Jim Allen

Melanesian Prehistory: Some Recent Advances

Human occupation of New Guinea had begun 50,000 years ago, but islands further east were settled only in Recent times. In part of the New Guinea highlands, wet and dry horticultural systems began by 9000 years ago. Local intensification is evident until the present, but only the most recent major crop (sweet potato, which has been grown in the region for less than 300 years) is documented. On the south coast, exchange systems and economies locally diversify over the last two millennia. In the Melanesian islands, exotic materials were moved 3000 kilometers 3000 years ago, but whether traders or colonists were involved is not yet clear. The prehistory of the area is proving more complex than was believed even a decade ago.

The archaeology of nineteenth-century British imperialism: an Australian case study

Abstract By combining documentary and archaeological evidence, the immediate problems of the British colonization of Australia can be better understood than by merely pursuing the written word. Port Essington, the site of a small and short‐lived military outpost, is a valuable example because it is an extreme one. Its history, and particularly its architectural history, is one of ingenuity and improvisation and underlines problems which are basic to the process of colonization at any time: isolation and distance from the mother country; the strange and hostile environment; and the technological and human competence of the colonizers. On these factors, among others, depends the sort of cultural adaptation that ensues.

Mendana 1595 and the fate of the lost ‘almiranta’: An archaeological investigation

IN 1595 FOUR SPANISH SHIPS CONTAINING BETWEEN 350 AND 4OO PEOPLE SET out from Peru to colonize the Solomon Islands.1 The leader of the expedi tion and intended governor of the new settlement was Alvaro de Mendana y Neyra who in 1567-68 had originally discovered the main chain of the Solomon Islands, known then as the Western Isles in the South Sea (fig. ?a). The reasons for this second expedition appear generally to be those of or dinary colonial expansion. Geographically the Solomons would have formed an important link between Manila and the Spanish settlements in South America, and their economic potential was considered high. More speci fically, correspondence in 1594 between the King of Spain and his Viceroy in Callao had dwelt on the high number of vagrants and other idle people in Peru at that time and had suggested further colonization as a remedy. On 12 April 1594 the Viceroy wrote that he had encouraged Mendana to undertake the expedition with married soldiers as settlers.2 The expedition departed from Callao on 9 April 1595. Quiros, the chief pilot of the fleet, was captain and master of the San Ger?nimo, which with the almiranta Santa Isabel carried the bulk of the expedition. Two smaller vessels, a frigate, Santa Catalina, and a galliot, San Felipe, com pleted the fleet. Sailing north along the Peruvian coast the fleet spent nine weeks provisioning at several ports, including Cherrepe, finally sailing east wards from Paita on 16 June. On 25 July the fleet made the Marquesas group, where it lingered until 5 August. As the voyage continued general discontent manifested itself amongst * Our thanks are due to the British Solomon Islands Government and Administration for their assistance, and particularly to the District Commissioner, Mr Gordon Edwards and the District Officer at Santa Cruz, Mr Michael Cartland. In addition we would like to thank the following for their friendly help: Miss Rosemary Gordon and the staff and students of St Marys Mission School at Pamua; Mr Phillip Puru and the men of Kaonasughu village; Dr C. E. Fox, Honiara; Father Celsus Kelly, Madrid; Mr Michael Kaschko, University of Hawaii; Mr Stuart Park, Otago Museum; Mr Foss Leach and Dr Tony Reay of Otago Uni versity; and Mr Bob Arnold and Miss E. Young of the University of Papua and New Guinea. 1 This section is intended only to provide an historical frame of reference. While to some small degree it is interpretative, its main aim is a chronological and descriptive narrative. The points most stressed are those which have particular relevance to the succeeding archaeological evidence and are not necessarily those of the most dynamic historical importance. The Patronato list names 354 people, while Quiros gives the total as 378, and subsequently in round figures as 400. See Celsus Kelly, Calendar of Documents. Spanish Voyages in the South Pacific (Madrid 1965), 399. 2 Ibid., 153.

Australia and New Guinea, Archaeology of

Various chronologies for the arrival of modern humans in Australia and New Guinea are discussed, together with a consideration of possible routes of entry. The archaeological evidence from the New Guinea Highlands and the islands of Melanesia is reviewed. After a general discussion of human colonization of Pleistocene Australia, some of the key sites in two contrasting environments – the arid zone and Tasmania – are compared.