1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9911046714703321

Autore

Kirch Patrick Vinton

Titolo

On the Road of the Winds : An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands before European Contact, Revised and Expanded Edition / / Patrick Vinton Kirch

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, CA : , : University of California Press, , [2017]

©2017

ISBN

9780520968899

0520968891

Edizione

[Revised and expanded edition.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (409 pages) : illustrations, maps, tables

Disciplina

995

Soggetti

Prehistoric peoples - Oceania

Oceania Antiquities

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Maps -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Preface -- Preface to the Revised Edition -- INTRODUCTION -- 1. DISCOVERING THE OCEANIC PAST -- 2. THE PACIFIC ISLANDS AS A HUMAN ENVIRONMENT -- 3. SAHUL AND THE PREHISTORY OF "OLD" MELANESIA -- 4. LAPITA AND THE AUSTRONESIAN EXPANSION -- 5. THE PREHISTORY OF "NEW" MELANESIA -- 6. MICRONESIA: IN THE "SEA OF LITTLE LANDS" -- 7. POLYNESIA: ORIGINS AND DISPERSALS -- 8. POLYNESIAN CHIEFDOMS AND ARCHAIC STATES -- 9. BIG STRUCTURES AND LARGE PROCESSES IN OCEANIC PREHISTORY -- Notes -- References -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

The 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.