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Loading... Prehistoric Settlement of the Pacific (Transactions of the American Philosophical Society)by Ward H. Goodenough
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This book presents new understandings from recent research in archaeology, linguistics, & experimental ethnology regarding the prehistoric settlement of the Pacific Islands. It reviews evidence of a locally developed, food producing economy & maritime trade in western Melanesia of great antiquity. It discusses evidence of the coming of traders & colonizers from southern China & Taiwan who spoke Austronesian languages into the same area about 4,000 years ago & their subsequent spread into remoter Oceania about 3,500 years ago. It reviews what has been learned from experimental voyaging in replicas of ancient double-hulled sailing vessels without navigational instruments & about how eastern Polynesia could have been settled by deliberate exploration. It shows what historical linguistics reveals about proto-Austronesian society & culture & relates it to the archaeological record of southern China. Finally, it presents challenging hypotheses regarding the emergence & spread of neolithic rice cultivators throughout Southern China, a development that laid the foundation for the subsequent spread of Austronesian people into the outer Pacific. No library descriptions found. |
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