References
15
nightmare we might face. Recurrently throughout history, resource-limited Pacific
islands experienced climate-driven starvation as populations outstripped resources.
Climate-induced famine, consequent conflict over land and resources and enforced
migrations appear to have driven most migrations within the Pacific after about AD
900. Far earlier migrations can also be correlated with rare extreme climate events.
The pattern of Pacific prehistory has demographic implications for a world in which
resource ceilings have already been reached or breached in many countries so that
their inhabitants are tragically vulnerable to global climate extremes. In microcosm
our study of Pacific prehistory makes eminently clear how changing global climate
patterns shape and have always shaped world history, migrations and demography.
References
1. Oppenheimer S, Richards M (2001a) Slow boat to Melanesia. Nat 410: 166–167;
Oppenheimer S, Richards M (2001b) Fast trains, slow boats and the ancestry of Polynesian
islanders. Sci Prog 84(3):157–181; Oppenheimer S (2004) The ‘Express Train from Taiwan
to Polynesia’: on the congruence of proxy lines of evidence. World Archaeol 36(4):591–600
2. Trejaut J, Kivisild T et al. (2005) Traces of archaic mitochondrial lineages persist in
Austronesian-speaking Formosan populations. PloS Biol 3(8): 1362–1372
3. Oppenheimer S (2004) The ‘Express Train from Taiwan to Polynesia’: on the congruence of
proxy lines of evidence. World Archaeol 36(4): 591–600
4. Soares P, Trejaut J et al. (2008) Climate change and postglacial human dispersals in Southeast
Asia. Mol Biol and Evol 25(6):1209–1218
5. Matisoo-Smith E, Robins J (2004) Origins and dispersals of Pacific peoples: evidence from
mtDNA phylogenies of the Pacific rat. Proc Natl Acad Sci 101(24): 9167–9172
6. Larson G, Dobney K et al. (2005) Worldwide phylogeography of wild boar reveals multiple
centers of pig domestication. Sci 307: 1618–1621
7. Larson G, Cucchi T et al. (2007) Phylogeny and ancient DNA of Sus provides insight into
Neolithic expansion in Island Southeast Asia and Oceania. Proc Natl Acad Sci 104(12):
4834–4839
8. Houghton P (1991) The early human biology of the Pacific: some considerations. J Polyn Soc
100(2):167–196, p. 167
9. Hagelberg E (1997) Ancient and modern mitochondrial DNA sequences and the colonization
of the Pacific. Electrophor 18: 1529–1533, p. 1529
10. Houghton P (1996) People of the great ocean, aspects of human biology of the early Pacific.
CUP, Cambridge; Houghton P (1990) The adaptive significance of Polynesian body form. Ann
Hum Biol 17(1): 19–32; Houghton P (1991) The early human biology of the Pacific: some
considerations. J Polyn Soc 100(2): 167–196; Houghton P (1991) Selective influences and
morphological variation amongst Pacific Homo sapiens. J Hum Evol 21: 49–59; Houghton P
(1991) Grim fairy tale, comments on some matters raised in The Hansel and Gretel Syndrome
by N. van Dijk. NZ Archaeol Assoc 13: 91–99
11. Wilmshurst J, Anderson A et al. (2008) Dating the late prehistoric dispersal of Polynesians
to New Zealand using the commensal Pacific rat. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105(22): 7676–7680,
p. 7676
12. Brewis A, Molloy M, Sutton D (1990) Modelling the prehistoric Maori population. American
J Phys Anthropol 8: 343–356
13. Wilson E (1998) Consilience: the unity of knowledge. Alfred A. Knopf, New York
14. McCalman I (2006) Latitude for the popularisers. The Australian Literary Review,
September 6, 2006
15. Whewell W (1840) The philosophy of the inductive sciences. John W. Parker and Son, London
15
nightmare we might face. Recurrently throughout history, resource-limited Pacific
islands experienced climate-driven starvation as populations outstripped resources.
Climate-induced famine, consequent conflict over land and resources and enforced
migrations appear to have driven most migrations within the Pacific after about AD
900. Far earlier migrations can also be correlated with rare extreme climate events.
The pattern of Pacific prehistory has demographic implications for a world in which
resource ceilings have already been reached or breached in many countries so that
their inhabitants are tragically vulnerable to global climate extremes. In microcosm
our study of Pacific prehistory makes eminently clear how changing global climate
patterns shape and have always shaped world history, migrations and demography.
References
1. Oppenheimer S, Richards M (2001a) Slow boat to Melanesia. Nat 410: 166–167;
Oppenheimer S, Richards M (2001b) Fast trains, slow boats and the ancestry of Polynesian
islanders. Sci Prog 84(3):157–181; Oppenheimer S (2004) The ‘Express Train from Taiwan
to Polynesia’: on the congruence of proxy lines of evidence. World Archaeol 36(4):591–600
2. Trejaut J, Kivisild T et al. (2005) Traces of archaic mitochondrial lineages persist in
Austronesian-speaking Formosan populations. PloS Biol 3(8): 1362–1372
3. Oppenheimer S (2004) The ‘Express Train from Taiwan to Polynesia’: on the congruence of
proxy lines of evidence. World Archaeol 36(4): 591–600
4. Soares P, Trejaut J et al. (2008) Climate change and postglacial human dispersals in Southeast
Asia. Mol Biol and Evol 25(6):1209–1218
5. Matisoo-Smith E, Robins J (2004) Origins and dispersals of Pacific peoples: evidence from
mtDNA phylogenies of the Pacific rat. Proc Natl Acad Sci 101(24): 9167–9172
6. Larson G, Dobney K et al. (2005) Worldwide phylogeography of wild boar reveals multiple
centers of pig domestication. Sci 307: 1618–1621
7. Larson G, Cucchi T et al. (2007) Phylogeny and ancient DNA of Sus provides insight into
Neolithic expansion in Island Southeast Asia and Oceania. Proc Natl Acad Sci 104(12):
4834–4839
8. Houghton P (1991) The early human biology of the Pacific: some considerations. J Polyn Soc
100(2):167–196, p. 167
9. Hagelberg E (1997) Ancient and modern mitochondrial DNA sequences and the colonization
of the Pacific. Electrophor 18: 1529–1533, p. 1529
10. Houghton P (1996) People of the great ocean, aspects of human biology of the early Pacific.
CUP, Cambridge; Houghton P (1990) The adaptive significance of Polynesian body form. Ann
Hum Biol 17(1): 19–32; Houghton P (1991) The early human biology of the Pacific: some
considerations. J Polyn Soc 100(2): 167–196; Houghton P (1991) Selective influences and
morphological variation amongst Pacific Homo sapiens. J Hum Evol 21: 49–59; Houghton P
(1991) Grim fairy tale, comments on some matters raised in The Hansel and Gretel Syndrome
by N. van Dijk. NZ Archaeol Assoc 13: 91–99
11. Wilmshurst J, Anderson A et al. (2008) Dating the late prehistoric dispersal of Polynesians
to New Zealand using the commensal Pacific rat. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105(22): 7676–7680,
p. 7676
12. Brewis A, Molloy M, Sutton D (1990) Modelling the prehistoric Maori population. American
J Phys Anthropol 8: 343–356
13. Wilson E (1998) Consilience: the unity of knowledge. Alfred A. Knopf, New York
14. McCalman I (2006) Latitude for the popularisers. The Australian Literary Review,
September 6, 2006
15. Whewell W (1840) The philosophy of the inductive sciences. John W. Parker and Son, London