The Geographical Ditribution and Cluster Analysis of The Cultures of Southeast Asia and Oceania.

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Classification of the cultures of Southeast Asia and Oceania has been attempted over and over again by anthropologists with varying orientations, most of which have been intuitive ones. But they were regionally limited and covered only a certain field of cultures such as material culture, or social organization.We tried to classify the cultures of Southeast Asia and Oceania in its entirety, using statistical procedures, and covering all the major fields of cultures.We have quite intelligible tree-diagram of 150 ethnic units of Southeast Asia and Oceania, which was produced by cluster analysis on the degrees of sharing of 100 cultures traits by these peoples.Cultures of Southeat Asia and Oceania fall into two macro-groups:I Southeast Asian, and II Oceanic.I Southeast Asian macro-group consists of two groups: I-A Indochina-Nuclear Insular, and I-B Assam-Marginal Insular. I-A Indochina-Nuclear Insular group is divided into two subgroups: I-A-i Indochina-South China, and I-A-ii Southeast Assian High Cultures. I-B Assam-Marginal Insular group is divided into two subgroups: I-B-i Southeast Asian Central Horticulturalists, and I-B-ii Peripheral Tubers Horiticulturalists.II Oceanic macro-group falls into two groups: II-A Oceanic Horticulturalists and II-B Foragers. II-A Oceanic Horticulturalsits are divided into two subgroups: II-A-i Melanesian Horticulturalists and II-A-ii Micronesian-Polynesian Horticulturalists. II-B Foragers indicate no subdivision comparable to II-A-i and II-A-ii, and consists in the main of Australian aborigines.This Broad Outline, with seven principal clusters at the level of subgroup, conforms rather well with what anthropologists traditionally and intuitively have thought of the grouping of cultures in these areas. Yet further ramifications raise some questions which call for explanation. Sections,i.e.,the level immediately below subgroups, are mostly still apprehensible, althouth some are already not easy to understand.