On the Road of the Winds: An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands before European Contact, Revised and Expanded EditionThe Pacific Ocean covers one-third of the earth’s surface and encompasses many thousands of islands that are home to numerous human societies and cultures. Among these indigenous Oceanic cultures are the intrepid Polynesian double-hulled canoe navigators, the atoll dwellers of Micronesia, the statue carvers of remote Easter Island, and the famed traders of Melanesia. Decades of archaeological excavations—combined with allied research in historical linguistics, biological anthropology, and comparative ethnography—have revealed much new information about the long-term history of these societies and cultures. On the Road of the Winds synthesizes the grand sweep of human history in the Pacific Islands, beginning with the movement of early people out from Asia more than 40,000 years ago and tracing the development of myriad indigenous cultures up to the time of European contact in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. This updated edition, enhanced with many new illustrations and an extensive bibliography, synthesizes the latest archaeological, linguistic, and biological discoveries that reveal the vastness of ancient history in the Pacific Islands. |
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
2 THE PACIFIC ISLANDS AS A HUMAN ENVIRONMENT | 37 |
3 SAHUL AND THE PREHISTORY OF OLD MELANESIA | 55 |
4 LAPITA AND THE AUSTRONESIAN EXPANSION | 74 |
5 THE PREHISTORY OF NEW MELANESIA | 107 |
IN THE SEA OF LITTLE LANDS | 150 |
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Common terms and phrases
adzes agricultural Allen archaeological archipelago atolls breadfruit called central century ceramic changes chiefs coastal colonization common complex construction continued Cook cultural dates distinctive early east Eastern economy especially et al evidence excavations exchange expansion extensive field FIGURE Fiji forms Green Guinea Hawai‘i Hawaiian human important increased indicate initial islands kinds Kirch known land landscape languages Lapita late later linguistic major Marianas material Melanesia ment midden mounds Oceania Oceanic origins Pacific Pacific islands patterns period Phase Photo plant Pleistocene Polynesian population pottery prehistory present probably processes production range Rapa Nui record reef region remains Remote resulted rockshelter Samoa Sand sequence settlement shell showing significant similar social societies Solomons South Spriggs stone structures suggests terraces tion Tonga traditions Valley voyaging Western Zealand