Pacific Cultures Test

Charles Wilkes

Commander of the United States Exploration Expedition, an expedition that culminated the great expeditionary period (1838-42)

Hawaiian Archipelago

Formed over hot spots - islands form from magma in the seafloor crust, plates move taking the islands with them, new islands then form → create a chain

Makatea

Formed when an atoll or an old high island surrounded by a barrier reef becomes elevated above sea level. This happens through a lithispheric flexure (a tectonic uplift at plate margins) where a new volcanic hot-spot island point-loads the thin oceanic crust, causing an upwraping at a certain distance from the hot spot. Some are marginal environments for human habitation due to its lack of soil and surface water (rainfall disappears immediately into the spongelike karst). Yet, they are not impossible to inhabit. Means "white stone" (reef limestone) in Polynesian Ex: Makatea Island of the Tuamotu Archipelago and Henderson Island

High Islands ("Hot Spot")

Have a midplate hot spot origin still in their earlier stages of their evolutionary cycle, before subsidence and erosion have done their work. Because of the erosion and tectonic movement, they will eventually lead them to sink beneath the ocean surface to become atolls or seamounds. Moreover, it causes their landforms to vary greatly, depending on its age and degree of erosion. Younger islands typically lack watercourses, while older have been deeply dissected by streams valleys. Younger islands typically lack developed coral reefs and have wave-cut cliffs along their shoreline. As time subsides the island, the reefs are separated from the main island by a lagoon. However, reefs are confined to tropical and subtropical waters, and may have gaps if there's a substantial freshwater runoff at a stream valley's mouth Typically consists of basalt, a hard, dense stone used frequently by islanders to make adzes and other implements. Ex: Hawai'i, Tahiti, Rarotonga, Tutuila, and Pohnpei

Homonins in Southeast Asia

Homo erectus Homo sapiens Homo floresiensis

Madjedbebe Rockshelter

Located in Northern Australia, it provided evidence for human arrival in Sahul ca. 65,000 BP Recent re-excavations are pushing back dates for initial human settlement

Shield volcanoes

Not explosive, but do have a high output of lava flow

Seamounts

Undersea mountains that form after atolls can't form anymore

Linear chains

Volcanic hot spots create magma plumes that then create islands, and as the plat moves, islands move away from hot spot creating a chain of islands that erode over time. Subduction zones along Continental/Pacific juncture produces islands like Vanuatu and the Solomons

Initial discoveries of Lapita pottery

1908: Father Otto Meyer (German priest) found potsherds while digging foundations for a church that he thought might connect to South America 1920: W. C. McKern (young American anthropologist) on Bayard Dominick Expedition in Tonga discovered 1,587 (Lapita) potsherds by digging into a kitchen midden but had no way to date it as carbon dating had not yet been invented. Spent the majority of his time mapping Tonga stone monuments Late 1940s: Edward W. Gifford launched new era of Pacific archaeology by partaking in expeditions to Fiji, New Caledonia, and Yap where he found a Lapita site at Kone in New Caledonia in 1952 1950s-60s: Jack Golson explored link between Melanesia and Polynesia. Excavated Samoa in 1957, he showed that the first Polynesians had used pottery. Along with his students, Golson showed that Lapita represented a "ceramic site" and the "Community of Culture" of early Ocenia 1971: Southeast Solomon Islands Culture History Program 1970s: Roger Green was convinced that Lapita ceramic complex held essential clues to the deeper origins of the Pre-Polynesians and Melanesia. Thus, he and Douglas Yan carried out excavations in the Southeast Solomon and Santa Cruz Islands (the Reef-Santa Cruz Islands Excavations) that focused primarily on several Lapita sites in Reef and Santa Cruz Islands where he applied careful sampling designs to establish the size and structure of these sites 1985: The Lapita Homeland Project Late 1980s: Arguments over Lapita Origins: "Express Train" and "Slow Boat" Model of Austronesian Expansion into the Pacific Began to be hotly debated. John Terrell - "Tangled Bank" and Jared Diamond - "Express train to Polynesian"

Alfred Russell Wallace

19th century naturalist who explored Indonesia and brought attention to the biological differences between the Australia-New Guinea region and Southeast Asia (e.g. terrestrial mammals is almost exclusively marsupials in the Australia-New Guinea region). The faunal boundary is found in a zone of smaller islands names "Wallacea". Believed that the key to understand the disjunct faunal distribution was in submerged lands that once united islands to continents. He co-discovered principle of evolution by natural selection (independently from Darwin)

