ORIGINS OF THE MELANESIANS

Abstract

Λ TTEMPTS to trace the prehistory of the Melanesiane have followed a number -^-*of different lines. Examinations of the people themselves and of their fossil remains have cast some light upon the racial affinities of the earliest inhabitants of Melanesia and their subsequent physical change. Studies of Pacific languages, their probable relationships and ages have added other data. Analyses of customs, artifacts and food plants have suggested possible migration routes. Archaeological investigations through controlled surveys of surface remains and stratigraphie excavations have as yet been few in Melanesia and the yields scanty, though the prospects for more archaeological work in the future are promising. At this time, before much archaeological field work has been undertaken in Melanesia, it seems profitable to review the hypotheses concerning the origins of the Melanesians that modern workers in physical anthropology, linguistics, ethnology, and human ecology have devised. Such a review should be useful in drawing up programs of archaeological research to provide the sorts of data needed to tell the story of the origins and development of Melanesian peoples and cultures.