Table of contents : Contents List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: The Archaeology of Ryukyu Islanders 2. The Active Environment of the Ryukyus 3. Pleistocene Inhabitants 4. Arriving and Settling: Island Hunter-Gatherer Colonization and Interaction 5. Surviving in the Archipelago: Island Hunter-Gatherer Subsistence 6. Exchange Networks and the Lure of Tropical Shells 7 The Gusuku Period (AD 1050 to 1429): A New Order 8. Ryukyu Trade in the Gusuku and Early Ryukyu Kingdom Periods 9. The Early Ryukyu Kingdom (AD 1429 to 1609) 10. Discussion and Conclusions Appendix 1: Building a Chronology of Trade Ceramics Appendix 2: The Successive Rulers of the Chūzan or Ryukyu Kingdom Glossary of Japanese and Chinese Characters References Cited Index About the Author