Diffusion of Ancient Sea Fishing Culture

The recent discovery of shell fish hooks in the Persian Gulf offers an opportunity to reexamine the ancient diffusion of sea fishing culture and general maritime culture and the possible Nusantao linkages.

Single-piece, curved shell fish hooks have a strong circum-Pacific distribution in the early Holocene period but also extend all the way to the Persian Gulf and northeastern Africa toward the West.


Distribution of Shell Fish Hooks beginning in Early Holocene


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The sites shown in the map above are generally associated with shell mound cultures. In some of these areas the single-piece, curved shell fish hook is preceded by a straight, multi-piece hook made of non-shell material.

Even after exposure to civilization, the Nusantao Maritime Trade and Communication Network may have used the extreme maritime mode of living as exemplified by the shell mound culture for exploration voyages. Sea fishing/hunting and shellfish collection would allow the Nusantao explorers/merchants to quickly adapt to new, unknown territories without carrying a lot of supplies.

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John Weinstein, © The Field Museum

Shell fish hooks, South Coastal Californians (3000 BC-AD 900), California
(From: http://archaeology.about.com/od/northamerica/ig/Ancient-Americas-/Shell-Fishhooks--California.htm)

The early shell fish hooks from Timor were made from Trochus niloticus, and the same species was used for fish hooks at the Vanuatu and Tikopia sites. Latter peoples of the Pacific favored pearl shell to make fish hooks, and some early theorists had even suggested that the Pacific was colonized by peoples looking for new pearl fishing grounds. The earliest shell hooks predated the Austronesian expansion, but Proto-Austronesians appear to have adopted this item quickly as shown by the PAN reconstruction *kawil "fish hook." The Austronesian speakers generally used the single-piece, curved shell fish hook, either the angling or the trolling variety.

Proto-Oceanic also has another reconstruction for "fish hook" in the form of *kima "shell fish hook, clamshell" that appears to be related to a common word in Papuan languages kimai and its cognates that also mean "shell fish hook, clamshell." Possibly *kima and kimai are remnants of Pre-Austronesian words for these items.

Robert Blust has suggested a diverse set of roots -- kug, kuk, kuy, kul, kel, ku(q), luk, luy, and tuk -- all having the meaning 'to bend, curve.' Some of these roots appear similar to words constructed for Nostratic and other long-range families, but Torsten Pedersen has suggested that these forms may instead have been diffused at an early date by a 'waterfront' people.

A number of words like bend, hook, curve, etc. at least appear related to Proto-Austric *kun[k,q], 'bend', if not the Proto-Austronesian roots. And there are a few words that might relate direction to Proto-Austronesian *kawil such as ga:la "fish hook" and its cognates from the Dravidian languages, gaLa "fish hook" from Pali and Prakrit, and possibly kullab "hook, fish hook," Arabic.

S. Starostin has suggested a term for "fish trap, net" as found in his hopelessly large language family called "Borean" in which he combines an expanded Austric grouping together with Sino-Caucasian. Here again it's possible that an early long-range diffusion by a maritime culture may explain this term rather than genetic language inheritance. Here are some examples of the possible related forms:

PMP *saruk "type of fishing net"
Proto-Austric *[ʒ]al "fishing net or basket"
UAN *zalah or *d'ala' "fishing net"
Proto-Sino-Tibetan *[ʒ́h]ŏn (˜-ɫ) "fish trap or basket"

Following is a list of Proto-Austronesian (PAN) and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) fishing terminologies giving a good idea of the importance of sea fishing as an early source of sustenance in this region.

Fishing Terms	PAN	PMP
bait		*baŋi
bait, trolling lure	*paen	*paen
fish basket trap	*bubu	*bubu
fish corral		*belat
fish drive		*kebuR
fishhook	*kawil	*kawil
fishing dip net		*lawa(n,q)
fishing net		*saruk
fishing line		*hapen
fishing net float		*apung
fishing pole		*bitik
fish poison		*tuba
seine net		*puket
sinker		*buliq
spear		*saet
torch, torch fishing		*damaR

Diffusion of Fish Poisons

One of the most interesting areas of research is the widespread use of fish poisons to stupefy and then catch fish, and its relevance to early migration and the development of early agriculture.

