Pieces of the Vanuatu puzzle : archaeology of the north, south and centre
Year: 2000
Type: article
Abstract: landscape use, and agriculture proposed by David Harris, Matthew Spriggs, Ian Hodder and others. Denham sees strengths in all three key approaches, and senses the ambiguities that arise from false dichotomies arising from the social construction of landscape and culture (see Head 2000). The perceptions of, and contrasts between, natural and human environments or nature and culture shift uneasily from Rottnest Island (southwest Australia) to Easter Island; from the Roaring Forties to the Tropic of Cancer; and from Pleistocene to present. Should Australia really be in there, without more on Torres Strait and the Neolithic Divide that sets it apart? Is climate change a more powerful determinant of cultural change in Australia than elsewhere in the Pacifi c? If there are major differences between Australian and Pacifi c prehistory, the politics that surround cultural heritage have much in common. Smith provides a case study of issues in the establishment of Levuka as a heritage site in Fiji. Indigenous perceptions of archaeological research in different parts of the New Caledonia are explored by several authors (Sand, Bole and Ouetcho; Cauchois; Gugay-Grist; Mandui). Training of indigenous people is a major need, and Herman Mandui is alarmed at the destruction of cultural heritage in economies driven by urban expansion and economic development. The book certainly provides a good introduction to current research and issues in the region, with its common origin of human colonisation that has emerged in so many cultural directions. Although the coverage is uneven, key research questions are illuminated by current research with a clear, accessible style.
Author: Bedford, Stuart Hugo
Language: English
Subfield: Geography, Planning and Development
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W584120597