Sea and adjacent regions from the late first millennium BCE through the first millennium CE. By focusing on the interconnected trajectories of Funan, Linyi/Champa, Northern Vietnam, and Lingnan, we ask how maritime and overland routes shaped regional interaction, and how different communities and landscapes participated in, and responded to, these multi-scalar processes.
Hosted in Taipei and co-organised by the Research Center for Taiwan and Southeast Asian Archaeology, Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica (IHP) and the École française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO, French School of Asian Studies), the conference also aims to strengthen scholarly exchange and to create space for future collaboration across research communities working on the South China Sea connectivity.
Conference Objectives
To achieve these aims, the conference is structured around five core objectives:
- Mapping regional connectivity: To examine material flows linking Funan, Linyi/Champa, Northern Vietnam, and Lingnan within wider South China Sea networks, and to compare how exchange operated across different settings and periods.
- Integrating archaeological science: To reconstruct exchange and technological change by combining contextual evidence with scientific approaches, including compositional studies, artefact technologies, archaeobotany, and improved chronological tools where complex sequences require finer dating control.
- Fostering multi-scalar dialogue: To balance macro-scale perspectives (routes and interaction spheres) with micro-regional case studies that clarify local practices, choices, and constraints.
- Bringing recent research into conversation: To share new work emerging from ongoing fieldwork and laboratory analysis across Southeast Asia and southern China, including current discussions related to the Óc Eo-Ba Thê complex, and to connect these results with Taiwan-based scholarly discussions.
- Encouraging collaboration: To facilitate research exchange, data sharing, and the development of future interdisciplinary projects across institutions and regions.
A Platform for Exchange
A significant focus of this meeting is to create a forum where diverse methods, from excavation and landscape work to high-precision material analysis, can intersect in a genuinely comparative way. We hope the discussions demonstrate not only what is known, but also what kinds of evidence and analytical choices are needed to move key debates forward.
We warmly welcome you to Taipei and hope that the conversations over the coming days will spark new collaborations and deepen our collective understanding of Southeast Asia’s interconnected past.
The Organizers,
WANG Kuan-wen
Associate Research Fellow and Co-ordinator of the Research Center for Taiwan and Southeast Asian Archaeology, Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica.
Frank MUYARD
Associate Professor and Director of the Taipei Center, French School of Asian Studies (EFEO)
HUNG Hsiao-chun
Senior Research Fellow, School of Culture, History and Language, Australian National University
致與會者：會議前言與宗旨
歡迎各位參加「從扶南到嶺南：東南亞的物質流動與區域連結」國際學術研討會。
本次會議匯聚考古學者與科技考古領域專家，共同探討自公元前一千紀晚期至公元一千紀期間，南海及其周邊地區之物質、技術與觀念如何移動與交流。以扶南、林邑/占婆、越南北部與嶺南之間彼此牽動的發展為線索，我們希望一起追問：海上與陸上交易如何形塑區域互動？不同社群與地景又如何參與、並回應這些不同尺度的交流過程？
本次會議在臺北舉行，由中央研究院歷史語言研究所「臺灣與東南亞考古研究室」與法國遠東學院共同主辦。除了分享新研究，我們也希望讓彼此的討論走得更近，為環南海區域連結研究社群創造更多交流與未來合作的可能。
會議目標
為了落實上述宗旨，本次研討會以五項核心目標作為主軸：
- 描繪區域連結：檢視扶南、林邑/占婆、越南北部與嶺南在更廣泛的南海網絡中如何透過物質流通而相互連結，並比較不同場域、不同時段的交換運作方式。
- 整合科技考古：結合出土脈絡與科學分析，重建交換與技術變遷。方法面向包括成分研究、器物技術研究、考古植物學；在面對複雜地層與建造序列時，也納入更精細的年代工具以提升年代控制。
- 建立多尺度對話：兼顧宏觀尺度（路線與互動圈）與微區域個案研究，讓在地實作、選擇與限制能在更大的交流框架中被清楚理解。
- 串連最新研究進展：分享東南亞與華南地區近期田野與實驗室分析的新成果（包含Óc Eo-Ba Thê遺址群相關討論），並與臺灣的研究議題與討論脈絡相互對接。
- 促進未來合作：鼓勵研究交流與資料分享，並促進對未來跨機構、跨區域合作與跨領域計畫的討論與連結。
交流對話平台
本次會議的一項重要用意，是打造一個可以讓多種方法真正交會、並能進行比較討論的場域，從考古發掘與地景研究，到高精度的材料分析，都能在同一個框架下對話。我們也希望接下來的討論不僅呈現目前已知的成果，也能進一步釐清：要推進關鍵議題，還需要哪些類型的證據，以及需要採取哪些分析取向與研究設計。
誠摯歡迎各位來到臺北，也期待未來幾天的交流能激發新的合作可能，並深化我們對東南亞彼此相連之過去的共同理解。
主辦人:
王冠文 WANG Kuan-wen, 中央研究院歷史語言研究所副研究員
梅豪方 Frank MUYARD, 法國遠東學院副教授兼台北中心主任
洪曉純 HUNG Hsiao-chun, 澳洲國立大學文化、歷史與語言學院