Wallacea

A concept created by Wallace in which he identifies a biological boundary between Sahul and Sunda (Southeast Asia). Its locations consist of water gaps that always kept them as islands, even during the rising and falling of sea levels, and therefore imposed as a barrier to terrestrial vertebrates, including early hominids. This allowed for the faunal difference of both locations Islands: Sulawesi, Ambon, Ceram, Halmahera, and Lesser Sundas

Wallacea (Wallace's line)

A concept created by Wallace in which he identifies a biological boundary between Sahul and Sunda (Southeast Asia). Its locations consist of water gaps that always kept them as islands, even during the rising and falling of sea levels, and therefore imposed as a barrier to terrestrial vertebrates, including early hominids. This allowed for the faunal difference of both locations Islands: Sulawesi, Ambon, Ceram, Halmahera, and Lesser Sundas

Settlement Pattern Perspective

Archaeological norm in Polynesia, it was first applied there by Roger Green, where research incorporated all aspects of an archaeological landscape, which would include the ecology. Combined with the recovery and analysis of faunal and floral materials, it began to encompass agricultural field systems and other evidence for economic production. Thus, archaeological remains of agricultural systems and preserved plant remains started to be widely used into Pacific research

Key sites in Near Oceania (40,000 BP)

Bobongara site Yombon Site Matenkupkum Rockshelter

Reef-Santa Cruz Islands Excavations

Carried out in 1970 by Roger Green and Douglas Yan after they received support by the NSF when Green was convinced that Lapita ceramic complex held essential clues to the deeper origins of the Pre-Polynesians and Melanesia. The excavations took place in the Southeast Solomon and Santa Cruz Islands that focused primarily on several Lapita sites. Here, Green applied careful sampling designs to establish the size and structure of these sites This proved the effectiveness of coordinates, multi-institunional research programs Showed with Wal Ambrose that obsidian from New Britain area had been transported as far to the SE as Santa Cruz Contributions: Lapita as "Cultural Complex" Defined Near and Remote Oceania

Chiefship vs. "Big Man-Ship"

Chiefships ~ Austronesian/Polynesian Originates from a hereditary lineage Patrilineal or throughout "Big Men" Societies ~ Papuan in New Guinea Those who are in charge come to power through actions such as networking and collecting because giving away wealth = power

Climate Factors

Climates span the humid tropics to temperate zones, however some high islands may have microclimates in their higher elevations that may even have snowfall Wind and current systems as essential to understand human history as it affected voyaging and settlement, as well on island ecology Orographic precipitation, crucial for horticulture, is formed when persistent trade winds result in heavy rainfall in the windward side of high islands through the moisture-laden trades that come off the ocean and hit the land mass, causing it to heat and rise The occasional natural phenomenon known as El Niño-Southern Oscillation causes significant shifts of warm water from the western to the eastern Pacific. This has a major effects on storms, rainfall over certain islands (creating drought in the equatorial islands) and wind patterns with significant implications for human settlement May have facilitated exploration due to winds

Continental Island

Concentrated along the western margins of the Pacific basin, they tend to be the largest of the Pacific islands; thus often exhibit varied habitats. Sometimes there are even people who have no direct experience of the coast or sea. Because of their complex geological histories, they often offer a wider range of lithic resources utilized by ancient Pacific people to make stone tools Ex: New Britain, New Ireland, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, and New Zealand

Arboriculture

Cultivation of trees and shrubs Number of important fruit, seed, or nut-bearing tree were domesticated in Near Oceanic and adjacent Southeast Asia Island Many plants have become fully domesticated and cannot survive without human manipulation

Known Geographical Limits of Lapita

Defined by pottery distribution, limits extend from New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago to Samoa and Tonga Lapita "Provinces": *Far Western Lapita: Bismarck Archipelago region and Solomon Islands *Western Lapita: Santa Cruz Islands and Vanuatu Archipelago *Southern Lapita: New Caledonia *Eastern Lapita: Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa *South Papuan Lapita: Southern New Guinea coast

Roger Green

Demostrated the power of settlement pattern perspective, in which he not only focused on artifact-rich sites, but incorporated all aspects of an archaeological landscape; which later became the norm in Polynesia. Originally had the intention to shed light on prehistoric social relations and community structure, it rapidly acquired an ecological orientation. Proposed terms Near Oceania and Remote Oceania to counter the "Melanesia" concept that Dumont d'Urville established to divide the regions in the Pacific In the 1970s, he was convinced that Lapita ceramic complex held essential clues to the deeper origins of the Pre-Polynesians and Melanesia. Thus, he and Douglas Yan carried out excavations in the Southeast Solomon and Santa Cruz Islands (the Reef-Santa Cruz Islands Excavations) that focused primarily on several Lapita sites in Reef and Santa Cruz Islands where he applied careful sampling designs to establish the size and structure of these sites Proposed the "Triple-I" Model of Lapita origins, which accepts Lapita people as intruding the Austronesians, while crediting pre-existing Near Oceanic people as contributing to the Lapita culture