For sea fishing, the poisons are usually cast into inter-tidal pools during low tide to stun fish, which are then easily scooped up by hand, net, etc.

Proto-Austronesian *tuba "fish poison, to poison fish" usually refers to either the Derris or Tephrosia species although many other plants are also used. Some species like Barringtonia, which has a waterborne seed, may have been diffused mainly by sea currents. However, other plants like Derris uliginosa, Derris elliptica, Mundulea suberosa, Anamirta cocculus and a number of Tephrosia species do not transfer well over water and are often found in areas where their wild progenitors are lacking or rare, suggesting human agency.

"...Derris uliginosa, is used as a fish poison from the Zambezi River in Africa, through India and Southeast Asia to the Philippines, Java, Australia, Fiji, and the Marquesas. This distribution is much more indicative of a possible human role in its dissemination because Derris, when used as a fish poison, is commonly a cultivated plant and may have been spread over some of its broad range by human action. A third fish poison, Mundulea suberosa, "probably as a result of age- long cultivation" (Howes 1930:133) is used throughout tropical Africa as well as in Madagascar, India, and Ceylon. Or again, Anamirta cocculus is reported from Brittany to the Philippines, including Palestine, Arabia, Persia, India, Malaya, and Java. Another widely distributed plant used in the same way is Derris elliptica, reported from India, Malaya, Indonesia, Borneo, Philippines, the Caroline Islands, and New Guinea."

(Quigley 1956:510)

A strong argument can be made for the distribution of these plants along the spice trade routes in the Old World and by the Lapita expansion in the Pacific.

Tephrosia purpurea (Tephrosia piscatoria) appears to have a pantropical range as a fish poison and often is cultivated without wild parents throughout much of its range. The plant is native to tropical Asia.

Many of the Tephrosia species used for fish poisoning are nearly identical and can often be distinguished only by experts. The same can be said for the Derris and Lonchocarpus species suggesting that these plants may have been mistaken by migrants for the same plants used as fish poisons in former habitats. Another possibility is that early voyagers sought out similar looking plants with the idea that they possessed similar properties.

Quigley lists a number of other fish poisons with spotty pantropical distributions:

Pantropical plants of other genera which are recorded as piscicides in at least part of their range are Cissampelos pareira L. (used in the Philippine Islands and the West Indies according to Quisumbing 1947:146 and Killip and Smith 1935:14); Sapindus saponaria L. (Killip and Smith 1935:14); and Entada phaseoloides L. (used in the Philippines, India, and South Africa, according to Quisumbing 1947; Chopra 1941; and Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk 1932).

(Quigley 1956:520)

Many of the fish poison plants are wasteland weeds and easily cultivated making them ideal for semi-nomadic seafarers to carry along with them. The fish poisoning method does not require as much local knowledge of fish habits and fish species for success as do most other types of sea fishing.


Seascape

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian naturally has many reconstructed terms for the seascape. Here is a partial list of PMP and PAN terms:

*lahud ‘downriver, towards the sea’
*qarus 'current'
*qalun ‘long rolling wave, swell, billow’
*budaq 'foam, froth'
*busa 'foam'
*ruab 'high tide'
*lajay 'coral'
*buŋa ni batu ‘coral sponge’
*sakaRu ‘reef, shoal’
*namaw ‘sheltered water: deep place in a river; cove, harbour, lagoon'
*l(i,u)mut 'seaweed'
*ma-qaCi 'ebb, low tide' (PAN)
*sawaq 'channel, passage'
*qaNud 'drifting on current'
*Nabek ‘breakers, surf, waves’ (PAN)

Remember that the early seafarer did not have the same technologies as those in medieval times or during the Age of Exploration. The vessels were generally smaller with less storage space and lacking waterproof compartments. The sails and materials of those early boats generally necessitated going along with the wind and currents as much as possible and not fighting against these elements. The ability to live as much as possible off the sea itself would have been of great advantage to early explorers and sea traders.

