#MAREMonday 47

On 04.05.2026 we present the 47th session of our online lecture series with a contribution of

Tanya Pei Fang Lee
(University of East Anglia Norwich, School of History and Art History)

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Material Culture in a Maritime Crossroads: Ceramic Assemblages and the Negotiation of Identity in Okinawa’s Fortress Sites

This lecture examines the interpretive potential of interdisciplinary methodologies in illuminating the role of material culture in port city contexts, using ceramic assemblages from fortress sites in 12th–16th century Okinawa as a case study. Situated at the intersection of East and Southeast Asian maritime worlds, Okinawa offers an exceptional analytical setting in which to examine how objects circulated, were reworked, and acquired meaning within a dynamic and interconnected seascape.

Drawing on archaeological typology and assemblage theory, the lecture demonstrates how ceramics recovered from fortress sites across Okinawa can be read not merely as trade goods or prestige markers, but as multivocal media that actively shaped political negotiation, identity formation, and regional integration. The co-presence of imported wares from across East and Southeast Asia alongside locally produced earthenwares reflects deliberate and culturally situated strategies of material engagement, rather than passive indicators of external influence.

By foregrounding the material agency of ceramics, this lecture situates Okinawa more fully within East and Southeast Asian historiography, moving away from state-centric frameworks to consider the archipelago as an agentive maritime nexus. In doing so, it demonstrates how an interdisciplinary approach, one that integrates archaeology, history, and critical theory, opens new interpretive possibilities for understanding premodern connectivity and the negotiation of identity in island fortress sites.