Island Southeast Asia (ISEA), situated between Mainland China, Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA), and Oceania, has been among the world’s most significant passageways of human migrations since more than one million years ago (1 Ma). Hominids such as Homo erectus lived in Java at least as early as 1.2 to 0.8 Ma. The high diversity of landscape, population, and culture in ISEA makes it an attractive place for archaeology, especially regarding issues such as the origins, dispersal, and interaction of ancient populations at different time depths and geographic routes. One challenge, though, has been the fragmented nature of the archaeological record here, well documented in some cases while under-studied in other areas.

As almost every region in ISEA has been colonialized by external countries, the discipline of archaeology has developed with influence from those imposed political systems. Some distinctions can be noticed before and after World War II. At different times, the...