The Pacific Ocean covers one-third of the earth's surface and encompasses many thousands of islands, which are home to numerous human societies and cultures. Among these indigenous Oceanic cultures are the intrepid Polynesian double-hulled canoe navigators, the atoll dwellers of Micronesia, the statue carvers of remote Easter Island, and the famed traders of Melanesia. Decades of archaeological excavations, combined with allied research in historical linguistics, biological anthropology, and comparative ethnography, have revealed much new information about the long-term history of these Pacific Island societies and cultures. On the Road of the Winds synthesizes the grand sweep of human history in the Pacific Islands, beginning with the movement of early people out from Asia more than 40,000 years ago, and tracing the development of myriad indigenous cultures up to the time of European contact in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. This updated edition, enhanced with many new illustrations and an extensive bibliography, synthesizes the latest archaeological, linguistic, and biological discoveries that reveal the vastness of ancient history in the Pacific Islands.

About the Author
Patrick Vinton Kirch is Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of twelve books including A Shark Going Inland Is My Chief: The Island Civilization of Ancient Hawai'i and Anahulu: The Anthropology of History in the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Reviews
"As a synthesis of Oceanic prehistory, the revised edition is meritorious and it remains unique in its comprehensive coverage." * Archaeology in Oceania *
""A grand synthesis. Kirch has done Pacific archaeology proud with this book." * Antiquity *
"Excellent." * Times Literary Supplement *
"Riveting" * The Washington Post *
"Patrick Kirch's revised version of his near-classic On the Road of the Winds appears only eighteen years after the original edition and makes it clear that that received wisdom was very much mistaken. While the broad outlines of settlement and social processes in the Pacific Islands have become well-known, ongoing excavations in the past two decades have rewritten a great many of the details. Some of these are especially salient, including increasing recognition of the importance of trade networks and the environmental and ecological changes wrought by human agency." * Pacific Affairs *



Book Information
ISBN 9780520292819
Author Patrick Vinton Kirch
Format Paperback
Page Count 408
Imprint University of California Press
Publisher University of California Press
Weight(grams) 680g
Dimensions(mm) 254mm * 178mm * 25mm