We find that even into the late period that the large kingdoms and empires of Southeast Asia still maintained communities that lived on the water. The king of Sanfotsi exempted these people from taxes, possibly a recognition of their importance to the ancient maritime culture of the region.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Quigley, Carroll. "Aboriginal Fish Poisons and the Diffusion Problem," American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 58, No. 3, (Jun., 1956), 508-525.

Landberg, Leif C. W. "Tuna Tagging and the Extra-Oceanic Distribution of Curved, Single-Piece Shell Fishhooks in the Pacific," American Antiquity, Vol. 31, No. 4 (Apr., 1966), 485-493.

O’Connor, S. "Unpacking the Island Southeast Asian Neolithic Cultural Package, and Finding Local Complexity," IN: Bacus, Elisabeth A, Ian C. Glover, Vincent C. Piggot. Uncovering Southeast Asia's Past, NUS Press, Singapore, 2006.

Pawley, Andrew. "The origins of early Lapita culture: The testimony of historical linguistics," http://epress.anu.edu.au/terra_australis/ta26/pdf/ch02.pdf, 2007.

Phillipson, David W. African Archaeology, Cambridge University Press, 2005, 181-2.

Ross, Malcolm D.; Andrew Pawley; Meredith Osmond, eds. The lexicon of Proto-Oceanic: the culture and environment of ancestral Oceanic society. Canberra: Australian National University E Press, 2007.

White , Nancy. South American Archaeology: Archaic/Preceramic (6000-2000 B.C.): Emergence of sedentism, early ceramics, http://www.indiana.edu/~arch/saa/matrix/saa/saa_mod03.html, 2005.

Marco Polo (Glossary)

Marco Polo is important for the purpose of this work because his voyages may have resulted in the transfer of mariner's charts and/or related information that helped give rise to the portolan from the East to Europe. At the least, he mentions the use of mariner's charts by navigators in the Indian Ocean during his voyages.

In describing the island of Sri Lanka (Ceylon/Seilan), Polo says:

It has a circumference of some 2400 miles. And I assure you that it used to be bigger than this. For it was once as much as 3500 miles, as appears in the mariners' charts of this sea.

Again in relating the number of islands in the Indian Ocean, he states:

It is a fact that in this Sea of India there are 12,700 Islands inhabited and uninhabited, according to the charts and documents of experienced mariners who navigate the Indian Sea.

When Polo describes the eastern portion of the East Indies apparently including the Philippines, the Moluccas, etc. he says about the name of the China Sea:

You must know the Sea in which lie the Islands of those parts is called the Sea of Chin, which is as much as to say "The Sea over against Manzi." For, in the language of those Isles, when they say Chin, 'tis Manzi they mean. And I tell you with regard to that Eastern Sea of Chin, according to what is said by the experienced pilots and mariners of those parts, there be 7459 Islands in the waters frequented by the said mariners; and that is how they know the fact, for their whole life is spent in navigating that sea.

Probably Polo got his Chin from Tsina or Tchina in the 'language of those Isles," opposite Manzi, or South China, from which we derive the current name "China."

The history of this name has ancient roots. Ancient Sanskrit literature including the Mahabharata mentions Cina and Maha-Cina. The Nestorian synod of 410 tells of a "Metropolitan of the Islands, Seas and the Interior of Dabag, Chin and Machin."

Dabag is the same as the latter "Zabag," while Chin and Machin are certainly copies of the Indian Cina and Mahacina. Among the Nestorians, Chin or Sin means "China" while Machin/Masin refers to Southeast Asia.

