62
3 The Oceanographic Context
The authors conclude
Both the genetic and archaeological evidence therefore suggest that a maritime-oriented
culture was in operation around the coastlines of what are now the Sulu and Sulawesi
Seas by the LGM, which would have been pre-adapted to benefit from rising sea levels
(Meacham 1984–1985; Oppenheimer 1998; Solheim 2006). The signature of dispersals
from this region at the end of the Ice Age is evident both in the distribution of mtDNA
haplogroup E lineages and the expansion of the flake-blade technocomplex (p. 1216).
We have suggested a post-glacial maritime expansion from the Spice Islands to
Japan through the West Pacific Warm Pool. Interestingly, Soares and Trejaut et al.
compare the genetic expansion of haplogroup E to post-glacial genetic expansions
in Europe:
The discovery of a signature of climate change in the human genome of Southeast Asians
echoes similar findings for mtDNA haplogroups V and H in Europe. These haplogroups
were carried from a glacial refuge in southwest Europe into western, central, and northern
Europe following the retreat of the glaciers from ~ 15,000 years ago (Richards et al. 2000;
Torroni, Bandelt, et al. 2001; Gamble et al. 2004; Pereira et al. 2005). Our results therefore
reemphasize the critical role of climate change – in particular global warming after the
LGM – in shaping the evolution of the modern human gene pool (p. 1216).
The later Spice Island maritime expansions to Hawaii, New Zealand and
Madagascar might also be thought of as expansions from a maritime Ice Age
refuge in response to the global warmth of the Holocene. But, as we shall see
in Chapter 4, Spice Island maritime expansions had two additional motivations:
finding a refuge following invasion and defeat and the need to establish rest and
supply stations for long-distance trade routes with economic expansion rather than
population expansion as a dominant motive.
3.12 Solheim and the Nusantao Trading Culture
The archaeologist Wilhelm Solheim [33] has described a present-day maritime trading network of Austronesian-speaking peoples operating along the western Pacific
rim and into Island Southeast Asia: operating essentially along the edges of the
WPWP (although Solheim has not conceived of it in these terms). Solheim traces
the origins of this trading network back 7,000 years to post-flood Wallacea and the
southern Philippines. He argues that
Improvements in their sailing abilities was forced upon them by rising sea-levels. . .which
required movement across gradually longer stretches of open sea to maintain contact with
relatives and homeland. Outrigger canoes were probably necessary for the expansion of the
Nusantao and the origin and center of innovation of all Austronesian boat traits probably
lies in the islands surrounding Sulawesi.
The development of the early maritime skills and technologies that we have
attributed to a long trading history for the Spice Islands, Solheim attributes to
“the islands surrounding Sulawesi”. Given the close geographical affinity within
Wallacea of Sulawesi and the Spice Island archipelago, early maritime innovations in the region, whatever their source, were likely to be shared. But though
3 The Oceanographic Context
The authors conclude
Both the genetic and archaeological evidence therefore suggest that a maritime-oriented
culture was in operation around the coastlines of what are now the Sulu and Sulawesi
Seas by the LGM, which would have been pre-adapted to benefit from rising sea levels
(Meacham 1984–1985; Oppenheimer 1998; Solheim 2006). The signature of dispersals
from this region at the end of the Ice Age is evident both in the distribution of mtDNA
haplogroup E lineages and the expansion of the flake-blade technocomplex (p. 1216).
We have suggested a post-glacial maritime expansion from the Spice Islands to
Japan through the West Pacific Warm Pool. Interestingly, Soares and Trejaut et al.
compare the genetic expansion of haplogroup E to post-glacial genetic expansions
in Europe:
The discovery of a signature of climate change in the human genome of Southeast Asians
echoes similar findings for mtDNA haplogroups V and H in Europe. These haplogroups
were carried from a glacial refuge in southwest Europe into western, central, and northern
Europe following the retreat of the glaciers from ~ 15,000 years ago (Richards et al. 2000;
Torroni, Bandelt, et al. 2001; Gamble et al. 2004; Pereira et al. 2005). Our results therefore
reemphasize the critical role of climate change – in particular global warming after the
LGM – in shaping the evolution of the modern human gene pool (p. 1216).
The later Spice Island maritime expansions to Hawaii, New Zealand and
Madagascar might also be thought of as expansions from a maritime Ice Age
refuge in response to the global warmth of the Holocene. But, as we shall see
in Chapter 4, Spice Island maritime expansions had two additional motivations:
finding a refuge following invasion and defeat and the need to establish rest and
supply stations for long-distance trade routes with economic expansion rather than
population expansion as a dominant motive.
3.12 Solheim and the Nusantao Trading Culture
The archaeologist Wilhelm Solheim [33] has described a present-day maritime trading network of Austronesian-speaking peoples operating along the western Pacific
rim and into Island Southeast Asia: operating essentially along the edges of the
WPWP (although Solheim has not conceived of it in these terms). Solheim traces
the origins of this trading network back 7,000 years to post-flood Wallacea and the
southern Philippines. He argues that
Improvements in their sailing abilities was forced upon them by rising sea-levels. . .which
required movement across gradually longer stretches of open sea to maintain contact with
relatives and homeland. Outrigger canoes were probably necessary for the expansion of the
Nusantao and the origin and center of innovation of all Austronesian boat traits probably
lies in the islands surrounding Sulawesi.
The development of the early maritime skills and technologies that we have
attributed to a long trading history for the Spice Islands, Solheim attributes to
“the islands surrounding Sulawesi”. Given the close geographical affinity within
Wallacea of Sulawesi and the Spice Island archipelago, early maritime innovations in the region, whatever their source, were likely to be shared. But though