On the Road of the Winds: An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands Before European Contact (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780520292819)

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.

Author: Patrick Vinton Kirch
ISBN-10: 0520292812
ISBN-13: 9780520292819
Publisher: University of California Press
Language: English
Published: 11/07/2017
Pages: 408
Format: Paperback
Weight: 2.10lbs
Size: 9.90h x 6.90w x 1.00d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 05/01/2018