{"product_id":"the-archaeology-of-the-solomon-islands","title":"Archaeology of the Solomon Islands","description":"\u003cem\u003eArchaeology of the Solomon Islands\u003c\/em\u003e presents the outcome of 20 years’ research in the Solomon Islands undertaken jointly by Richard Walter and Peter Sheppard, both leaders in the field of Pacific archaeology.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the time of first European encounter, the peoples of Melanesia exhibited some of the greatest diversity in language, socio-political organisation and culture expression of any region on earth. This extraordinary diversity attracted scholars and resulted in coastal Melanesia becoming the birthplace of modern anthropology, and yet the area remains one of the least well-documented regions of the Pacific in archaeological terms.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis synthesis of Solomon Island archaeology draws together all the research that has taken place in the field over the past 50 years. It takes a multidisciplinary theoretical and methodological approach and considers the work of archaeologists, environmental scientists, anthropologists and historians. At the same time this volume highlights the results of the authors’ own considerable field research.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUntil recently, much Pacific archaeological research focused primarily on colonisation events and cultural-ecological interactions. Walter and Sheppard are interested too in the long-term development of diversity in coastal Melanesia and in the evolution of ‘traditional’ Melanesian societies. As a case study they focus on the Roviana Chiefdom, an aggressive but highly successful polity based around headhunting, slave raiding and ritual violence that dominated the political economy of the Western Province into the early twentieth century.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey also integrate the Solomon Islands into ongoing models and debates around Pacific culture-history, including in such key areas as human expansion during the Pleistocene, the spread of Austronesians, Lapita colonisation, the development of food production, the role of exchange systems, the concept and meaning of culture areas, and human impact on landscapes and ecosystems.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis fascinating and very readable book is written for an archaeological audience but is also designed to be accessible to all readers interested in Pacific archaeology, anthropology and history. Featuring more than a hundred maps and figures, \u003cem\u003eArchaeology of the Solomon Islands\u003c\/em\u003e represents a ground-breaking contribution to Pacific archaeology.","brand":"University of Hawai'i Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54189059899736,"sku":null,"price":40.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9780824875374.jpg?v=1781782224","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/the-archaeology-of-the-solomon-islands","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}