Patterns of language distribution

Developed from a protolanguage that later splits, due to historical processes that usually involve isolation (political, geographical, or social). These are not random Archaeology, linguistics, biology and culture reinforce one another

Domesticated animals brought to Pacific Islands by humans

Dogs Jungle fowl Pigs Pacific rats Polynesian mosquitoes Lizards Snails

Shell Artifacts

Early Austronesian sites in island Southeast Asia exhibit evidence of complex shell technology: Shell adzes, discs, fishhooks, net weights, beads, arm rings with obsidian points Tridacna Shell Artifact Early Austronesians discovered that giant Tridacna shell could be worked into various kinds of artifacts, including adzes Shell fishhooks Other kinds of shell such as Trochus and Turbo were also used to manufacture fishhooks, as well other ornaments

Human effects on Pacific Islands

Early European voyagers often romanticized the Pacific natives as "l'homme naturel", living in perfect harmony with nature. Although the arrival of Westerners greatly modified and affected the Pacific environment, the effects that the first arrivals and settlements of humans on the islands were not minor Stowaway organisms in canoes, such as Pacific rats who found themselves predator-free in the new islands, had a major impact on ground-nesting bird and seabird populations. Other stowaways include geckos, skinks, garden snails, and weeds Lowland and mid-level forests of many Oceanic islands were cleared as human populations increased and agricultural systems expanded. Evidence of vegetation changes has been found on the analysis of pollen grains in sediment cores. Thus, most grassland and fernland vegetation zones that were once considered native on Pacific islands are actually the result of anthropogenic impacts Clearance and change in vegetation, therefore, had an effect on the erosion, causing increase sedimentation loads in streams and rivers to affect the inshore marine ecology. In other words, anthropogenic landscapes ranged across both terrestrial and coastal environments These factors, as well as overhunting and exploitation, led to the extinction of several native fauna (namely avifaunal - esp. in New Zealand and Hawai'i) and flora

Polynesian Triangle

East: Polynesian - similar languages (Tahiti, Hawaii, Tonga) South West - Melanesia - because of dark skin (Vanuatu, Fiji) North West - Micronesia - small islands

Polynesia

Eastern Pacific: Tahiti Hawai'i Easter Island New Zealand Only Pacific region classified by linguistic similarities, not racial features

Arrival of modern Homo sapiens in Southeast Asia

Estimated to have migrated to the area ~50 kya, molecular genetic analyses suggest that these early populations carried some Denisovan genetic component Crossed water gaps into Sahul by 40 kya Descendants are Australo-Papuan peoples of New Guinea and Australia

Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum

Founded by Charles Reed Bishop, it launched the first systematic archaeological research in Polynesia under Bishop.

Jules Dumont d'Urville

French explorer who set out to find La Perouse in the Pacific, where he classified the islands as Polynesians, Micronesians and Melanesians

Oceania

Geographic region comprising of Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and Australasia that covers roughly ⅓ of Earth's surface and has about 7500 islands

Homo floresiensis

In 2003, fossils remains where discovered of very small female hominin in Liang Bua cave on Flores Island Redating puts this hominin between 100 to 60 kya Likely descendent of Homo erectus populations that crossed water gap to Flores Island (part of Wallacea)

Malayo-Polynesian

Includes: Indonesian, Stiloacy, coast of New Guinea, all Remote and Near Oceania, and the interior part of Taiwan

Archipelago

Inter-visible island chains

"Triple-I" Model of Lapita Origins

Intrusion: Arrival of new people (Austronesian speakers) Innovation: Development of new cultural traits in Near Oceania Integration: Fusion of cultural elements from preexisting and newly arriving population Green's model accepts Lapita people as intruding the Austronesians, while crediting pre-existing Near Oceanic people as contributing to the Lapita culture

Willard Libby

Invented radiocarbon (14C) dating in the late 1940s, which revolutionized the field of archaeology. Original counting device consisted of a circular array of Geiger counters surrounding the sample to be dated, all shielded by lead bricks

