Peter V. Lape
Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology
Curator of Archaeology, Burke Museum

 

Box 353010
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195  USA

 

office: Denny Hall 140; tel: (206) 685-9364
lab: Burke Museum 30; tel: (206) 685-2282
fax: (206) 685-3039
email: plape@u.washington.edu

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Academic History
  2008- Associate Professor and Curator of Archaeology, University of Washington
  2005-2008 Assistant Professor and Curator of Archaeology, University of Washington
  2000-2004 Acting Assistant Professor and Curator of Archaeology, University of Washington
  2000  Ph. D. Anthropology, Brown University
  1995  M.A. Museum Studies, San Francisco State University
  1985  B.A. Physics, University of New Hampshire

Research
  Origins of agriculture and pottery making in Island SE Asia

Widely-accepted explanations for the spread of Austronesian-speaking people, pottery-making technology and domestic plants and animals into remote Oceania posit that these influences originated in or passed through Island Southeast Asia and near Oceania on their way east. But data on the earliest farming and pottery making within Island Southeast Asia are extremely limited and do not currently support these explanations. A National Geographic-funded excavation and analysis of the PA1 site on Pulau Ay in the Banda archipelago in eastern Indonesia began in August 2007. This is one of the few stratified open sites in the region dating to the pre-3200 BP period containing pottery and remains of domestic animals. A joint University of Washington – Universitas Gadjah Mada field school will be working on these sites in the Banda Islands in January – March 2009. See the Project Website including field school information.

 

Islamization, trade and European colonialism in eastern Indonesia

Many Island Southeast Asians began converting to Islam in the 15th century AD, just before the first European visitors arrived. Both arrivals were driven in part by expanding global trade networks, and recent research suggests that there may have been environmental factors involved as well. My dissertation research in the Banda Islands (1997-98) was directed at investigating the confluence of these processes in a local situation, using both archaeological and documentary data.

 

Late Holocene climate change, settlement and warfare in the Pacific

Current data from Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific suggest a chronological link between the development of fortified settlements and increased climate instability and drought beginning 800 years ago. Fortified settlements appear across much of Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific at this time. Since 2003, I have been working in East Timor to refine the chronology of the occupation of fortified village sites, gather local palaeoclimate proxy data and test theories that can provide an explanatory link between these observed patterns.

 

Training and Public Outreach

Southeast Asia Archaeological Research and Training Program

This four-year program (2006-2010) is funded by the Henry Luce Foundation, and provides a wide variety of opportunities for students from the US and Southeast Asia in graduate training in archaeology, field schools, museum training and cultural heritage law training, including several Luce Fellowships for graduate students. For more information, click on the program link above, or specific fellowship links below:

            PhD Fellowships in Southeast Asian Archaeology (3 years tuition, stipend, research funds), deadline December 15, 2008

            LLM Fellowships in Cultural Resource Law (1 year tuition, stipend, travel costs; for students from Southeast Asia only)

            Graduate Fellowships in Museology (1 year tuition, stipend, travel costs; for students from Southeast Asia only), deadline January 15, 2009

Archaeology Field School in Indonesia, January-March 2009 (full fellowships available for students from Southeast Asian universities), deadline October 15, 2008

 

The Waterlines Project (website coming soon)

This project, in early development, will trace the pre-19th century shorelines of the dramatically altered Seattle waterfront and provide real and virtual exhibits about the changing landscapes of the area, drawing from archaeological, geological and documentary data.

 

Traditional Food Sources and Diabetes in Puget Sound Native Communities

This project, funded by the Institute for Ethnic Studies, uses archaeological data about diet in Puget Sound to investigate the causes and possible treatment of Type II diabetes among Puget Sound Native Americans. Click on the program link above for information including data sets.

 

The Burke Museum Archaeology Department also runs a variety of other public programs in archaeology in Washington State.

                                    

Publications

Journal articles:

Lape, Peter V. and Chao Ching-yung. 2008. Fortification as a human response to late Holocene climate change in East Timor. Archaeology in Oceania 43:11-21. pdf (page proof)

Lape, Peter V.  2007. Introduction: Climate change and archaeology in the Pacific. Archaeology in Oceania 42:81. pdf

Lape, Peter V., Sue O’Connor and Nick Burningham. 2007. Rock art: A potential source of information about past maritime technology in the South-East Asia-Pacific region. The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 36(2): 238–253. pdf

Lape, Peter V.  2006. Chronology of fortified settlements in East Timor. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 1(2):285-298. pdf

Lape, Peter V.  2005. Archaeology of Islam in Island Southeast Asia. Antiquity 79: 829-836. pdf

Lape, Peter V.  2004. Working with local museums: A case study from Eastern Indonesia. Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 23:187-190. pdf

Lape, Peter V.  2003. Theoretical insights from studies of culture contact in eastern Indonesia. Archaeology in Oceania 38: 102-109. pdf

Lape, Peter V.  2002. On the use of archaeology and history in Island Southeast Asia. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 45(4): 468-491. pdf

Lape, Peter V.  2002. Historic maps and archaeology as a means of understanding late pre-colonial settlement in the Banda Islands, Indonesia. Asian Perspectives 41(1): 43-70. pdf

Lape, Peter V.  2000. Political dynamics and religious change in the late pre-colonial Banda Islands. World Archaeology 32(1): 138-155. pdf

Lape, Peter V.  2000. Contact and colonialism in the Banda Islands, Maluku, Indonesia. Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 20:48-55.

 

Book Chapters:

Lape, Peter V.  2006. On the use of archaeology and history in Island Southeast Asia. In Excavating Asian History: Interdisciplinary Studies in Archaeology and History, pp. 278-306, Norman Yoffee and Bradley Crowell, eds., University of Arizona Press.

Lape, Peter V.  2004. The isolation metaphor in island archaeology. In The Archaeology of Insularity: Examining the Past in Island Environments, pp. 223-232, Scott Fitzpatrick, ed., Greenwood Press.

 

Book and Film Reviews:

Lape, Peter V.  2007. Review of film Kuwňot yas. Čin: His Spirit is Looking out from the Cave, Sealaska Heritage Institute (2005). Visual Anthropology 20(2/3): 261-262. pdf

Lape, Peter V.  2006. Review of Southeast Asian Archaeology, Victor Paz, ed. (2005). Asian Perspectives 45(1): 110-112. pdf

 

Other Publications:

Lape, Peter V.  2005. Puget Sound Traditional Food and Diabetes Project. AWA Newsletter 9(1): 7-8.

Lape, Peter V.  2003. Does archaeology have a role in building the nation of East Timor? Asian Social Issues Program, The Asia Society.

Lape, Peter V.  1999. Archaeologists and local museum development: A case study from the Banda Islands, Indonesia. Southeast Asian Archaeology International Newsletter 9:4-5.

 

Teaching
Please visit my course web sites (old course websites are not fully functional, and parts of current courses may be inaccessible to non-UW viewers):

·   Anthropology of War (ARCHY/ANTH 101, Spring 2008)

·   Archaeology Field School (ARCHY 271, next offered Winter 2009)

·   Public Archaeology (ARCHY 465, Winter 2007)

·   Archaeology of Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific (ARCHY 325/525, Winter 2006)

·   Climate Change (ARCHY 570, Spring 2005)

·   History and Archaeology (ARCHY 469A, Spring 2001)

·   I also supervise internships for credit (ARCHY 489) for students who want to gain work experience in CRM firms or museums. Contact me for details.

Other Links
UW Anthropology Department
Burke Museum
UW Southeast Asia Center