From Bird's Head to bird's eye view: Long term structures and trends in Indo-Pacific Prehistory · Southeast Asian Archaeology Bibliographic Database

Ref ID:	25950
Ref Type:	Book Section in a Series
Authors:	Bellwood, Peter
Title:	From Bird's Head to bird's eye view: Long term structures and trends in Indo-Pacific Prehistory
Date:	1998
Source:	Perspectives on the Bird's Head of Irian, Jaya, Indonesia
Place of Publication:	Amsterdam
Publisher:	Rodopi
Abstract:	This paper discusses the long-term patterning of the human prehistory of Island Southeast Asia and New Guinea, and pays particular attention to the very special and unusual trajectory of New Guinea prehistory within the wider region. A perspective on Bird's Head prehistory is presented from the adjacent Northern Moluccas. An opinion which emphasises the significance of Austronesian dispersal in the later prehistoric record of the region is presented, and the now-widespread opinion amongst Oceanic scholars that this dispersal was not relevant is criticised and put in perspective. The importance of archaeology in the Bird's Head region for unlocking some of the mysteries of early Austronesian prehistory in the western fringes of Oceania is stressed.
Date Created:	9/12/2006
Editors:	Miedema, Jelle Odé, Cecilia Dam, Rien A. C.
Page Start:	951
Page End:	975