在冶金术起源的讨论中,东南亚是一个比较新的地区。本文试图从人类学的角度出发,考察最近在东南亚发现的早期冶金技术的资料对整个早期冶金术研究的普遍意义。在我们的讨论中,东南亚这个词,指的是东南亚大陆,其中包括了中国的南方地区。笔者所熟悉的第一手资料是来自于泰国东北部,特别是班清(Ban Chiang)遗址的资料。近年来,关于东南亚金属起源的年代问题已经过详尽的重新推测(贝阿德,1984;赫格 In discussing the origins of metallurgy, Southeast Asia is a relatively new area. This paper attempts to examine, from an anthropological point of view, the universal significance of the information on the early metallurgical techniques discovered in Southeast Asia for the entire early metallurgy research. In our discussion, the term Southeast Asia refers to the continent of Southeast Asia, which includes the southern part of China. I am familiar with the first-hand information is from the northeastern Thailand, especially Ban Chiang site information. In recent years, the chronology of the origins of metals in Southeast Asia has been thoroughly re-speculated (Bead 1984;