Archaeology of Pacific Oceania Inhabiting a Sea of Islands

This book integrates a region-wide chronological narrative of the archaeology of Pacific Oceania. How and why did this vast sea of islands, covering nearly one-third of the world’s surface, come to be inhabited over the last several millennia, transcending significant change in ecology, demography, and society? What can any or all of the thousands of islands offer as ideal model systems toward comprehending globally significant issues of human-environment relations and coping with changing circumstances of natural and cultural history? A new synthesis of Pacific Oceanic archaeology addresses these questions, based largely on the author’s investigations throughout the diverse region.

CHAPTER 1: RESEARCH THEMES IN PACIFIC OCEANIC ARCHAEOLOGY Defining Pacific Oceania Islands as Laboratories, Microcosms, and Model Systems Human-environment Relations Human Migrations Trade and Exchange Coasts and Islands Landscapes and Seascapes Structure of This Book References CHAPTER 2 REGIONAL CONTEXT AND PERSPECTIVES Geological Processes: Earth and Ocean Climate and Weather Patterns: More than the Humid Tropics Plant and Animal Communities: Natural and Human-mediated Historical Contexts Linguistic Histories Genetics Lineages Role of Archaeology References CHAPTER 3: SUBSTANCE AND SCOPE OF PACIFIC OCEANIC ARCHAEOLOGY Range of Materials and Questions Framework of Cultural Chronologies References CHAPTER 4: HUNTER-GATHERER TRADITIONS IN THE WESTERN ASIA-PACIFIC REGION Expedient Chipped Tools Edge-grinding and Other Formal Developments Microliths and Small Flaked Stone Tool Traditions Stemmed Tools Adzes Plant Foods Animal Life Burial Practice Patterns of Resource Use References CHAPTER 5: FOLLOWING THE ASIA-PACIFIC POTTERY TRAIL, 4000 THROUGH 800 B.C. Perspectives and Scales of Origins Pottery as a Diagnostic Element of an Archaeological Horizon Possible Early Pottery in Borneo Coastal China Taiwan Philippines Indonesia Mariana Islands Bismarck Archipelago Southern Melanesia and West Polynesia New Guinea Palau Tracking the Pottery Trail References CHAPTER 6: FIRST CONTACT WITH THE REMOTE OCEANIC ENVIRONMENT: THE MARIANA ISLANDS AT 1500 B.C. Earliest Marianas Sites Migration and Settlement Process Successful Settlement and Viability Situating Earliest Marianas Settlement in the Asia-Pacific Region References CHAPTER 7: A SIEGE OF ECOLOGICAL IMPERIALISM: LAPITA INVASIONS, 1100 THROUGH 800 B.C. Meaning of Lapita? Linguistic Perspective Human Biology and Genetics Transported Landscapes Lapita Contemporaries References CHAPTER 8: THE END OF AN ERA: ADJUSTING TO CHANGING COASTLINES, 1100 THROUGH 500 B.C. Coastal Morphologies and Ecologies Shifting Contexts in Nature and Society References CHAPTER 9: A BROAD-SPECTRUM REVOLUTION? 500 B.C. THROUGH A.D. 100 Ecological Zones in Large and Small Islands Roles of Fishing, Foraging, and Farming Sustainability, Resilience, and Collapse References CHAPTER 10: THE ATOLL HIGHWAY OF MICRONESIA, A.D. 100 THROUGH 500 Early Site Contexts Inter-island Connectivity Contributions of Micronesia in Pacific-wide Voyaging References CHAPTER 11: ETHNOGENESIS AND POLYGENESIS, A.D. 500 THROUGH 1000 The Dying Art of Pottery and Other Cultural Transformations Changing House Forms and Settlement Systems References CHAPTER 12: AN A.D. 1000 EVENT? FORMALIZATION OF CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS Monuments and Monumental Traditions Indexing and Profiling Monumentality Stonework Villages Everlasting Burials Religious Complexes and Components Linking Lands and Lineages Climate Stability and Instability References CHAPTER 13: EXPANSION AND INTENSIFICATION, A.D. 1000 THROUGH 1800 Processes of Expansion and Intensification Expanding to the Margins of Pacific Oceania Field Systems Animal Foods Interaction and Exchange Networks Population Growth and Climate Change Making and Re-making Chiefdoms Warfare Inside and Outside a Globalized Economy References CHAPTER 14: LIVING WITH THE PAST: LIFE, LORE, AND LANDSCAPE IN PACIFIC OCEANIA Overview of Trends and Patterns Long-term Continuity and Transformation Future Directions of Enhancing Archaeological Values References

Mike T. Carson (Ph.D. in Anthropology, Unviersity of Hawai‘i, 2002) has investigated the broad geographic range and chronological scope of archaeological landscapes throughout the Asia-Pacific region. He currently is Associate Professor of Archaeology at the Richard F. Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center at the University of Guam, and he is co-editor of Asian Perspectives: The Journal of Archaeology for Asia and the Pacific.