30 Part I: Land and Language
first developed the Neolithic technological and economic “package” that
fueled all later population expansions into mainland and island Southeast
Asia. (1992:91)Two Rice Cultures
Since the earliest domestication of rice, its cultivation has diverged into two
distinct patterns: Swidden (known by a number of different terms, including
“slash and burn,” “shifting cultivation,” “dry rice cultivation,” and various indig-
enous terms such as jhum, taungya) and padi cultivation (“wet-rice cultivation”).
A wet-rice terrace boldly rebuilds the natural landscape through earthmoving
and channeling water downhill into level after level; a swidden imitates nature by
leaving hillsides alone and sowing seed in the sunny spaces of burnt-off trees.
Throughout much of rice-growing Asia, the two rice ecosystems corre-
spond with two forms of societal complexity. Prestate peoples mostly inhabit
upland environments where they practice swidden cultivation, while state soci-
eties have emerged in the fertile riverine areas where they practice intensive
wet-rice cultivation. We will return to these social concomitants in chapter 4,
and for now keep our focus on the ecological dimensions of rice cultivation.This hill field has been slashed and burned prior to planting. Stumps of burned trees still
stand in the field, but their removal allows essential sunlight to reach the young plants. These
varieties of rice do not require standing in water as does padi rice. The field will only be culti-
vated for a year or two before it must be abandoned.