Cina is China among the Indians, while Mahachina appears to refer mostly to the areas of Assam, Northeast India, eastern Tibet/Himalayas and Burma where Tantric forms of Mother Goddess worship became very popular.

That Polo refers to a word used in the 'language of those Isles' by the 'experienced pilots and mariners of those parts' is important.

Like the latter Portuguese explorers, Polo uses placenames for Southeast Asia that are mostly of local origin. He rarely uses Chinese or Muslim names, and this may indicate the nature of his informants, the pilots and mariners of those seas.

Insular Southeast Asian placenames

For example, Polo uses the form Ziamba (Ramusio) for Champa. This appears to come from the local Insular Southeast Asian Tsiampa, or related words like Ciampa (Javanese Cempa). The Arabic name for Champa was Sanf, while the Chinese called it Lin-yi.

The world Seilan for Sri Lanka might be derived from Javanese sela "jewel, which would match the Hindu Ratnadvipa "Isle of Gems" and the Muslim Jazirat al Yakut "Isle of Rubies."

In Poggio's account of the testimony of Nicolo de Conti, he also gives local names, rather than Chinese or Arabic ones, including the island of Bandam, the source of cloves, the first reference by native name to one of the Spice Islands (Banda).

Polo does use some Chinese names, for example, Mien for the Burmese kingdom rather than the Indian/Malay Barma. He seems to have learned about this kingdom through stories of Kublai Khan's conquest of Burma. The term Lequios used by the Portuguese comes from Chinese Liu-Kiu (Ryukyu).

When Portuguese and other explorers came into this region, they picked up many more regional names that appear to come from Insular Southeast Asian sources, many of which have survived in modified form until the present day:

Siam -- from forms like Cebuano Ciama or Malay Siyam.

Japan -- Japun, Japang, etc. ultimately from Chinese Jih-pen kuo.

Burma -- Barma, the Malay, Javanese and Indian forms.

Pegu -- Malay Paigu from Burmese Bago

Cochin-China -- Kuchi, Kochi possibly from Chinese Kiau-chih.

China -- Tsina, Tchina, from Qin (Ch'in) empire or Jin (Tsin) dynasty?

Champa -- Tsiampa, Ciampa, Cempa originally borrowed by Europeans as Ziamba, Ciamba, etc.

Moluccas -- Maluka a place on the island of Ceram.

Borneo/Burnei -- Brunei.

Luzon -- Lusung, Lusong recorded first by Tome Pires who calls the inhabitants Luções.

Banda -- first noted by de Conti as Bandam.

Informants

When Francisco Rodrigues arrived in Southeast Asia with the Portuguese in the early 16th century he collected information and charts from Javanese and other local pilots. Ludovico di Varthema did the same.

Later when the British began mapping the area, Alexander Dalrymple on many of his charts left notes specifying the sources of indigenous information often by name.

For example, on a chart of Borneo, Dalrymple notes that parts of the southern coast had not been "confirmed by any exact observation but is laid down from a Sketch of Dato Saraphodin and from a Chart of Noquedah Koplo who came up the Coast in 1761." On other parts of the chart he mentions features that were based on "Sketches I received from the Sooloos [Sulu], but chiefly from the information of Bahatol an old intelligent [Sulu] pilot."

The various informants supplied the placenames borrowed by early European explorers and cartographers resulting in many modern geographic names.

In a similar manner, Polo mentions receiving information from the mariners and pilots of the China Sea and Indian Ocean.

If we look at Polo's names for the Andamans, the Nicobars and Madagascar we may get some clues as to the provenance of his informants.

Instead of the Arab Lankabalus for the Andamans and Nicobars, Polo mentions Angaman and Necuveran, which along with Seilan remind one of the common use of the -an suffix for placenames in Insular Southeast Asia.

A short list of the numerous examples are: Dapitan, Palawan, Lingayan, Dagupan, Nunukan, Tarakan, Bataan and Bulacan. Thus, Seilan may be from sela-an, "place of jewels."

