| Abstract: |
The activities of the ancient peoples of southern China on rivers and at sea can be dated to at least 6000 BC. The Hemudu culture has produced apparent water transport vehicles and its people were probably active at one time on the ocean, since their sites lie so close to it. Sites on the many islands on the southeast coast of China dating back five or six thousand years BC record the activities of people who lived, long-term, on the seas. They had a degree of mobility, becoming a type of sea nomad. Their earliest survival tactics involved utilization of the natural environments of the islands, gathering shellfish and fish and hunting for small game. The high degree of mobility on the part of these nomads also made them transmitters of cultural traits. For example, the Hemudu jade industry influenced the Pei-nan culture of Taiwan, and characterisitics of the Ta-p'en-keng culture of Taiwan also occur in coastal areas in Fujian and Guangdong.
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