Types of Pacific Islands

Island-Arc Continental High Island ("Hot Spot") Atoll Makatea

Wasited blades

Les Groube found them on a reef terrace dated 61-52 kya in the Huon Peninsula; which after he dated volcanic ash in a layer associated with it, the thermoluminescence dated 60-40 kya. Thus, making it the oldest manifestations in the Australian-New Guinea region Are like crude axes, sometimes made of large river cobbles that are split in half and flaked at their waist While their weight could have been used to smash down forest growth or ring -barking trees, Groube theorized they they were suitable for a direct food procurement, which would represent early stages in an evolutionary progression from forest foraging, through intermediate stages of food-plant promotion and forest management, which would lead to plant domestication and gardening.

Mussau Island

Located on the northern arc of the Bismarck archipelago, Kirch carried out archaeological fieldwork from 1985 to 1988 Dominated by large high island of Mussau proper with complex of smaller, upraised coral limestone islands to the south Lapita sites concentrated on coral islands

Lapita Settlement Patterns

Main Features: *tendency for sites to be situated along coastlines → beach ridges are favored (now sometimes situated inland due to coastal progradation: growth of a river delta farther out into the sea over time) *often located near passes through the reef, where canoes could easily land *offshore, smaller islets often preferred *access to suitable garden islands + access to sources of fresh water

Princess Pauahi

Married Charles Reed Bishop whole Honolulu was still a kingdom. She owned ⅓ land of the Hawaiian Islands and when she died of cancer in the 1880s, she left a trust for Hawaiian children. She and Bishop had no children and held a personal collection of Pacific artifacts

Austronesian language branches

Most far flung in terms of its distribution of the ancient world where its transoceanic distribution pattern reflects invention of outrigger sailing canoe complex Major Branches: *West Malayo-Polynesian (Philippines→ Indonesia) *East Malayo-Polynesian *Oceanic (Main Polynesian) *Taiwan (own subgroup) Branching pattern reflects gradual West to East movement of people resulting in successive splits and differentiation Polynesian languages were closely related and that the various Polynesian cultures must have had a common origin

Melanisia

New Guinea, the Solomons, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Fiji

Thor Heyedahl

Norwegian zoologist who promoted his theory that Polynesian had originated from South America. To prove it was possible, in 1947, he built the "Kon-Tiki" balsa raft from Peru to Raroia in the Tuamotus. In 1955-56, he led a second expedition in southeastern Polynesia in a Greenland trawler equipped for archaeological research with professional archaeologists, with its main goal set, but not limited, in Rapa Nui where there concentrated on vestiges of the statuary cult in Rano Raraku statue quarry and several temple sites. This was because he proposed similarity in Easter Island architecture and statues with those in South America. Thus, paid less attention to habitation sites and other mudane archaeological features. Results were later published in two volumes, but failed to convince people of his migration theory. Hence, was mocked by archaeologist Robert Suggs and in the scholarly press.

Oceania island distribution

Not random, west is favored where islands are close to one another and more dispersed as you go east Allowed early people to move from island to island relatively easy without the need of sophisticated ships, could use bamboo boats instead Movement within the east is very sporadic

Island-Arc Islands

Often have plenty of obsidian since it is a subject to highly explosive eruptions, and thus massive ash falls. May be subjects to have some varied microclimates and may have a relatively rich biota

Lapita Homeland Project (LHP)

Organized by Jim Allen, who adopted the multi-institutional research program model from Green and Yen's, proposed that a project focused on the putative Lapita "homeland" (Bismarck Archipelago) In 1985 the team carried out surveys and excavations in New Britain, New Ireland, Watom, Nissan, Manus, and Mussau that not only expanded knowledge of Lapita sites, but pushing the prehistory of the Bismarck Archipelago back to 33,000 BP. Which was the first to show early human expansion in Near Oceania during the Pleistocene

Key sites in Near Oceania (20-10 kya)

Panakiwuk Rockshelter in New Ireland

Ralph Linton

Part of the Bayard Dominick Expeditions, he wrongfully thought it worthless to dig in the ground while in the Marquesas and confined himself to surface surveys of stone monuments and statues

Six phases of cultivation systems

Phase I: Cultivation at 10,000 B.P. Simple depressions and possible artificial ditch suggesting simple cultivation (possibly of taro) Phase 2: 6950-6490 BP Mounded cultivation By early Holocene there is no doubt that Kuk swamp was being intensively manipulated for cultivation Phase 3: Emergence of ditches 4000-2000 BP Phases 4-6: Exhibits development of complex, grid-like cultivation systems