The name Madagascar may be confused with Makdashau (Mogadishu), but others would have it as a corruption of Malagasy.

The Arabic word for the island was al-Qumr, or sometimes Wak or similar terms, the latter probably stemming from the belief that the island was populated by the Wakwak from further east.

The mention of mariner's charts by Polo is also very informative. It was after Polo's return to Europe that the first extant nautical portolans appear. Although the Carta Pisana is sometimes dated to "circa 1296" or a year after Polo's return to Venice, and some believe it is even earlier, the first solid date for an extant portolan is the Genoese map made by Petrus Vesconte dated to 1311.

There is a vague reference to use of a sea chart by Raymond Lull in 1270 but it doesn't appear related to the explosion in the use of the portolan some 30 or more years later.

Lull's mention of sea charts and also the magnetic compass, like earlier references by Guyot de Provins and Jacques de Vitry in the early 13th century were probably based on tales from the Indian Ocean. Muslim writers mention fish-shaped floating compasses used by mariners in the Indian Ocean in 1242. These were almost certainly derived from similar compasses described by Shen Kua writing in the early 12th century but mentioning their use as early as 1086.

A south-pointing "fish" or "tadpole" is mentioned in the 4th and 10th centuries, and by the mid-11th century a specifically "floating" fish compass is mentioned in Chinese works.

De Vitry got much information from Arabic-speaking knights in his attempts to learn of the Mongol campaign, while Lull who grew up in Majorca and is said to have written in Arabic better than Latin. Both of these men may have received information from Muslim informants as they had great interest in the Muslim world.

None of the surviving confidently-dated 13th century European maps show signs of nautical application.

Gilbert the author of De Magnete says Marco Polo brought the compass to Europe from China, although Polo never mentions such a device himself. It could be that Polo brought the mariner's compass along with the mariner's chart, or quite specific but confidential information about both items.

Earlier loadstones may have been known in Europe since the 12th century, with stories of their application for navigation coming in the early 13th century from Muslim sources.

But is seems after Polo's time that we see the first hard evidence of the use of both mariner's compass and chart.

Unfortunately, little additional information exists of the Indian Ocean and China Sea charts until the Portuguese arrive in the early 16th century. It was at this time that Rodrigues reproduced Javanese maps covered with rhumb lines, one of which so deeply inpressed Albuquerque that he said, "it strikes me as the finest piece of work I ever saw."

Some years later, the Turkish admiral Piri Reis produced an extraordinary portolan of the world that was much different in its portrayal of the "New World" than other contemporary maps. Piri Reis claimed to use many charts as sources including those of Columbus, and also some Portuguese maps drawn using the "geometrical methods" of China and the Indies (Hind).

The Chinese "methods" probably refer to the rectangular grids that characterized Chinese maps, but what of those of the Indies? Was Reis referring to Portuguese sources like the now-lost Rodrigues chart with rhumb lines showing the navigation of the Indies?

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Ozdemir, Kemal, Ottoman Nautical Charts and the Atlas of 'Ali Macar Reis, Istanbul, 1992.

Polo, Marco, Henry Yule and Henri Cordier. The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian: Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East, Scribner, 1903.

Voyage to Cipangu

Marco Polo's confusion of Japan and the easternmost Indies had a lasting effect on European geographers up until the time of Columbus' voyages.

Mapmakers tended to show Cipangu as a vast island covering sometimes more than 30 degrees of latitude from near the equator to 35 degrees north or more. In other words, Cipangu included most of Taiwan, the Philippines and the Moluccas. That this was the case is evident in the fact that many maps including the Behaim Globe show locations known as the Nutmeg Forest and the Pepper Forest in the extreme south of Cipangu. Neither of these spices, or the gold or pearls the island was famous for were abundant, if existent at all, in Japan.

Furthermore Cipangu was shown always in the "Indian Ocean" usually off the coast of Champa, or off the coast between Champa and Manzi.


