Archaeologies of Island Melanesia: Current approaches to landscapes, exchange and practice (original) (raw)

Archaeologies of Island Melanesia: Current approaches to landscapes, exchange and practice

There are numerous examples of grassroots events associated with Melanesian culture, such as the Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival, the Melanesian Regional Championships (Athletics), Wansol Melanesian Music Festival, etc. 1. Complexities and diversity in archaeologies of Island Melanesia 3 terra australis 51 relationships with ancestors (Valentin et al. 2011; Valentin and Sand this volume). Social organisation was likewise remarkably diverse, and it is here that we turn to the concept of complexity for understanding Melanesia. Melanesian complexities In what has now become a classic work in cultural anthropology, Sahlins (1963) defined a concept of 'big man' societies that he saw as typical of Melanesian social complexity, in contrast to the hereditary titles passed down through Polynesian chiefdoms. This work has been challenged on various fronts, including suggestions that the big man phenomenon was associated specifically with Papuan, as opposed to Austronesian-speaking groups (Scaglion 1996). More critically, the big man societies recorded ethnohistorically were often a reflection of the dramatic demographic and cultural shifts resulting from European colonialism (Sand et al. 2003; Spriggs 2008). Much of the scholarship on social complexity in Oceania focuses on chiefs and chiefdoms (e.g. Earle and Spriggs 2015; Kirch 1984). Most contemporary Melanesian languages use some version of jif (chief) to describe individuals who hold positions of power and authority. However, the kinds of power, and how it is asserted, contested and defended, are highly variable. The evolution of chiefly systems in the Solomon Islands, for example, involved complex processes of niche construction and entanglement as people adapted to relationships of both exchange and warfare (Sheppard this volume; Thomas this volume). Complex exchange systems evolved hand in hand with the chiefly systems, as Melanesian chiefs often relied on generosity to solidify their authority through gifts and feasting. Prestigious objects for use in exchange systems were produced through technologically sophisticated and meaningladen processes (Gaffney this volume). Remains of feasts are found in a variety of scales and materials, from faunal remains to microscopic residues found on the inside of pots (Leclerc et al. this volume). In the period of European contacts, these systems further evolved to include settlers such as missionaries (Flexner 2016; Flexner et al. this volume). 1 It is also worth noting that the first radiocarbon laboratory in the Pacific region was established in 1951 and later became known as the Rafter Laboratory at Lower Hutt, New Zealand, named in honour of its founder, Athol Rafter. It is currently the world's oldest continuously operating radiocarbon laboratory (www.gns.cri.nz/Home/Services/Laboratories-Facilities/Rafter-Radiocarbon-Laboratory/About-Us/The-History-of-Rafter). The second such laboratory was established at the Museum (later Institute) of Applied Science in Melbourne and opened officially in 1961 after a long setup period beginning in 1954 and with advice from Athol Rafter, but it had continual equipment problems and closed in 1970 (Rae 2018). A dating facility was also established at the University of New South Wales in the early 1960s but only produced one date list before closing (Green et al. 1965).