Technological Innovation and Social <i>Unchange</i>: Iron in Later Prehistoric Taiwan

Abstract

Abstract Taiwan is a useful case study for the evaluation of well-established ideas in prehistory, in this case, concerning the relationship between technological advancement and social change. Continuity and conservatism are key concepts to understand the prehistory of the island of Taiwan, even in the context of metal use and the introduction of iron production technology. In this paper, we revise extant evidence and conceptualizations of metal use and contextualize, in archaeological and analytical terms, the metallurgy of iron in Taiwan and the broader region, using new stratigraphic records. The paper presents a discussion of iron production and use in Taiwan to prompt a new discussion on the technical issues around iron technology itself; revisits significant debates in the discipline on the role of technology and social change; and questions the definition of chronocultural periods based on diagnostic material culture.