The world according to Paolo Toscanelli, 1474, reconstructed by Hapgood.


A reconstruction from the Laon Globe of 1493


A section from the Waldseemüller map showing the southern end of Cipangu at about 5 degrees North with the north end at about 35 degrees North.



Toscanelli recreated by Hapgood showing how close Europe thought Cipangu was from the West

As one can see from the last map, European geographers of the time thought the East Indies were much closer to the West than was actually the case. This was due in large part to the incorrect distance assigned to a degree of longitude. As noted earlier, this fault extends back to Marinus and Ptolemy. According to my theory, it would have been in the interests of the Dragon and Bird Clan to allow this error to persist.

Columbus is said to have corresponded with Paolo Toscanelli, and he carried a globe with him during his journeys. The two surviving globes from the period just prior to his journey -- the Laon and Behaim globes -- both show Cipangu in very much the same position as Toscanelli.

Apparently, Columbus also believed that Cipangu was the ancient source of spices like nutmeg, cloves, cassia and Indonesian cinnamon. He expressly stated that he was destined for that island in search of these types of aromatics.

The expedition first made landfall in the New World while cruising at 24 degrees North longitude. Columbus then sailed southwest in his search for Cipangu. He believed that the fabled golden kingdom was that of Cibao, located in the modern nation of the Dominican Republic at about 19 1/2 degrees North latitude. This shows quite clearly that the explorer believed Cipangu was located in the tropics although he greatly underestimated its distance to the West. As you may remember, navigators at this time could accurately determine latitude but not longitude.

There is one important thing we must note regarding Columbus' explorations. Paolo Toscanelli is said to have been the first person to suggest a westward voyage to the Indies and Cipangu. The first documentation of this is a letter by Toscanelli to the confessor Canon Ferdam Martins of Lisbon, which Columbus had read. This started a correspondence between the two geographers.

The important link here is the man generally known as one of Toscanelli's main informants -- Nicolo de Conti. This Venetian traveler had spent many years traveling throughout the East including the island regions of Southeast Asia. Most importantly, de Conti claimed to have had a close personal relationship with Prester John of the Indies!

Pero Tafur, a Spanish traveler met de Conti along the Red Sea near the Sinai during one of his journeys. The Venetian nobleman explained how he had gotten lost in India and finally ended up in the court of Prester John in India Major (Greater India):

When I arrived in India I was taken to see Prester John, who received me very graciously and showed me many favours, and married me to the woman I now have with me, and she bore me these children.

Unfortunately, de Conti does not give any specific details on just where in Greater India Prester John was located. However, he does provide some details of his kingdom:

I asked him concerning Prester John' and his authority, and he told me that he was a great lord, and that he had twenty-five kings in his service, although they were not great rulers, and also that many people who live without law, but follow heathen rites, are in subjection to him.

Notice that the number of kings under Prester John is reduced from the 72 monarchs claimed in his 1165 letter.

De Conti also tells Tafur that the king had a great interest in the Chrisitan kingdoms of Europe and that he had twice witnessed emissaries sent to "Christian princes" but was unaware if they had ever completed their mission:

I learnt from Nicolo de' Conti that Prester John kept him continuously at his court, enquiring of him as to the Christian world, and concerning the princes and their estates, and the wars they were waging, and while he was there he saw Prester John on two occasions dispatch ambassadors to Christian princes, but he did not hear whether any news of them had been received

Many of the items related by Tafur are confirmed by accounts given to Poggio Bracciolini, the papal secretary. Pope Eugenius IV had ordered de Conti to furnish his history in penance for his renunciation of Christianity during his wanderings.

As for de Conti as a source his accounts are generally considered the best journals of the East during the entire 15th century. He was the first person in Europe to clearly distinguish Sri Lanka from Sumatra. He also was known to have suggested traveling to the East by sailing around Africa. While there is no direct evidence that de Conti ever suggested a westward voyage, the connection with Toscanelli leaves this as an irresistable possibility.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento