The Prehistory of Oceania [and Comments and Reply]

The prehistory of Oceania is best approached through the cooperation of a number of disciplines, including archaeology, physical anthropology, linguistics, ethnology, and ethnobotany, to name perhaps the major five. As a result of intensified cooperation over the past decade, it is now possible to write a prehistory of Oceania with which other scholars might agree at least in general terms. This paper is such an attempt, and refers particularly to the tropical islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.