Editors’ Note

Asian Perspectives proceeds now with more than 50 years of production as a leading journal of Asian and Pacific archaeology. Much has changed over the years as the journal has adapted to one challenge after another. More change can be expected, as we consider innovative approaches to delivering high-quality scholarship to our readers.

With the current issue, I am privileged to introduce Rowan Flad as new co-editor for the journal. Rowan and I have begun implementing new policies and procedures that will gradually come into effect over the next few issues. In brief, we aim to improve the submission and production workflow processes, update the style guide, and strengthen the impact of the journal.

I would like to draw attention to some recent developments that otherwise might have gone unnoticed. For instance, Managing Editor Jaida Samudra has maintained our ship on course for some time now; she has graciously agreed to continue doing so. Funding from the American School of Prehistoric Research has opened new possibilities for supporting editorial duties and making us more efficient. The staff of the University of Hawai‘i Press Journals Department has admirably worked through a backlog of material that would have stymied any other team.

We are thankful to all of the journal’s prior editors who have guided Asian Perspectives through decades of inspiring generations of scholars. We hope to continue this tradition.

Mike Carson

I am delighted to join Mike Carson in editing this prestigious journal. Among the other changes that may have gone unnoticed has been a revitalization of our Editorial Board, to which we have added several new members. Among the scholars who recently agreed to join the board and have assisted with this issue is Prof. Pochan Chen, of National Taiwan University. We were deeply saddened when Prof. Chen passed away unexpectedly shortly after this issue went into production. Other important figures in the field who have passed away in recent years include Wilhelm G. Solheim III, Adi Haja Taha, Roger C. Green, Richard Shutler Jr., William R. Dickinson, and many others. We feel that a venue should exist for honoring deceased scholars who have made significant contributions to the archaeology of Asia and the Pacific. We are therefore inaugurating an obituary section, starting with a brief obituary of Prof. Chen in the next issue (vol. 55, issue 1) of Asian Perspectives. We encourage readers who wish to memorialize the passing of important members of the fields represented in this journal to consider submitting scholarly obituaries to Asian Perspectives for future issues.

Rowan Flad