Dumont d'Urville's subregions of Oceania

Polynesia - "many islands" Melanesia - "dark islands' Micronesia - "little islands"

Edward W. Gifford

Professor from UC Berkeley who led the 1920 Bayard Dominick Expedition to Tonga and launched a new era of Pacific Archaeology with three expeditions to Fiji, New Caledonia, and Yap (1947-56) Went to Fiji since he was convinced that there was no cultural stratification in Polynesia. There he explored Viti Levu for 6 months, covering 38 sites and excavating in Navatu and Vunda, where it was well stratified and contained a sequence in pottery changes. While unceratain with the ages of the sites, the external stylistic material bared resemblance with the Bronze Age of southern east Asia via Borneo and the Solomons. With this, the modern period of Pacific Archaeology was born. For his second Pacific expedition to New Caledonia in 1952, he dated charcoal samples and his previously found Fiji samples using Libby's radiocarbon machine. In Lapita, he found distinctive pottery samples that bared almost identical resemblance to the sherds he found in his Bayard Dominick Expedition to Tonga in 1920. Moreover, these charcoal samples dated about 2800 BP in Libby's radiocarbon machine, which crumbled away all previous assumptions that there was a shallow time depth in the Pacific islands. Pottery decorations also showed an early connection of Melanesia and Polynesia.

Te Rangi Hīroa (aka Sir Peter Buck)

Prominent Polynesian scholars of mid-20th century who grew up in New Zealand with his Maori mother and Irish father Appointed to the Bishop Museum staff in 1927 after making a name of himself in NZ ethnography, where he carried out field studies in Polynesia By late 1930s, he became an internationally respected authority on Polynesian culture and had become director of the Bishop Museum. Yet, despite his academic, political, and wartime service; he failed to achieve knighthood, the greatest form of recognition in his mother's country As a victim of racism due to his Polynesian ancestry, as well as his pride on it, he was seen as a "Mongoloid" as part of the "Yellow Peril" when he sought American citizenship. Because both of this background and because at the time most theories suggested that Polynesians had migrations through Melanesia (which added a racial component), he developed a theory where Polynesian origins avoided association with the darker skinned Melanesia. In 1938, he published "Vikings of the Sunrise", where there's a map of the Pacific with arrows that had the Polynesian Triangle with northern Micronesian routes, which rejected the previous Melanesian theory. Here, the migrations show that Polynesian ancestors migrated from Southeast Asia through the atolls of Caroline and Kiribati archipelagos He himself recognized problems with his theory, like that the source of Polynesian horticultural complex lay in Melanesia and couldn't be from the atolls of Micronesia; and that the shell technology from Micronesia would imply that stone tools of Polynesia would have to have been reinvented. Addressed these gaps in his theory by claiming that Polynesians reacquired food plants and domesticated animals from the Melanesians in Fiji, Tonga, and Sameo; which wasn't a strong explanation Started the anthropometric studies at Bishop Museum where he claimed that the master mariners of the Pacific were the Europoid since they did not share the physical characteristics of Negroids or Mongoloids Realized that the subsequent differentiation of Polynesian culture resulted from a variety of internal cultural processes

Lapita expansion

Push: *Over populations *Escaping warfare *Forms of oppression or conflict, but in this particular instance it's rather difficult to think about this because islands were rather large Pull: *Desire to establish new trade, however, further they went there was no one to trade with *Could simply be wanderlust, which is augmented by Austronesian social structure in which birth order was ranked Finding islands was reinforcing, but Lapita expansion ends at Samoa island probably because they thought it was the end of the island world

James Cook

Saw more of the Pacific than any prior European explorer 1768 - Trip to Tahiti Period when science was developing (Enlightenment Period) Despite being his greatest discovery, he lost his life in Hawai'i at the end of this voyage in 1779 when he tried to kidnap their king Cook and the other late 18th century explorers left an invaluable legacy in their accounts and graphic records of Oceanic societies at the moment of "first contact" Pondered Polynesian origins Realized all these Polynesian Islands had similar languages, cluing in into Austronesian connection

Jack Golson

Saw the necessity of renewed work in Melanesia after the 1950s and 1960s where focus on the Pacific was mainly in Polynesia. After he received an offer of appointment to the faculty of the Australian National University (ANU), he mapped out a series of long-term projects that would add immensely to the knowledge of Melanesian prehistory In late 1950s, after two rockshelters in New Guinea Highlands had been excavated and outlined a prehistoric sequence, he sent his student J. Peter White to the highlands where additional rockshelters were located and excavated. Sent more students to places he judged would be key to expand on Melanesian prehistory, where he would not neglect the emergence of importance of the Lapita cultural complex In 1961, he asserted that Lapita signaled some early community of culture linking New Caledonia, Tonga, and Samoa

Jim Allen

Studied Australian history under Golson, was appointed to the first faculty position in archaeology at University of Papau New Guinea in 1969. From there, he carried work at Nebira and Motupore. He continued to be important to Melanesia after he returned to ANU in Golson's department

Sahul

Super continent of New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania

Crops plants introduced by Pacific Islanders

Taro (Elephant-ear and Giant Swamp), Bananas Breadfruit Mountain bananas Kava Polynesian bamboo Candlenut Ti Tahitian chestnut Coconut

Near Oceania vs. Remote Oceania

Terms proposed by Roger Green to counter the "Melanesia" concept to provide both cultural and historical meanings Near Oceania: New Guinea, Solomons, and Bismarck Archipelago. Greatest biogeographic diversity within Oceania and had human occupation at the beg. of late Pleistocene (36,000-37,000 ya). People speak Austronesian and non-Austronesian (Papuan) languages Remote Oceania: Micronesia & most of Melanesia. People speak only Austronesian languages. No human settlement until 1500 BC (1000 AD according to Green) due to the need for technology to get this far (outrigger canoes). Diversity of microorganisms drop sharply

Malaria

This mosquito transmitted disease was a major factor in human prehistory in Near Oceania Biological adaption to presence of malaria in Old World was mutation known as alpha thalassemia (similar to the sickle-cell mutation in Africa) Presence of malaria (as well as other diseases) where heavily concentrated in Near Oceania and virtually non-existent in Remote Oceania during early human settlement

Kuk

Waghi Valley, New Guinea Highlands is a key site for agricultural origins in Near Oceania where six phases of cultivation systems are classified Stratified site

Canoe types

War canoes ~ Solomon Islands and Maori Double hulled canoes ~ originated in Tonga, Hawaii, and Samoa Crab claw sail ~ Hawaii Lanteen sail ~ Caroline Islands

Micronesia

Western Pacific north of equator

Austronesian language family

With about 1000 languages, it's the most far-flung in terms of its distribution of the ancient world (reaching Madagascar) because invention of outrigger canoes. With the exception of western Micronesia, all Austronesian languages spoken in Oceania are part of a subgroup called Oceanic "First-order split" off the Austronesian linguistic tree consists of a couple dozen languages spoken on the island of Taiwan. This suggests that Taiwan was either the homeland of Proto-Austronesian speakers, or part of a larger region including southern China

Non-Austronesian (Papuan) language family

With about 750 languages, it's not very well known or documented because it does not form a single, coherent language family (don't come from the same ursprache - aka proto-language); but are historically related. Have greater variation and diversity, which means there had to be a greater time depth for the differentiation of the languages, which correlates with a deeper time span of human occupation in New Guinea and Near Oceania Mostly packed into New Guinea since Papuan was initially the original language but was stomped out when another group came into the area.

Atoll

With the westward movement of the Pacific Plate, along with erosion, islands gradually reduce and subside. Thus, reef begin to form around the island's margin and leave a small volcanic core surrounded by a lagoon and barrier reef. Eventually the core is submerged, leaving only the coral reef above the ocean's surface. These reefs eventually develop coral heads and sand through storms and biological process that form a motu (islets) Among the more precarious environments settled by Pacific people, since they are usually only 2-3 meters above sea level; leaving it vulnerable to storms and inundations. Thin layers of fresh water exists floating on top of the heavier salt water within the sandy body of a motu, which are excavated through a shallow well. Albeit risky to use this layer of freshwater for cultivation, the giant swamp taro is among the few crops that have been grown on it. However, they are rich in marine resources, leaving people in these island just as home in land as in sea. Material culture is usually based on coral and shells to make tools that would otherwise be made with stone Ex: Mo'orea and Aitutaki Islands

Biological Variation in the Pacific

mtDNA: Inherited from the mother's side "The Polynesian Motif": 9 bp mutation found in high frequency among Polynesians which originated in East Asia Areas where Papuan or Non-Austronesian languages are spoken do not have Haplogroup B → signifies much deeper origins Y chromosome: Inherited from the father (which is the easiest to sequence), it shows a distribution of Y-Chromosome lineages in Oceania. Near oceanic area has seven distinct clusters-reflective of the huge amount of genetic diversity in the region